The Firefly Chronicles
by dayzejane
Summary: Follows The crew of Serenity thru the series, what happens what a certain Furyan looking to rejoin the human race hops on board? Rated M to be safe for later chaps and 'cause its Riddick.
1. Serenity I

**A/N: *sheepish*….so OMG I COULDN'T HELP MYSELF DON'T SHOOT ME!!! *sheepish***

**A few little bits before we begin. Again I'm playing with timelines a bit but this is another crossover AU so _Artistic License_. River is fifteen when taken to the Academy (not fourteen) and eighteen (not sixteen) when rescued by and Simon and also at the opening of this story. Riddick has just left Imam and Jack on New Mecca, (sorry guys no Jack this time or Book for that matter) and is roughly late twenties (anybody have a clue about that by the by?) and as with all of my Riddick stories his eyes are a result of his Furyan nature and not an eye shine, the story he gave Jack was just that, a story.**

**Oh and YAY! I get to play with Wash and a completely FENG LE River. :D YAY! Sorry thus far everything has been post Miranda. I'm a little excited. :D **

**Story progression is going to move as in tended, never aired episodes appearing in their proper place with Serenity 1&2 being the opening, instead of the Train Job, also we will be going with the original opening for Serenity since it was the way Joss had wanted to open the series though the people at Fox made him change it up. For the especially observant of you. You'll notice a few of the scenes are reordered or switched around and that's only really because jamming an extra character into a series is hard enough and I had to add a few scenes take away from a couple of others just to help the crew along. Also on a side note expect to encounter some drastically different plotlines on once we get going, Riddick's presence changes a lot, though I am going to try my best to keep the basics of the each episode.**

**I will be posting this is four updates, all of which are written and will go up one right after the other, I just didn't want to make your eyes bleed with 25,000 words in one update LOL. Final endnote is posted at the conclusion of the episode.**

**Don't own a thing… Wish I did…but if wishes were horses we'd be eatin' steak.**

* * *

_Serenity Valley_

_Six years earlier…._

"I can hear something…" Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds pulled himself from a hunger induced haze at the sound of one of his private's voices, eight days, eight _**Gorram**_ days they had been starvin' and dyin' in this gorram hellhole of a valley. "Anybody else hear it?" Mal managed to raise his head and focus on the sound of oncoming engines in the sky.

"Private…" he croaked, pulling himself up into a sitting position and crawling over the lifeless body of one of his soldiers, "Zoe!" he called out harsher this time, gathering all he could muster from some forgotten part of himself, "Signal flare."

Zoe pulled herself up, barely able to focus on the sounds of their salvation.

"There! Do you see it? They're coming!" The soldier shouter louder, hysterical hope lacing his voice.

"Whose colors?" Zoe asked weakly though a part of her couldn't give a gorram shit, anything to get away from the smells of charred flesh and festering wounds.

"A rescue ship! Sir they came!" The same soldier cried out again near tears.

"Whose colors?" Zoe demanded again as Mal helped her to her feet.

"Don't matter none. One or t'other…ain't no difference…" Mal said, his voice laced with defeated acceptance. "Both of you pass the word, sees whose still with us." He ordered to two of his men as he and Zoe stumbled.

"Are those really med ships? Are we really gettin' out?" Zoe asked desperation in her tone.

"We are," Mal reassured her, though his own voice shook.

"Thank god."

"God," Mal looked disgusted as he struck the flare, "whose colors he flying?"

* * *

_Tangiers System_

_Eight months ago…_

"Gonna be a lotta questions when we get picked up, might even be a merc ship, so what the hell do we tell 'em 'bout you?"

Richard B. Riddick turned his gaze from the vast expanse of space to the dirty frightened little girl in the co pilot's chair beside him. Just some dumb fuckin' stow away kid he couldn't leave behind to die, somebody that didn't think he was complete shit. "Tell 'em Riddick's dead, he died somewhere back on that planet."

* * *

_Outer White Sun System_

_Present day…._

"Vault's sealed, I'm gonna boil it," Mal spoke through his comm, drifting upside down, "Jayne, give me the sticky."

Jayne slowly drifted closer handing over a gel gun, while Zoe held her breath giving as close to a representation of a nod that was possible in a full EVA suit.

Mal gave a vague nod of his own as he discarded the applicator from the gun and hit a small button on the side, the trio pulled back from the hatch, watching as the gel turned acidic, and a tense breath later the locking mechanism blew from the vault hatch.

"Okay we get the goods, we're back on the ship, no worries." Mal ordered.

**

Safely inside the ship on the bridge, Wash, Serenity's pilot, gave a quick check to the monitors, "Everything looks good here," he told them, before turning back to the more important matter at hand.

"Yes, yes, this is a fertile land, and will thrive." The blue Stegosaurus told the red plastic T-Rex, "We will rule over this land and call it," Wash paused, he hadn't really thought that whole thing through, "This Land!" He called out in a stroke of brilliancy.

"I think we should call it… You're grave!" The T-Rex laughed manically as it charged for the Stegosaurus.

"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" The Stegosaurus cried.

"HA-ha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now Die!" The T-Rex laughed as their battle began.

A sudden flashing red light on the console brought Wash back to the bridge, he stop battling and eyed the radar, sweeping away another herd of dinosaurs to be able to see it better he swore, "Oh motherless son of a bitch."

**

Back outside the derelict ship Zoe allowed herself a small smile, "We got full pressure, goods must be intact."

"Assuming they're still there," Mal remarked with a grunt as he slid his arm inside the newly blown hole and yanked, opening the hatch from the inside. Jayne pushed past to lean in with a flashlight and it was Mal's turn to smile as Jayne's light struck on three large sized crates. "Looks good."

His smile however was short lived as Wash's voice broke out over all three pairs of headsets, "We got incoming! Alliance cruiser bearing down right on us!"

"_Ta ma de! _(fuck me blind)" Mal swore, "Have they spotted us?"

"I can't tell…"

"Have they hailed us?" Mal demanded.

"If they're here for the salvage we're humped." Jayne pointed out the obvious.

"They catch us at all we're humped. Thievin' ain't exactly…" Zoe started to snap, but Jayne cut her off.

"I don't like this Mal."

"_Bi zui_ (shut up)! Wash shut it down, everything but the air," Mal ordered.

**

"Gotcha Cap' shuttin' down." Wash called back over the comms as he started frantically hitting switches. "Kaylee!" He yelled through the onboard intercom, to the ship's mechanic, "Go to black out, we're bein' buzzed."

"_Shi a_ (Yes, Affirmative), goin' dark." She answered back, hitting every switch and lever she could, resorting to climbing on top of the engine block to pull the last lever and the engine room went dark. "Okay," she said to no one in particular, as she looked hopelessly around the room she could see absolutely nothing in, "now I can't get down."

**

Outside in the endless black Mal, Zoe and Jayne traded nervous glances, "Where's the crybaby Wash?" Mal whispered.

"Right where we left her, you want her to cry?" Came back over his headset.

"Not yet. They slowin' down?" He asked.

"That's a neg, don't look like their interested in us, we should be eatin' wake in another minute or two."

"All right, they do a heat probe you holler."

"_Shi a_ (Yes Affirmative)."

Mal exchanged a look with his first mate and gun hand, the trio all holding in their breath, afraid to move an inch as the massive vertical Alliance ship came into view. Huge, sleek, antiseptic, the name I.A.V. Dortmunder in AngloSino script emblazed down one of its vertical columns. Mal snorted, even through the faceplate his disgust was more than evident, a sentiment shared by the whole of his crew, as they silently waited for the pretentiously massive ship to drift passed. A collective sigh of relief being released as the ship cleared the wreck.

**

"Looks like we're clear…" Wash's words were suddenly stunted by another flashing alarm, "_Ai ya, huai le!_ (Shit on my head), Captain we're humped! They got a heat signature off us! Officially time to panic!"

**

"Fire it up Wash!" Mal ordered, "We move these in double time," he snapped to Jayne and Zoe, which was all the encouragement they needed as each one grabbed a case and made a break for Serenity's air lock.

**

"Kaylee!" Wash shouted over the comm, "Fire it up!"

"I'm all over it!" she yelled back, and muttering to herself as she groped blindly in the dark, "Just gotta find the gorram… waahhh!"She yelped, as her fingers found and pulled the lever but the process of flipping it sent her toppling from her precarious perch, a stream of Mandarin poured out from her lips as she scrambled back to her feet and finished running through the engine start up sequence.

**

Jayne was the last to clear the airlock, slamming down on the door controls as he passed through. The moment they were sealed in Mal hit another, gravity kicking in; they landed on the ground crates clattering on the grating. "Wash, we're in! Go!" He ordered through the comm.

"Let's moon 'em," Jayne smirked.

"Cry baby cry." Mal ordered.

**

"Make your mother sigh," Wash joked hitting the switch to trigger the decoy, a small device drifting in the black some thirteen clicks away that would signal a distress call from a passenger ship. "Hang on travelers," Wash said through the comms as he fired up the engines a flash of plasma spewing in the face of the cruiser as Serenity made a break for it. A few tense minutes past before Wash finally announced over the comm, "We look shiny Cap. They are not; repeat they are not coming about."

**

"That was close." Zoe said looking up from one of the crates.

"Any one you walk away from right? Long as these crates ain't empty I call it a win." Jayne smirked lugging a crate further into the hold.

"Right," Mal spoke quietly, "we win."

* * *

The crew gathered around the freshly plucked cargo and watched as Jayne jimmied one of the crates opened with a crowbar, popping the lid he took a step back as Mal leaned in to pull the top off. "Well that sure enough don't hurt to see," he smirked lifting what looked to be a gold bar up out of the crate but was in fact freeze dried survival rations.

"They're awfully pretty," Kaylee remarked leaning around Jayne to peek at the cargo.

Wash let out a whistle, "I'd say it was worth the risk."

"Yeah, you did some pretty risky sittin' back there," Jayne snorted.

"That's right of course, 'cause they wouldn't arrest me iffin' we got boarded, I'm just the pilot. I can always say I was flyin' the ship by accident." He snapped back.

"_Bi zui _(shut up)!" Mal snapped harshly as he flipped the bar over, a sick feeling settling in his stomach as he saw the Alliance marking on the back. Quickly he shoved the bar back into the crate and yanked the top back on.

"Problem sir?" Zoe asked an eyebrow raised.

Mal hesitated trying to swallow back his uneasiness, grateful none of the crew had seen the marking, "Couldn't say, but we best be rid of these 'fore we run into another Alliance patrol."

"What they doin' this far out anyhow?" Jayne complained.

"Shining the light of civilization of course," Kaylee piped in.

"Don't do us any good."

"Well that's 'cause we're uncivilized," she giggled.

"How long 'til we reach Persephone?" Mal pushed himself back up and turned his attention to his pilot.

"Three or four hours," Wash answered.

"Can we shave that?" he asked running a hand through his unruly brown hair.

Wash looked down at his toes, running a few numbers through his head, "We're down to the wire on fuel cells as it is. We run hot, might not even make it."

"Play it as close as you can, this catch is burnin' a hole in my ship."

"You think that cruiser coulda Id'ed us?" Zoe asked concerned.

"Gotta hope not. Contact Badger, tell 'im the jobs done. Don't go to mentionin' the cruiser, keep it simple like."

"Sir, we sure there's nothing wrong with the cargo?" Zoe pressed, she'd been with the Captain for a long time and she knew when somethin' wasn't sittin' right with him, knew his looks and his tones, and right now somethin' was definitely up.

"Its fine," Mal said using his 'don't ask questions, just get it done', captainy tone, "I just wanna get paid. Kaylee, Jayne let's get them crates stowed. I don't want any tourists stumbling over them."

"We takin' on passengers Cap?" Kaylee asked hopefully.

"That's the notion. We could use a little respectability headin' to Boros. Not to mention the money."

"Pain in the ass…" Jayne gripped as he shoved a crate into one of the secret compartments in the hold.

"No it's shiny! I love meetin' new people, they all got stories." Kaylee defended cheerfully.

"Captain, could you please stop her from bein' so gorram cheerful?" Jayne rolled his eyes.

"I don't believe there is a power in the 'verse that could stop Kaylee from being cheerful." He smiled up at her as he hefted one of the crates. "Sometimes you just wanna duct tape her mouth and drop her in one of the storage holds for a month."

Kaylee giggled grinning as she stood on her tiptoes and pecked the captain on his cheek, "I love my Captain!" She smiled before running off back to the engine room to check on her girl.

* * *

Wash followed his wife up the ladder and into the bridge only half listening to what she was saying, more intent on enjoying the view.

"All's I'm sayin' is somethin's not right baby."

"Honey, we're crooks. If everything was right, we'd be in jail." He joked back.

"It's just the Captain's so tense."

"Of course he's tense, he's awake." He smirked kissing her, "Look, we drop the goods on Persephone, fly away rich and prosperous, then when we get to Boros, we take a couple of days shore leave." He moved in closer wrapping his arms around her, "You know the kinda place that brings food to your room, ya know, food with actual food in it."

"Mmm, wouldn't mind a real bath." She smiled against his lips, "If the captain says it's all right."

Wash froze, pulling his face away from hers and stepping back, "What if we just told Mal?"

"He's the captain."

"Right," Wash rolled his eyes and flopped back into his chair, "And I'm just the husband."

"Look I'll ask him okay?" Zoe answered him, more than a little tired of this same old conversation.

"Don't forget to call him 'sir' he likes that."

"Who likes what?" Mal asked hauling himself up the ladder into the bridge.

"Nothing sir." Zoe covered, instinctively her manner changing, her posture becoming military.

"After you talk to Badger, see if you can raise the Ambassador. Let her know we're out of Persephone fast. She's got business pendin' she'd best squeeze it dry and send it off. We ain't waitin'."

"I'm sure the Ambassador will appreciate your colorful phrasing." Wash snorted.

"Inara knows our timetable, I'm sure she will be checkin' in on her own." Zoe answered, once more playing peacekeeper.

"Well if she don't, rouse her, you know how she gets wrapped up in her work." Mal responded, with just a twinge of bitterness in his voice.

* * *

"Do you really have to leave?" The young man looked up from his cup of tea, "I mean I, my father is very influential, we could, well I could, arrange for you to be…"

Inara stopped him with a gentle touch on his arm, smiling a knowing smile with only a hint of sadness around the edges.

"It was very good." the man finished.

"I enjoyed our time very much," She told him rising to escort him to the door of her shuttle.

"Your clock is probably rigged to cheat us of our fun," he tried to joke but immediately realized his error as the smile quickly vanished from Inara's face, rather than commit further offense he merely left, the shuttle door hissing closed behind him.

* * *

The Eavesdown docks drew to a slow boil beneath the summer sun, in contradiction to the elegant edges and refined lines of the city in the distance, the docks were a chaotic hodgepodge of races and languages shaded beneath faded tarps and patched together ships, the distinct smell of sweat and engine grease was heavy in every breath one took. Under the boiling heat it was not unlikely for trade to quickly turn to theft, and from theft to outright honest violence; in short it was the ideal place for the crew aboard the Serenity to do business.

Excepting today the captain of Serenity, had an itch. It had started when the Alliance Cruiser had appeared out of gorram nowhere in the black, travelled up his spine when he realized the goods they had lifted had been marked Alliance goods, and settled too comfortably for his liking directly behind his ear just as Wash had settled his boat on solid ground. Itch like the one he had didn't usually go away until cashy money was in hand, and the ship was blowin' clean through atmo, somehow he got the feelin' it wasn't gonna be so simple to get rid of this particular itch.

"This shouldn't take long Kaylee, put us down for departure in about three hours," he said to her, as the crew headed down the airlock ramp.

Kaylee punched in their departure time into the computerized place card in front of their docking space. "Sure would like to find a brand new compression coil for the steamer," she hinted with just the smallest twinge of actual hope mixed with just a dash deadly warning.

"And I would like to be the King of all Londinum and wear a shiny hat," he snapped back sarcastically, "Just find us some passengers. Them that can pay, all right?"

"Compression coil busts we're drifting." Kaylee warned again crossing her arms and attempting to make a stand for her girl's sake.

"Best not bust then." Mal answered over his shoulder as he turned, "Zoe, Jayne, let's move! "Wash get her fueled up and any supplies we're low on, wanna get this done and get gone. Got money to be made people."

"Zoe!" Wash called out from behind the wheel of an ATV "_Zhen ta ma yao ming zhu yi_ (watch your back)"

"We will baby," she smiled at him and turned to catch up with her captain.

He watched her go, not turning away until she disappeared completely from his view, a sight he should have been accustomed to by now, but it never got any easier.

"They'll be shiny Wash," Kaylee smiled at him setting up her rickety folding chair, "back in the black 'fore you know it."

"Hopefully with some weight in our pockets." He snorted.

"What's the worst that could happen?" She asked plopping into her chair and spinning a tattered umbrella.

"You do crew on Serenity right?" He cocked his eyebrow at her.

"Ain't been chased outta Eavesdown yet," she shrugged.

"It's the ease that you say yet, which worries me."

* * *

Riddick pulled his goggles down over his eyes before opening the shutters of his dingy motel room, running a hand across his freshly shaven head he leaned both arms against the ledge, his gaze drifting towards the docks. It had been five months since he left Jack and the Holy Man on New Mecca, kid would probably hate him forever, he'd left at night without even a note, just a shiv he'd slipped under her pillow so she'd know he'd been there. He snorted to himself. What the fuck did she expect some tearful farewell at a space port? And it wasn't like he had dumped them the moment they touched ground, he'd stuck it out for a couple of months, tried the whole rejoining the human race thing, playin' watchdog to a teenage girl and a Holy Man just wasn't the kinda shit he was cut out for, towards the end he had to stop himself from imagining what it would be like to slit the Holy Man's throat, just to keep him from spoutin' out any more of that self righteous redemption crap. Jack woulda been really pissed then.

He coulda taken her with him, he didn't mind her so much, on the rare occasions she was able to keep her fuckin' mouth shut, kid could be pleasant company. A low growl reverberated in his chest, loneliness, that's what Carolyn had made him remember, that's why he'd try to stick it out. Wasn't no doubt about it somethin' in him had changed back on T2 after the lights went out, and he fuckin' hated it. Being alone never bothered him before, he'd actually preferred it, now, now he spent his days wonderin' if Jack would come along if he went back for her, and a fourteen year old girl had no business travelin' the black with a murderer.

A murderer. That's all he was. When he was gone, when some merc finally got the lucky shot in or he managed to live long enough to get old and slow, wasn't a single body in the 'verse that would cry over him, 'cept mayhap Jack, iffin' she didn't think he wasn't the biggest prick bastard in the 'verse right now that was.

Riddick inhaled the stench that was Eavesdown deeply, dried blood, moldy plaster, engine fumes, desperation. Jack didn't belong here, and in truth totin' a kid around the 'verse really didn't seem all that appealing anyway. She'd probably get herself shot and then he'd really feel like _hun dan_ (bastard). Carolyn would have been better company, but she had to go and get herself dead. The steady growl that had been building in his chest rumbled past his lips. What the fuck was wrong with him? Why the hell was he even thinkin' on this shit? He was just getting antsy that's all, been dirt side too long. _Fuck it,_ he thought to himself, as his gaze rested on the rows of ships, through his eyes they appeared bright white from the reflection of the sunlight, it was time to kick on.

* * *

Zoe repressed the urge to wrinkle her nose as they made their way down through the tunnels of what was once, though the smell hadn't quite given up yet, an underground sewer. The occupants of said sewer didn't seemed to mind it however, and tended to get tetchy over such insinuations so Zoe kept her face stoic and her trap shut. Jayne on the other hand was less then tactful in such situations.

"Smells like crap on a barbeque down here Mal, let's get done and get out."

The burlier of the two guards which had escorted them down growled low in his throat.

Mal didn't bother shootin' Jayne a look, havin' learned awhile back it usually didn't do much good, 'cause Jayne never seem to translate it how he should. 'Shut the gorram hell up' was usually read as, 'by all means Jayne please continue on this destructive line of conversation, which will most likely wind up gettin' us all shot.'

"Let me see your teeth," it was Mal's turn to repress his shudder, though the smell had nothing to do with it, it was more like Badger's voice had a tendency to grate down his spine.

The trio watched as the squat sweaty man in a three piece wooly suit and a tank with a crushed bowler hat inspected the teeth and smile of a dirty young woman. Jayne was a bit smarter than most gave him credit for and he refrained from remarking on how he really didn't see how Badger had any right to be the judge of a body's teeth. Mainly 'cause he wanted to be paid.

"Good, she'll do." Badger decided before acknowledging the crew of Serenity, his tone and manner abruptly turning harsher, "You're late." He snapped as he walked behind his desk.

"You're lying." Mal retorted.

The sudden shift in the room was palpable as Badger turned, "What did you just say to me?"

"You're well aware we landed two hours 'fore we planned to, with all the goods you sent us after intact and ready to roll. So your decision to get tetchy and say we're late means you're lookin' to put us on the defensive right up front. Which means somethin's gone wrong, and it didn't go wrong on our end so why don't we start with you tellin' us what's up?" Mal answered, cool accusation in his voice, while the itch which had settled behind his ear moved like fire to his fingertips.

Beside him, both Zoe and Jayne stood a little taller, acutely aware of the number of men in the room, six with Badger, who didn't look armed, but the other five sure as hell were. Jayne mentally swore wishin' to hell he had brought Vera, _mental note, when Mal says you don't need her, bring 'er_, he told himself.

"You're later than I'd like." Badge amended.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that." Though Mal didn't appear to be truly apologetic in the least.

Badger held up a piece of digital paper, an Alliance security bulletin. "If you'd gotten hear sooner, you might've beaten the bulletin that a rogue vessel, classification Firefly, was spotted doin' an illegal salvage on a derelict transport." He spat out, slamming the paper back down on his desk.

Mal shrugged, "Didn't ID us, don't lead to you." The wheels in his head spinning, there was somethin' else goin' on that he was missin'.

Badger took his time sliding into his chair, "No, it doesn't, but the government stamp on every molecule of the cargo just maybe might."

Zoe pointedly turned her glare on her captain; her gut had told her this job was south from the get go.

"Oh, you noticed." Badger continued at Mal's hesitation, "You were gonna hand over imprinted goods and just let me twist then, is that the case?"

"We didn't pick the cargo," Mal shot back, his temper flaring.

"And I didn't flash my gorram ass at the law! Deal's off!" Badger yelled.

"That ain't fair," Zoe's voice was solid, "we did the job we get paid."

"Crime and politics little girl, the situation is always fluid." He waved her off.

"Only fluid I see here is the pile of piss refusin' to pay us our wage." Jayne growled out, his fingers itchin' somethin' fierce he went for his gun.

Every gun in the room raised in reaction, and this time Mal did shoot Jayne a glare, one he blessedly understood for what it was_, 'Raise that gorram gun and I'll shoot you myself.'_ "Don't have to go this way." He told Badger, his voice still cool and even, "You know you can still unload those goods. Sos I can't help but thinking there's somethin' else at work here."

"I don't like you." Badger answered plainly.

"Ain't askin' you to like…"

Mal didn't have a chance to finish as Badger cut him off, "What were you in the war Mal,?" He asked eyeing him, "A Sergeant?" He snickered, "Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds, Balls and Bayonet Brigade, big tough veteran, now you got yourself a ship, and you're a captain!" He paused to lean in closer, "Only I think you're still a Sergeant, see. Still a soldier, a man of honor in a den of thieves." He paused his voice raising when he spoke next, "Well it's my gorram den, and I don't like the way you look down on me. I'm above you," he sneered, "better than. I'm a businessman, yeah? Roots in the community." He straightened his dirty lapels, "You're just a scavenger, you're a bagman Mal, you come and go at my beck and I say you go. Get out." He turned his back on the crew of Serenity.

Mal raised his hands up, "Maybe I'm not a fancy gentleman like you with your… very fine hat… but I do business," his face hardened, "We're here for business."

"Try one of the border planets, they're more desperate out there, course they might kill you," he shrugged, "but you stay here and I just know the Alliance will track you down, got that feelin' ya see?"

There was a long beat of silence before Mal spoke again, the choice of walkin' away from a fight he was more than itchin' for felt like a physical blow as he forced his next words out from between gritted teeth as he turned to walk away, "Wheel never stops turnin' Badger."

"That only matters to the people on the Rim," he scoffed back.

* * *

Riddick made his way through the shipping crowd on the docks, coming to a stop in front of the destination board, he dropped one of his duffels to the ground while he eyed the listing of ships, weren't many that weren't checkin' papers and that was gonna be a problem.

"Lookin' for a ship _you ren _(friend)?"

Riddick resisted the urge to snarl at the idiot who'd placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ain't your friend," he rumbled instead, shaking off the man's hand.

"Not yet we ain't," he smirked, clapping him on his back, undeterred, "need safe passage? Got a good ship here, best ship in the 'verse, The Brutus is. What's your destination, _you ren_? We're hittin' the outer rims."

Riddick took a quick look up at the ship the ass was hocking, and shook his head, "Ain't interested," he answered and reshouldering his duffel he moved to walk away. When the gorram _hun dan_ (bastard) reached out to grab his shoulder again, Riddick did growl, and he spun catching the fucker's wrist, "I will break your gorram wrist iffin' you touch me one more goddamn time. Go. Away."

"Sure thing _Lao ban_ (Boss)," he stuttered out as Riddick released him, deciding to try his luck with a dark skinned preacher instead, they didn't tend toward violence.

**

Riddick eyed the last row of ships on the docks critically, half of 'em didn't look like they could break atmo without blowin' a coil and the ones that did we're checkin' papers. Riddick growled low, annoyed and hot as hell, the sun practically blinding him even through his darkened goggles. His eyes finally landed on a mid bulk transport class half way down. Firefly class, smuggler's choice, lotta nooks and crannies to stow your less than legit cargo, throw some payin' customers on and you got yourself a decent cover. Ship like that didn't ask questions unlessin' you did and tended to avoid the law and Alliance checkpoints, something he was definitely of the same mind on, just cause he could handle trouble didn't mean he wanted to go lookin' for it. Adjusting one of his duffels he headed over for a closer look at the ship.

"You're comin' with us," a bubbly female voice piped out from behind a tattered Chinese umbrella.

Riddick couldn't help but smirk, "Am I now?"

"You like ships, you're not even lookin' at the destinations. What you care about is the ships, and mine's the nicest," she twirled her umbrella smiling.

He took a moment to give the ship a look over, "Don't look like much."

"Oh she'll surprise you. You ever fly in a Firefly?" Kaylee asked sweetly.

"Not an aught three, didn't have the extenders, tended to shake." He answered jerking his head up toward the portside.

"You wanna shake?" Kaylee raised an eyebrow, and jerked her chin to the left, "Sail the Paragon there, you'll barf 'fore you break atmo."

He followed her gaze, and shook his head, "Gustler engines always get a mite twitchy, ain't lookin' to drop outta the black," he smirked, "Aught three still use the trace compression block?"

"'Til theys make somethin' better," Kaylee answered eyeing the man a bit more critically, the goggles weren't a surprise it was gorram bright as hell out, just two black duffels at his feet, maybe a merc? "Sos how come you don't care where you're goin'?" She asked curiously pressing for information without outright demanding it.

"Just got the itch to go, don't overly matter much where, just some where's else. Some men get a little funny with solid ground under their feet too long, I like the black, ain't nothin' to crowd a man up there." Riddick answered honestly, almost surprised at himself.

Kaylee smiled brighter and nodded her head in approval, "Sos you be wantin' that ride than?"

"Got private bunks?"

"Long as you got the coin," Kaylee smirked, "Cap, be back in less than an hour, that all you got?" She asked gesturing to the duffels at his feet.

"All I need."

"Well then," Kaylee smiled broadly, "Welcome aboard Serenity, Mr.?"

"Richards, Rick Richards." He smirked.

"Parents weren't really all that creative were they?" She blurted out.

Riddick shrugged still smirking as he shouldered his gear, "Can't choose our own."

"Suppose not," Kaylee shrugged back.

* * *

"Explain to me Mal, whys we didn't leave that sonofabitch in a pool of his own blood." Jayne snapped as they made their way back to the ship empty handed.

"We'd be dead, can't get paid if we're dead," he answered brushing off Jayne's tone.

"Can't get paid iffin' ya crawl away like a little bitty bug neither," he snorted, "I got a share of this job and ten percent of nuthin', is, wait let me do the math, is still nuthin'."

"So we try to find a buyer on Boros." Zoe cut in before the two men started threatening to cut on each other.

"Boros is too big, crawlin' with the ruttin' Alliance." Mal shook off her suggestion, "They could be there just sittin' and waitin' on us."

"You really think Badger will sell us out to the Feds?" She asked.

"If he hasn't already," Mal answered through the side of his mouth as they passed a pair of security officers on the corner.

"Alliance catches us with government goods we'll lose the ship." Zoe said.

"That ain't gonna happen." Mal's face went hard.

"Sir, we could just dump the cargo."

"No ruttin' way," Jayne cut in, "we ain't had a job in weeks, I didn't sign on with this crew to take in the sights, we need coin."

"Jayne," Mal warned as he stopped to look at him, "Your mouth is talkin', may wanna look to that."

"Oh I'm ready to stop talkin Mal." Jayne growled, still hyped from the almost shoot out they'd just walked away from.

"You're right though," Mal admitted startling Jayne out of his anger, "last of the jobs we had were weak tea, ain't got nothin saved and takin' on passengers won't help near enough. We don't get paid for this we won't have enough to fuel the ship, let alone keep her in repair. She'll be dead in the water."

"So we do like Badger says and try the border planets?" Zoe asked.

"Thinkin' Whitefall, maybe we talk to Patience." Mal said quietly.

"Sir, we don't wanna deal with Patience."

"Why not?" Mal shrugged not seeing the issue.

"Sir, she shot you," Zoe said bluntly, in case he had forgotten, which she was really hoping he had, otherwise it meant that he was willingly going back to deal with someone who tried to kill him, things couldn't really be that bad.

"Well yeah she did a bit." Mal admitted causally.

"So we find somebody else," Zoe told him firmly, not wanting to admit that apparently things were really that bad.

"Who?" Mal challenged.

"Horwitz."

"He can't afford it." Mal scoffed.

"Hosenboyd."

"He wouldn't touch it. Want me to go through the list? Capshaws are brain blown, Rubix's dead."

"He's dead?" Zoe interrupted turning to look at him.

"Town got hit by Reavers, burned it right down."

"I ain't goin' nowhere near Reaver territory, them people ain't right." Jayne shot out, iffin' there was one thing in the 'verse that Jayne Cobb was 'fraid of it was Reavers, not that'd he'd admit it to anyone o'course.

"Whitefall is the safest and the closest," Mal insisted again, "it's been a long time since Patience shot me and that was a perfectly legitimate conflict of interest. I got no grudge. She owns half that damn moon now, she can afford what we got and she might just need it."

"Still don't think the old lady's the way," Zoe shook her head as they stepped back onto Serenity's ramp.

"I'm not sayin' it won't be tricky, but we got no gorram choice, just gotta keep our heads down, do the job and pray there ain't no more surprises." Mal lowered his voice eyeing a prissy looking core boy overseeing the loading of one of his crates.

"Mal, this is Simon," Kaylee chirped introductions, "Simon this is our captain."

"Captain Reynolds," the core boy offered curtly as they sized each other up.

"Welcome aboard," he matched Simon's curtness with a nod and a dismissal, "This all we got Kaylee?"

"Three in total Cap, that over there is Mr. Dobson," she pointed to a man around the captain's age fumbling with a suitcase near the center of the hold, "and there's Mr. Richards," she pointed to a larger man digging through one of his duffels, Mal didn't miss the blade strapped to the man's calf nor the one on his opposite thigh, and he especially didn't miss the modified handgun on his other thigh, but wasn't it unusual of a drifter and he had other things at the front of his mind.

"Al'right them, get 'em loaded in." He told her nodding his head and turning to catch up with Zoe who was already aboard, leaning against the stairway rail, and eyeing with more than a little trepidation the close proximity of one of the passengers to one of the stash holds.

"Now we have a boat full of citizens right on top of our _stolen_ cargo, that's a fun mix." She told him as he approached.

Mal didn't miss her sarcasm, "Ain't no way in the 'verse they could find that compartment," he paused as one of said citizens passed by him, "even if they were lookin' for it."

"Why not?" She challenged.

"'Cause." Mal looked at her.

"Oh yeah, this is gonna go great." She half snorted.

"If anyone gets nosey ya know, just shoot 'em." He offered turning to head up the stairs.

"Shoot 'em?" She asked smirking.

"Politely," Mal corrected over his shoulder.

Zoe merely shook her head as she walked away, seeing more than a thousand ways their current plan could go to gorram hell and nearly everyone of them ending with Mal gettin' shot again.

Not but fifteen feet away from who Riddick judged to be the Captain and his first mate, he smirked to himself having heard the whole of the conversation. Compartments weren't as concealed as they thought, at least not to him anyways, he counted as least five in the bay so far and he hadn't even had a chance to look proper. The conversation itself was promisin' iffin' the crew was hauling' stolen cargo meant they'd be takin' a wide berth 'round any security checkpoints.

The other two passengers who had boarded with him however gave him an itch. The core boy was looking mighty twitchy, one eye on the large crate they'd loaded with him at all times, and Riddick had a pretty good idea what was in that crate too, having been transported in more than one. It was the kinda cryobox people used when they was tryin' to keep it discreet like, only question was what in the gorram hell was a core boy doin' with a body on ice, riding economy class on a ship he could have bought three of just to keep parked in his yard for the bird's to shit on?

The other one, Dobson, man had one eye on the twitchy boy whenever he thought no one was lookin', wasn't payin' much mind to the crate, just the boy, and Riddick woulda put good money on that bulge near the man's boot bein' a gun. What bothered him the most though was the man's constant fumblin', only did it when he thought people was watchin' 'im, and he hesitated a moment before somethin' would fall or he would trip, that kinda shit was purposeful, that kinda shit meant he was concealin' skill, too bad he was shit at it.

Riddick was actually a bit surprised none of the crew had noticed it yet, further proof they had somethin' else besides haulin' passengers on this mind. Could be all kinds of fun.


	2. Serenity II

"Hey Inara you're just in time," Wash said over the comm as he flicked a switch opening up the docking ports for the smaller shuttle.

"Let me guess, we're in a hurry," Inara asked, though her annoyance was laced with amusement.

"Looks like. Starboard hatch green for docking."

"Locked in five, four, three…"

**

"The Ambassador has returned!" Wash turned and called over his shoulder to his wife who was just outside and a bit down the hall from the bridge; Zoe nodded and headed down to the bay to call out to Mal.

"We got a full house Captain!" She shouted leaning down over the stairwell.

"I'm locking her up!" Mal turned to yell to Kaylee, who grabbed her chair and jogged up the airlock ramp.

"All aboard," Kaylee said softly from the top as she cast one last meaningful look at the bustling dock before the doors sealed and cut off her view.

* * *

"Meals are taken here in the dining area," Mal began his official 'I'm the Captain welcome aboard the ship speech from the inside the mess, Zoe, Wash, and Kaylee behind him, as a rule he tried to keep Jayne away from the paying customers, "the kitchen is pretty much self explanatory, you're welcome to eat there anytime, what we got is pretty standard fare, I guess, protein in all the colors of the rainbow. We do have sit down meals the next being at 1800. Apart from that I have to ask you to stay in the passenger dorm and common area while we're in the air. The bridge, the engine room, and the cockpit are off limits without an escort."

"Some of my personal effects are in the cargo bay," Simon interjected nervously.

"I figure you all got luggage you'll need to get to; soon as we're done here we'll be happy to fetch 'em with you. Now I have to tell you all one other thing and I apologize in advance for the inconvenience but the Alliance has ordered us to drop medical supplies on Whitefall. It's the fourth moon on Athens, a bit out of our way, but we should have you on Boros no more than a day off schedule."

"What medical supplies?" Simon asked.

"I didn't honestly ask," Mal answered shortly, his tone unmissed by Riddick, who repressed the urge to smirk, he knew damn well what was goin' down on Whitefall, and droppin' medical supplies wasn't even close, unlessin' they had stolen medical supplies, in which case he'd have to check that out, black market medicine brought a whole lotta cashy money.

"Probably plasma, insulin, whatever it is they don't got on the border moons." Zoe stepped in.

"Alliance says jump," Mal added, "I jump."

Riddick seriously doubted that, Captain was definitely a former brown coat, and the dark skinned woman, Zoe he'd thought he'd caught her name, could see it in the way they stood, from soldiers to smugglers, _my how the righteous fall_, Riddick smirked to himself as he followed the her down into the bay. The big merc had caught his eye too, he was someone to watch, legit cargo ship wouldn't have a man like him workin' on crew. Riddick knew his kind, killed more than a few, they was all about the pay day, didn't care much for what side, long as the coin was in hand at the end of the day, he'd be keepin' a real close eye on that one.

He was careful to observe the others as he grabbed his gear, didn't miss the way the core boy kept glancing sideways at the big box he'd brought on board, no way in gorram hell kid was a bounty hunter, only left the possibility of a slave trader, but he was a mite jumpy for that too. Just didn't make sense.

His head suddenly jerked up as the faint trace of orchids laced with sex flooded his nostrils, a smirk crossing his face as he watched an apparently heated exchange happen between the captain and some high class whore. Iffin' nothin' else this ride was gonna be all kinds of interesting he thought to himself as he shouldered his gear and headed out toward the passenger dorms.

* * *

"You send word to Patience?" Mal asked Wash as they headed up toward the cockpit.

"Ain't heard back yet. Hey, didn't she shoot you once?"

"Everybody's makin' a fuss," Mal reply exasperated, just 'cause somebody shoots at you once didn't mean they'd do it a second time, at least he hoped not, he was ruttin' sick and fuckin' tired of bein' shot.

* * *

"So does this happen a lot?" Simon asked over the dinner table, "Government commandeering your ship, telling you where to go?"

Riddick repressed the urge to snort over the boy's obvious interest, _not smart kid,_ he thought to himself.

"That's what governments are for. Get in a man's way." Mal answered dryly.

"But it's good, if the supplies are needed," Dobson added.

Something in Riddick's head clicked, the way the man had been so quick to jump on the Alliance's defense at the first mention of bad mouthin' them, strange, 'specially on a ship in the black full of not so government friendly folks. Turns out this little fuck would be the one to watch.

"Yeah, we're just happy to be doin' good works," Jayne said through a mouthful of protein.

_Sure ya are,_ Riddick inwardly smirked.

"I hear a lot of the border moons are in bad shape. Plagues, and famine." Dobson continued.

"Well some of that's exaggerated and some of it ain't. All those moons, just like the central planets, they're as close to Earth-that-was as we could make 'em, atmosphere, gravity and such but…"

"Once they're terraformed, they'll dump settlers on there with nothin' but blankets and hatchets and maybe a herd. Some of 'em make it, some of them don't." Mal finished for her.

"Then I guess its good we're helping." Simon offered.

"You're a doctor right?" Kaylee asked him.

"Oh. Uh yes, I was a trauma surgeon on Osiris."

_Too much information kid,_ Riddick mentally warned.

"Long way from here," Mal grunted.

"You seem so young," Kaylee blushed, "Ya know to be a doctor and all."

"You're pretty young to be a ship's mechanic," Simon added hastily eager to turn the subject away from himself.

"No how." She waved him off, "Machines got workings they just talk to me," she shrugged.

Jayne eyed the exchange between the Doc and Kaylee, neither of him who seemed to notice his glare, Riddick however did, and he couldn't help but think things just kept gettin' more and more interesting. He bet whole lotta cashy money core boy was gonna get hurt 'fore this ride was through.

"Nothin' like bein' a doctor though," Kaylee went on, "helpin' to fix people, that's important."

"Hell, little Kaylee just wishes you was a gynecologist," Jayne chuckled bitterly.

If it were possible Kaylee turned an even brighter shade of red, and began to study her plate.

"Jayne, you will keep a civil tongue in that mouth or I will sew it closed _dong ma_ (understand me)?" Mal snapped.

"You don't pay me to talk pretty, just because Kaylee gets lubed up over some big city…" Jayne grumbled.

"Walk away from this table Jayne." Mal ordered.

Jayne paused a breath to glare at Mal before shoving himself away from the table and grabbing his plate, furious at bein' sent away like a gorram child. Riddick bit against the inside of his cheek to keep from outright laughing. After a minute of silence once the merc had gone Riddick looked up at the Captain to pose a question. "What do you pay him for?"

"What?"

"I was just wondering Captain Reynolds, what do you pay him for?"

Mal leveled his gaze on Riddick, "Public relations," he answered, knowing full well the other man didn't buy a gorram piece of it.

Riddick merely smirked and went back to his plate.

* * *

Riddick gave it a few hours for the others to settle into their routines on the ship before slipping his way down into the hold, he wanted a closer look at that box, he wanted to know what a core boy would be doin' on the run, what was in that box that was worth givin' up all that cashy money and easy livin'? Or rather more accurately, who? The size of the box bothered him the most, it was too small to be a man, had to be a women or a kid, some lover's spat gone bad?

He ran his fingers over the metal, cold to the touch, too cold to be anything but a cryobox, he rested his ear against it, the faintest trace of a heartbeat, metal was too thick to catch a scent through, and he was more than tempted to open it, probably would have too despite his better judgment, not on any moral standard, more because the curiosity was simply killing him, if it hadn't been for the slight echo of footsteps which sent him back into the shadows.

* * *

"Mal you might wanna get up here," Wash's voice came over the comm in Mal's bunk, and he didn't wait for an explanation, his tone told him enough.

"What is it?" He asked coming through the bridge hatch at a run.

"Signal. Somebody went on the Cortex hailed the nearest Alliance Cruiser."

"Tell me you scrambled it?" Mal demanded.

"All to hell. But I don't know how much got through. Alliance got a pin on us that's for sure."

"_Ta ma de _(fuck me blind)!" Mal swore.

"We got a mole on board."

Mal's face hardened as he ran through the passengers, weren't no way in hell it was his crew that was for damn sure, Jayne might like money but he wasn't a _gorram_ fool. Dobson, didn't strike him as the type, man was a bumblin' idioit, Richards, the one that'd asked him 'bout Jayne at dinner, he didn't walk like a purple belly, man was definitely a con, more likely to chew off his own hand 'fore callin' down the Alliance, that left Mr. Gorram Core boy. Mal had never wanted to shoot somebody more desperately in the whole of his life, ruttin' hell it'd been right in his face the entire _gorram_ time, ain't no reason for a Core bred doctor to up and leave for the Rim worlds.

"You keep a close eye on them boys," Mal told Wash, "Gonna get me some answers."

* * *

Simon nervously glanced around the bay, it was a risk coming down to check on the box, but the risk of it malfunctioning was even greater and he'd never been able to forgive himself if he lost her now over something so trivial as a malfunctioning cryobox. He frowned as he checked the gauges, he was going to have to figure out a way to recharge the battery cells on it, the little side trek to Whitefall had ruined everything.

"Forgot your toothpaste?"

Simon swung around startled by Mal's sudden appearance but before he had a chance to formulate anything close to a valid response, he was sprawled on the ground his left eye searing.

"Are you out of your mind?" Simon yelled at him, feeling his head.

"Just about. What'd you tell them?" He demanded.

From behind a stack of crates Riddick watched the exchange with an amused smile on his face; mayhap he wouldn't have to wait so long to find out what was inside the box after all.

"Tell who?" Simon asked pushing himself back up from the ground.

Mal drew his gun, pressing the cold metal directly in the center of Simon's forehead, Riddick leaned in for a better view, things were about to get real interestin', his smirk faded quickly as he watch that fuck Dobson creep his way out from the shadows, gun drawn and in hand.

"I got no time for games. What do they know?" Mal yelled at him.

"You're a lunatic!" Simon yelled back.

"And you're a gorram fed!" Mal accused.

"Hate to say it Captain, but you got the wrong man," Riddick's graveled voice came from behind them. It wasn't that he held weight on any side of this little party, he was on his own damn side, and right now what was best for his side was that gorram Fed not pickin' off the Captain and turnin' this ship over to his friends.

Mal and Simon both looked stunned as they looked at him, Simon more confused and afraid than when he had been hit, while Mal cursed himself for lookin' over the obvious answer. It took him a moment to realize however that Riddick was looking past them and his head slowly turned to the first man he had written off, "Son of a bitch." Mal swore.

"Drop that firearm Captain Reynolds," Dobson ordered.

"This is not my best day ever," Mal mumbled to himself as he set his gun down on the crate next to him and raised his hands.

"Simon Tam you are bound by law to stand down." Dobson spoke turning his focus back towards the doctor.

Riddick stepped closer.

It took another moment for Mal to realize it wasn't him about to be arrested, "You-what--? The doctor? Hey is there a reward?" He asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Get on the ground!" Dobson ordered.

Simon didn't move.

"Get on the ground!" He snapped louder.

"You're making a mistake," Simon tried.

"Best do what he says son, man looks a mite twitchy." Mal warned, eyeing his gun.

"Look a little nervous there, lawman." Riddick observed, slowly moving a closer.

"Ain't your business, not yet anyways Riddick," Dobson snapped, his gun nervously moving in the direction of the larger man, "Yeah I know who you are, Richard B. Riddick and the Alliance is goin' have a field day with your ass too, kiss the daylight good bye Riddick, shoulda stayed dead."

"Riddick?" Mal searched his memory for why that name seemed to ring so familiar but came up blank, it didn't overly matter much, wasn't not a one lookin' in his direction, and he tried to causally reach for his gun, after all at the moment he was one of the good guys right now, just a hapless Captain bein' takin' advantage of.

"Get the hell away from that weapon!" Dobson yelled at him, and focused his gun on him once more, "You think I'm a complete back birth? You're carrying two fugitives across interplanetary borders, and don't think for a second I believe you're bringing medical supplies to Whitefall. As far as I'm concerned everybody on this ship is culpable."

"Well now. That does change the landscape a bit." Mal answered him, his voice cold.

"All alone on this ship Dobson, a lot more of us then you," Riddick growled low, "Think you can take me down 'fore I get to you? Ain't no way in hell I'm goin' back to the Slam you _Tong meng _(Alliance) piece of shit. You put that gun down and I'll make it real quick, promise."

"I'll take my chances with my gun, you _xiong meng de kuang ren _(violent lunatic), you'll be lucky you live long enough to make it to a Slam after what you did to General McCorret, you fed the man his own fingers and tongue!"

Riddick stepped closer, noticing the shake in the man's hand, the slight tremble in his voice, and the sweet smell of fear which seeped from his every pore, "Now you see, that's a gross exaggeration there, I only cut off one finger, and that's cause me and that man had history, told 'im more than once I didn't like finger pointing, and I should mention, I'm even less a fan of gun pointing." His voice had dropped to a low gravelly whisper full of the promise of violence and pain, "As for his tongue, well needed to shut him the fuck up and I didn't have a gag handy, warned him more than once."

Mal opened and closed his jaw a few times, searching in vain for a proper response and finally gave up unable to formulate one, at least the focus was off of him, and again he eyed the distance between himself and his gun. Dobson however seemed a mite to tetchy for a stunt like that, it was obvious he had come for the boy and Riddick (which it was pissin' him off to no end that he couldn't figure where he'd heard that name before) had just been one big fuck up in his plans.

"I got a Cruiser on intercept," Dobson snorted, "so talk all you want. You got about twenty minutes."

"Might have less than that," Riddick growled.

"Yeah threaten me, we'll add it to the list of murders, kidnappings, and smuggling charges, what's another year in the Slam to a lifer anyway?"

Riddick smirked and took another step closer, he was less than an arm's length away now, and the trembling in Dobson's arm had spread throughout his body.

"I will shoot you down Riddick!" Dobson snapped.

"No you won't," Riddick chuckled knowingly, "Worth too much alive, might not be a merc but you'll still get a taste of that reward for my ass, you willin' to give that up iffin' I'm dead?"

Mal watched the exchange with intensity, trying to gauge the man's distraction, versus his seemingly constant state of trigger happy gun pointin' 'verses his chances of gettin' shot, and it didn't look good, so he did the only thing he could think of, when all else failed, confuse the hell out of 'em. "Just take the boy!" Mal snapped grabbing a hold of Simon and jerking him forward.

"Get your hands off of me!" Simon protested struggling against Mal's hold. The shouting had started to call attention to itself and Mal could hear the footsteps of the crew echoing through the bay.

"Stand down!" Dobson shouted his gun leaving Riddick and goin' back towards Mal and Simon.

"Hey what's goin'… "Dobson spun, startled by the sudden yell across the ship, and Kaylee's sentence was cut short as a bullet tore through her stomach. She looked down in utter disbelief, as blood coated her finger tips.

The smell of blood unleashed a cold fury inside of Riddick, everything and everyone else fading from his vision as something deep inside him snarled, and he lunged for Dobson.

"Kaylee!" Inara yelled, racing down from the walkway, Mal released his hold around Simon and followed suit.

Jayne who had entered the bay a step behind Kaylee, drew his gun a snarl curling over his lip.

Dobson seemed surprised the gun had even fired and Riddick used his distraction to wrench the gun out of his hand, twisting back and up he spun him, catching the fuck's throat with the curve of his shiv, "Shoulda given up the gun _ri shao gou shi bing _(pile of sun baked shit)," he raised his shiv, to draw a line down the Fed's cheek, one arm holding him firmly in place by a grip around his neck, "nows I'm just pissed, had a good little thing goin' bein' dead and all and you had to go and fuck that up, ain't pleased Dobson, ain't pleased at all."

"Allow me," Jayne said storming up and cocking back his gun, "You can cut some holes in him while I blow some holes in 'em."

"Jayne!" Zoe snapped from above him, her gun leveled, "Just tie him up," She ordered. "Do it!" She snapped when his hesitation lasted longer than she liked.

Jayne and Riddick exchanged a long glance, one word passing unspoken between them, '_Later', _and Jayne reholstered his weapon and Riddick's shiv disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, though Riddick did plant his boot in the back of the fuck's right kneecap."Where to?"

Jayne snorted, "We'll tie 'im up in his dorm." He cast a last nervous glance as Kaylee's prone figure, the rest of the crew hoverin' over her, he wouldn't 'ave been of any use there no how.

"Put something under her head," Simon ordered, shutting down into doctor mode.

Inara pulled off her robe and bunched it beneath her head.

"Ain't hardly a mosquito bite," Mal said for Kaylee's benefit but, grimaced exchanging a look with Inara which told a very different story.

"Big…mosquito…" Kaylee managed to smile weakly.

"Can you move your feet? Kaylee," Simon snapped his fingers in front of her face, "Kaylee stay with me. Can you feel your feet?"

"You askin'… me to dance?" She asked softly, her eyes beginning to roll back.

"_Mei-mei _ (Little Sister), you have to focus." Inara urged her.

"The infirmary working?" Simon asked as Kaylee cried out in pain, her small voice echoing throughout the bay, burning Mal's ears.

"We got it stocked." Mal told him as they moved to pick her up.

"Captain, we've been hailed by an Alliance Cruiser. Ordered to stay on course and dock for prisoner transfer." Wash's voice came over the comm.

Mal and Simon focused their gazes on each other, ending when Simon rose and calmly stepped away from Kaylee, "Change course, Run."

"Hell with you! You brought this down on us, I'm dumpin' you with the law!" Mal snapped.

"Mal…" Inara tried to caution him.

"She's dying," Simon stated matter of factly.

"You're not gonna let her," Mal informed him.

"I am." Simon assured him, unable to bring himself to look down at the girl withering in pain and bleeding out at his feet.

"You can't." Mal said almost pleadingly as he rose.

"No way the Feds are gonna let us walk," Zoe interjected, something needed to happen and it needed to happen now.

"Then we dump him in the shuttle and leave him for them."

"Everybody's so mad…" Kaylee spoke suddenly, her voice soft and sweetly broken, her eyes unable to focus on any one particular thing.

"It's okay _mei-mei,_" Inara tried to sooth her.

"You know what a stomach wound does to a person?" Simon challenged the captain.

"I surely do," Mal's voice was ice against glass.

"Then you know how crucial the next few minutes are."

"You let her die, you'll never make it to the Feds," Zoe assured him.

"She'll still be dead," Simon countered.

Mal glared at him, "You rich kids, you think your lives are the only things that matter. What'd ya do? Kill your folks for the family fortune?" Mal accused.

"I don't kill people."

"Then do your gorram job!" Mal shouted.

"Turn the ship around!" Simon demanded.

"Enough! Mal just do it!" Inara cried unable to listen to Kaylee's whimpers any longer, the girl was bleeding badly, she had never seen so much before in her life.

Mal wheeled on Inara, "Don't ever tell me…" His demand was cut off by another scream from Kaylee, he made his choice.

"Zoe change course!" Mal ordered not taking his eyes off Simon.

"Help me get her up," Simon told him as Zoe flicked on the comm.

"Wash," she called into it, "change course and go for hard burn baby, we're runnin'."

* * *

"I can't do anything more until she stabilizes." Simon said wearily, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Will she?" Mal asked, his face hard.

"I can't say." Simon admitted quietly.

"What can you say?" Inara demanded.

"Me, myself," Riddick spoke pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning against, "I'm a mite curious as to what's inside that cryobox." He smirked as the Simon's face went pale.

"Cryobox?" Jayne quirked an eyebrow.

"That's what it is, ain't it Doc?" Riddick asked.

"And what about you?" Simon demanded desperate to turn the focus away from himself, "Thought you said your name was Richards, Dobson called you Riddick, said you were wanted for murder."

Mal shifted his gaze, he had quite overlooked that detail what with the bullets and all, he was a bit curious to that fact as well.

"Ain't me that Fed bordered this boat for," Riddick reminded the crew.

It was rare that Jayne was the first to catch on to anything, but a sudden look of understanding crossed his face as he pieced together a name with a face, feelin' gorram stupid as ruttin' hell he'd hadn't seen it before, any merc worth his guns knew the name Richard B. Riddick, man was supposed to be a ghost though, probably why he hadn't seen it sooner. "_Qing wa kao de liu mang_ (frog humping son of a bitch)!" He swore, "Ruttin' Richard B. Riddick."

Riddick growled.

Instinctively, Jayne took a step back.

"Jayne, you know 'im?" Mal asked, Simon temporarily forgotten.

"Hell man's worth near a million creds, 'course I know 'im."

Mal let out a whistle.

Riddick continued to growl.

"Ain't a bounty hunter," Jayne defended, scowling himself a little bit at the thought of turnin' another con in, just wasn't honorable, "I'm all for an honest bit of crime, my hands ain't no cleaner than yours, well," he shrugged, "mayhap a bit, but that ain't the point."

"Ain't find any of us on board are willin' to turn a man over to the Alliance iffin' we got a choice in the matter." Mal said, "Ya did take down that Fed and I'm grateful for that, mind we'll have some words once we're clear of this."

"What about me?" Simon demanded, "You were gonna hand me over?"

"Didn't have a choice in the matter, you ain't crew, wasn't 'bout to lose my ship for your sorry _pig gu _(ass). Riddick's right on the account of that man boarded lookin' for you, and find you he did, which brings us back to the point, what have you got stowed away in that box?"

Simon refused to answer.

"Fine than, let's find out the hard way shall we?" Mal asked and turned to head for the bay.

"You can't!" Simon yelled after him quickly following as did Riddick and the rest of the crew.

**

Simon reached the bay just as Mal was tearing off the smaller boxes that rested atop the cryobox.

"Stop!" Simon went to lunge for Mal but was easily caught and held back by Jayne who wrapped one arm of solid muscle around the Doc's neck, effectively stopping him and silencing him at the same time. Jayne liked to think he was good at multi taskin' in situations such as these.

Mal pulled the box farther out and powered down the crate, without hesitation he yanked down hard on the locking lever, "Now let's see what a man like you would kill for." he said as he kicked the top of the crate free with his boot.

Both Mal and Riddick stepped forward to lean in for a closer look, laying inside, curled into a tight ball, surrounded by aerogel, IVs laced through her arms, was the naked form of a girl. Mal recoiled in disgust, while Riddick took a second to admire the girl's legs before turning his gaze back to Simon, entirely too eager to hear the story behind this one.

Simon tried to wrestle himself free from Jayne, who had loosened his grip to just holding his arms, and wasn't about to loosen it any further. "I need to check her vitals!" Simon pleaded.

"Oh is that what they call it?" Mal asked.

Riddick refocused his attention back to the girl as he heard the slight change in the rhythm of her heartbeat, girl was about to wake up.

"She's not supposed to wake up for another week, the shock alone could…"

"The shock of what?" Mal snapped, "Waking up? Finding out she's been sold to some border world baron? Or, I'm sorry is this one for you? Is it true love? 'Cause you seem…"

Mal didn't have a chance to finish, his words were cut off by the sudden terrified shrieking of the girl as she lurched out of the box behind him, Mal actually giving a little yelp of his own, caught so completely off guard by the suddenness of it. For a moment no one did anything, as the girl screamed scrambling out of the box and onto the grating, back crawling wild eyed and breathing hard.

Jayne too shocked by Naked Girl to process anything else, released Simon who dove for her. She screamed at his touch.

"River, it's me Simon, It's okay I'm here," he told her pulling her into his arms and clutching her tightly he whispered the mantra again and again until she understood and calmed. The whole of the crew had not moved a muscle.

River managed to lock onto her brother's eyes, catching hold of a fleeting bit of clarity she clutched at it, "Simon?" she asked timidly, eyeing the others watching her, bombarded by sensation, thought, and emotion from every direction.

"River," her name left his lips like a prayer.

"Simon," she whispered, a new wave of emotions overwhelming her, causing her words stumble over one another as she tried to speak them, "Simon… They talk to me, they want me to talk… to talk… to talk."

"Sshh it's okay. They're gone, they're gone. I'm here and we're safe now, we're safe." He continued to try to sooth her.

"What the hell is this?" Mal was the first to regain himself.

"This is my sister." Simon admitted tucking the trembling girl closer to himself.

* * *

Simon stared at the faces waiting for him to speak, everyone save River and Kaylee, he swallowed hard before beginning. "I am very smart." He took another breath, "Went to the best Medacad on Osiris, top three percent in my class, I finished my internship in eight months. Gifted is the term. I tell you this because when I say my sister makes me look like a drooling idiot child, I want you to understand my full meaning."

Riddick stood a little straighter, more than a little interested in what the Doc had to say, as to why, he had not a gorram clue, but he was interested all the same.

"River was more than gifted. She was," Simon paused and Zoe had to swallow back her emotion at the small but infinitely loving smile that crossed the Doc's lips, "She was a gift. Everything she did, music, maths, theoretical physics, even dance, there was nothing that didn't come as easily to her as breathing does for anyone of us. She could be a real brat about it too," Simon paused realizing he was losing his train of thought as Jayne stood to refill his tea cup, "She's just eighteen, just like anyone else, except," Simon paused again, "She _**understands**_**.**" Frustrated Simon ran both his hands through his hair, "Everything, too much," he shook his head to order his thoughts. "There was a school, a, uh, government sponsored academy, we'd never heard of it, but it had the most exciting program, the most challenging, we could have sent her anywhere, but she wanted to go, she just wanted to learn. She was just fifteen. I got a few letters at first, then nothing for months. Finally I got a letter that made no sense. She talked about things that never happened, jokes we never had… it was a code. It just said, 'There hurting us. Get me out.'" Simon choked on his last few words.

"How'd ya do it?" Riddick interrupted, curious as to how a pampered core boy could manage to break into a government run lab, he'd been in more than a few himself, some of 'em locked up tighter than a few of the Slams he'd been in.

"Money," Simon admitted, "Money and luck. For three years I couldn't get near her, but I was contacted by some men, some kind of an underground movement. They said she was in danger, that the government was playing with her brain. If I funded them they could get me in, get her to Persephone and from there I could take her wherever."

"That's quite a story," Inara said, exhaling deeply, chilled to her core over the evils of a government she trusted. "Will she be alright?"

"I don't know if she'll be alright. I don't know what they did to her or why… I just have to keep her safe."

"Yeah, a tale of woe, truly stirring, but in the mean time you've heaped a world of trouble on me and mine." Mal stepped forward.

"I never thought that…"

"No, I don't imagine you did, in consequence of which we got a kidnapped federal officer on board, the Alliance hot on our trail, and Kaylee…" Mal couldn't bring himself to finish.

"How much does the Alliance know?" Zoe turned to ask her husband who was seated behind her.

"Can't say." He shrugged, "I killed the message pretty quick, so they just might have our position." He shrugged.

"Or they might have personal files on each and every one of us. 'Til that Fed wakes up we won't know."

"What'd we do?" Jayne asked.

Mal took a moment to think, his eyes raking over his crew and finally resting on Inara, before his decision was made, "The job. We finish the job and get paid." Jayne nodded in approval as Mal continued, "I got word from Patience she's waitin' for us. We circle round to Whitefall make the deal, get out, keep flying."

"What about us?" Simon asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Kaylee comes through you and your sister'll get off on Whitefall."

"And if she doesn't?" Simon cleared his throat.

"Then you'll get out a mite sooner."

"That would be murder," Inara glared hard at Mal.

"Boy made a decision."

"He didn't shoot her." She snapped.

"But somebody did on this boat," Jayne interrupted rising, feeling a fresh wave of anger roll over him, "and I'm scracthin' my head as to why we ain't dealt with him."

"Kill a Fed?" Zoe asked him incredulously, "Can you think of a stupider thing to do?"

"He can ID us all," Jayne snapped right back at her.

"Merc's got a point." Riddick interjected.

"Don't remember givin' you a vote on this ship, just cause I ain't turnin' you in don't mean I'm takin' you on neither."

Riddick growled, "You're right Mal, I ain't you're crew mind that in the tone you use with me."

"You threatenin' me?" Mal demanded.

"Ain't me you should be focusin' on Captain."

"You want to throw me out of the airlock Captain that's fine, but River's not a part of this!" Simon snapped at him.

"Can we maybe vote on this whole issue of murdering people?" Wash asked reproachfully.

"We don't vote on my ship, 'cause my ship ain't the ruttin' town hall."

"This is insanity Mal," Inara cut him off only to be cut off by Wash.

"I happen to think we're way beyond that now Sir," he spat at the last word before looking at Zoe, "Come on we're gonna talk this through right baby?"

Zoe didn't answer, she wasn't about to go against Mal's orders, she'd been followin' them too long now to do any different, even if that meant siding against her husband, who looked truly pissed.

"Anybody gonna get kilt, should be that Fed," Riddick snapped, about done tired over arguin' the point and a hair's breath away from just stormin' in there and doin' it himself.

"_Ni men dou bi zui!_ (Everyone shut up!)," Mal silenced them, "Way it is, is the way it is, gotta deal with what's in front of us.

"Mal you know those two wouldn't survive a day in Whitefall anyway. You throw them out and I'm leaving too." Inara told him softly.

"Might be best you do. You ain't a apart of this business," Mal told her, furious over being challenged again by her, and even more so at her threat to leave, he held her gaze a moment before turning to storm back to his bunk, he needed to think.

"And what business is that?" Simon demanded following him.

Mal spun on his heel giving the young doctor a murderous glare.

"I'm a dead man anyway, I can't know? Gold? Drugs? Pirate's treasure? What is it that makes you so afraid of the Alliance?"

"You don't wanna go down this road with me boy," Mal warned.

"Oh so you're not afraid of them? I already know you'd sell me out to them for a pat on the head, hell you should probably be working for them, you certainly would fit the profile…"

Simon's words were cut off as for the second time in only a handful of hours he found himself sprawled on the ship's floor, head throbbing from another vicious blow.

"Hell saw that coming," Riddick chuckled low, "'bout to do it myself."

"You and me both brother," Jayne snorted.


	3. Serenity III

"Shouldn't you be watching Dobson?" Simon asked curtly to the two large men lounging in the common area outside the infirmary.

"Zoe don't seem think we can be trusted 'round the man on our own." Jayne smirked tossing a puffed protein snack into his mouth, "'Sides I'd rather be here to remind you what happens if little Kaylee over there dies."

Simon's brow furrowed, "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Before Simon could blink Jayne had drawn his gun and leveled it on the doctor without so much as lookin' in his direction.

Simon swallowed hard, forcing his voice to be steady, "And I suppose you'll help right? Draw it out, make it painful?" He asked Riddick bitterly.

"Nope doc, ya heard the Captain, I ain't crew, just a spectator." Riddick shrugged tossing down one of Jayne's gun magazines he had been flipping through. He did however leave out the part that he was mainly spectatin' on the girl, her smell was soaking into his every pore, somethin' wild and brittle tainted by the last of the cryo drugs movin' through her system and whatever the gorram hell her brother had shot her up with to make her sleep. He knew what the Alliance was capable of, he'd seen it, committed it with his own hands, was the reason he was a convict now, was the reason he cut off the General's finger and assorted other parts that had been left out of the official reports when he'd finally caught up with him again.

The doc had said girl was a genius, iffin' he wasn't really exaggeratin', he could see where the Alliance might find use for it, and he knew gorram well the Alliance had no issue with cuttin' on kids. Riddick felt his boil start to slowly boil, could feel that thing inside him stirring, he needed to think on other things.

"So you're Captain was a brown coat?" Riddick asked with careful indifference resting his boots on the table, he could see Simon's head prick up a little from inside the infirmary.

"Yeah, wouldn't bring it up, sore spot of sorts," Jayne snorted, "He and Zoe served together at the Battle of Serenity, ask me bit morbid to name a ship after somethin' like that, mayhap why the man's always gettin' shot."

"It's cause once you've been to a place like Serenity," Riddick said low, "you don't ever leave, just learn to carry it with you."

Jayne raised an eyebrow, "You served?"

"Nah," Riddick lied, "Just been a few places like that 'fore is all."

* * *

Alone for a few minutes in his room Simon pulled his portable encyclopedia from his bag and powering it up he spoke, "Serenity." Instantly a list of search results came up, "SERENITY, BATTLE OF" being top on that list. Simon touched the link, "Read."

A deceptively soft voice began to filter through his bunk, "In the war to reunite the planets, The Battle of Serenity was amongst the most devastating and decisive. Located on Hera, the valley was considered a key position by both sides, and was bitterly fought over. The Independent Faction with sixteen brigades and twenty air tank squads, held the valley against the Alliance for nearly two months, until superior numbers and brilliant…"

"What does it say under bloodbath?" Zoe asked appearing in his doorway; Simon fumbled and shut down the reader.

"I was just trying to…"

"We're not in there. The book, I mean. We're not generals or diplomats; we didn't turn the tide of glorious history or whatever that thing is supposed to spew." She said bitterly.

"You know what they say: History is written by the winners," Simon shrugged uncomfortably.

"Nearly half a million people lay dead on that field at day's end, about a third of them 'winners'. Can you imagine that smell? Can you imagine piling up bodies of soldiers…of friends to build a wall 'cause you ain't got cover," Zoe's voice nearly broke, she bit it back, "Blood just kept pouring out of 'em, you'd slip in it, find out bloodbath isn't just a figure of speech."

"Mal was there with you?" Simon asked.

Zoe finally entered and crossed the room to sit on his bed, not wanting to admit her legs couldn't support her anymore, "He was my Sergeant, in command of thirty odd grunts…five days in there were so many officers dead he commanded two thousand. Kept us together, kept us fightin', kept us sane. By the time the fightin' was over he had barely four hundred intact."

"That's a hell of a…"

"I said the fightin' was over," Zoe interrupted him, "the dyin' wasn't. You see they left us there. Wounded and sick, and near to mad as can still walk and talk. Both sides left us there while they negotiated the peace. For a _**week**_. And we just kept dyin'. When they finally sent in the Medships, he had 'bout a hundred and fifty left, and outta his original platoon, just me." Zoe paused to stand before continuing, "Mercy, forgiveness, trust, those are things he left back there. What he has now is the ship, the ship and us on it. You get Kaylee through this and I think he'll do right by you. He won't kill unless he's got no other option."

"What if he tells you to kill me?"

"I kill you." Zoe answered plainly and without hesitation.

Simon smiled grimly, "Just getting the lay of the land."

Zoe nodded and turned to leave.

"If that battle was so horrible, why did he name the ship after it?"

"Once you've been in Serenity, you never leave. Just learn to live there." She answered before walking out, leaving Simon to mull over the similarities between her and Riddick's answers.

* * *

Mal bolted through the cockpit door, Wash's eyes were locked on the screen in front of him, a slight hint of apprehension. "How the hell did they find us? I thought you said we could get around them?"

"It's not Alliance," Wash told him, but didn't seem any relieved by the notion himself.

"You're sure?"

"It's a smaller vessel."

"Commercial?" Mal asked.

"Uh yeah, I read it as an older model, Trans U."

"I didn't think Trans Us still operated."

"They don't." Wash leaned back in his chair, one hand nervously tapping on the console in front of him.

"Get me a visual." Mal ordered.

"There still too far out for a visual."

"Get me something!" Mal barked at him.

"I'm picking up a lot of radiation," Wash told him after checking another monitor, reading something off one of the screens, "it looks like their burning without core containment," he said incredulously. "That's, well that's _zu sha zhu yi _(suicide)." He looked at Mal, something passing between the two of them as the pieces fell together simultaneously.

"Reavers," Mal spoke, his face going pale as he watched the tiny speck getting closer to them through the front window.

"Oh god…oh god, oh god." For once there was not even a trace of humor to Wash's sheer panic.

Mal reached for the comm, swallowing hard once before he spoke, "This is the captain."

* * *

Riddick wandered into the infirmary, his ears taking in the steady beating of both sleeping girls' hearts. That thing inside of him growled low, he didn't much care for womenfolk bein' cut on and shot at, well unlessin' they was shootin' first, that was another story entirely, the few morals he had left went straight out the gorram hatch the minute someone started shootin' at him.

Kaylee didn't look much like the shootin' type, her finger nails were dirty with engine grease not gun oil, she didn't carry around that look in her eye either, girl was liable to end up dead one day he figured unlessin' she hardened up a bit, the fact didn't still well with him, though he wasn't really sure why he cared at all, this ship was just supposed to be a ride to the next ass crack of a rock, though he had to admit a small part of him was glad it was turnin' out to be somethin' much more amusin'.

And there was the little slip of a thing layin' on the other side of the infirmary. He took the three steps to River's bed and absently picked up a strand of her hair, twisting it around his finger. "What secrets you got girl?" He rumbled low, just under his breath.

As if to answer the girl suddenly twitched in her sleep. Riddick immediately dropped the strand of hair he'd been playing with and took a step back, watching her eyes dart around beneath her lids, her heart rate sped up and absolute terror seeped from her pores. Riddick found himself growling, Jack used to act like that, right before she'd wake up screaming. She'd scream and thrash, yelling for him to come and save her. He was debating whether or not to go and get the girl's brother when she suddenly shot up, and slowly turned her head to face him.

"What secrets you got?" She asked in a startlingly accurate mimicry of Riddick's voice.

"Asked you first girl," Riddick smirked.

"They're coming." She said as her eyes grew wide.

His smirk vanished immediately, "Who?"

River did not reply, she merely stared at him, muttering lowly to herself in Mandarin, he was about to demand she either stop being so damn creepifying or tell him who the fuck was coming when Mal's voice came on over the comm system.

"This is the Captain."

"He mustn't tell." River told him quietly, "He mustn't tell, I gave him a secret and I want one as well."

*

Zoe had been no more than four steps outside of Simon's bunk when Mal's voice came over the speakers and she paused to listen, Simon poking his head out into the hallway as well. In her shuttle Inara placed down her tea cup, and in his bunk Jayne rolled his eyes and with a grunt pushed himself up into a sitting position on his bed.

*

"We're passing another ship." Mal said stonily, "Looks to be Reavers. From the size probably a raiding party. Could be they're headed somewhere particular, could be they've already hit somewhere and are full up. So everybody stay calm."

*

"Stay here girl," Riddick growled and broke out into a run, tracing the merc's scent to his bunk.

*

Jayne was the farthest thing from calm, as he tore down a decorative blanket hanging across his wall to reveal his girls, all twenty seven of them, something in the familiar gleam of shining metal, the comforting weight of Vera in his hands calmed him, helped him focus. Sure as shit he wasn't gonna go down without takin' a few of those gorram savages with 'im.

He did slightly jump however at the sudden banging on his bunk door, "Gorram it Jayne, open this fuckin' door, ain't gonna be ate and I know you got 'nough guns down to blow a hole in the ass of the 'verse." Riddick barked from the other side.

Jayne hit the door latch and Riddick jumped down, "Shot gun or assault rifle?" he asked.

Riddick smirked, the creature inside him salivating, "Both."

"My kind of man," Jayne answered tossing him the guns, "Bullets are in the trunk."

*

"We try to run," Mal continued after a pause, "they'll have to chase us, it's their way. We're holding course. They should pass us in a minute; we'll see what they do. Zoe you come on up to the bridge."

*

Simon stopped Zoe before she could race up the stairs, "I don't understand."

"You've never heard of Reavers?" She asked impatiently.

"Camp fire stories," Simon shrugged, "Men gone savage at the edge of space killing and raping."

"They're not stories." She told him stonily.

"What happens if they board us?" Simon asked fear creeping into his voice.

"If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh and sew our skins into their clothing, and if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order." She turned on heel and ran like hell for the bridge, leaving a gaping open mouthed Simon standing there, though it only took him a moment more to head for his sister. What had he done?

*

In her shuttle Inara fumbled through a chest of drawers, her hand trembled as she removed a small wooden box and opened the lid to reassure herself the contents remained intact, a thin syringe filled with an ebony colored liquid, she clutched it to her chest.

*

Jayne and Riddick were silent as they loaded every weapon in Jayne's arsenal, filling their pockets with as much ammo as they could fit. "Your girl's helpless in the infirmary." Riddick remarked almost absently.

"Ain't mine," Jayne answered, though the words came out with an edge.

"Still where you were plannin' on makin' your stand." It wasn't a question.

"Damn straight." Jayne said, slamming a round into Vera.

Riddick really didn't give a flying shit about the mechanic with a bullet wound, the crazy girl he owed a secret to, she was another matter entirely.

*

Zoe entered the cockpit saying nothing as she slipped in behind her husband and rested a hand on his shoulder, which he covered with his own, her eyes wide with fear as the Reaver ship, nearly twice the size of their own moved closer.

"Magnetic grappler," Wash pointed out, "They get us with that…"

Mal wouldn't let him finish, "Just tell me if they alter course," his eyes never left the the cockpit window as the Reaver ship passed so close he felt he could reach out and touch it.

*

Minutes passed… a perfumed woman steeled herself to take her own life, and as two battle hardened soldiers stared death in the face unblinkingly, a pilot wished fervently he had never stepped foot in the stars, grateful they hadn't had children. Below them a young mechanic fought for her life, all the while unaware it might have been in vain, while a brilliant doctor and now wanted felon prepped an easy death for the girl he gave everything to save, while two men, no more than trained apes in his eyes stood armed to the teeth in the infirmary doorway, all this was done in silence, even Serenity herself seemed to hold her very breath terrified by the possibility of violation.

*

"They're holding course," Wash said calmly though he wanted to scream it at the top of his lungs.

Mal let out the breath he didn't realized he had been holding, relief flooding his face as he looked at the other two.

"I guess they weren't hungry," Wash said softly, "Sure didn't expect to see them out here."

"They're pushin' out further and further every year too." Zoe remarked, the faintest trace of fear in her voice

"Gettin' awful crowded in my sky," Mal answered bitterly as he hit the comm, "Jayne? Riddick with you?"

* * *

Dobson didn't bother to look up at the Captain as the duct tape was ripped off his lips, although the two mercs whom had followed the Captain into the room gave the man a pause. His face was grim but something in the looks the other two were giving him made him want to run screaming.

"I'm in a tricky position," Mal said letting out a huff of air, "but I guess you know, got me a boat load of terribly strange folk makin' my life more interestin' than I generally like," Mal paused, "No offense Riddick." He added as an afterthought before continuing, "' Cause strangely enough, it ain't the escaped convicted felon I'm most concerned over, know what's concernin' me most Jayne?"

"Hell Capt', iffin' I had to guess I'd say it's the gorram Alliance mole that likes to shoot at girls when he's nervous." Jayne growled out.

"Yeah Jayne, I'd say that was it," Mal answered, though his eyes never left the Fed. "And now I got mindless savages just itchin' to rip off my flesh and wear it as a party hat on one side of me and on the other side I got the Law. Honestly, not sure which one I like less. Now I got to know how close the Alliance is, 'xactly how much you told 'em 'fore Wash scrambled the call. So I've given Jayne and Riddick here the job of finding out."

Riddick pulled at a long shiv curved ever so slightly at the end as to hook on a man's flesh as he tore.

"He was nonspecific as to how," Jayne smirked, brandishing a blade of his own and scratching behind his ear with it. "Riddick and I been throwin' around a couple of ideas though."

Mal suddenly had a bad feelin' about his whole leavin' the Fed with Jayne and Riddick plan, "Only got to scare 'em." Mal whispered harshly.

"Pain is scary." Riddick defended.

"Man's got a point Cap," Jayne said grinning widely at Dobson, just itchin' to release some tension on the purple bellied Fed.

"Just do it right." Mal snapped before leaving the dorm.

"What'd you suppose he meant by that Riddick? Do it right?" Jayne asked with exaggerated curiosity, taking a seat on the bunk across from the Fed.

"Don't know Jayne, suppose we'll have to just do it our way and hope that's what the Captain meant." Riddick shrugged pushing off the wall he had been leaning against.

Jayne chuckled, "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" Dobson demanded, his eyes nervously jumping from blade to blade.

"Gee, ain't never been in trouble with the law before," Jayne mocked him, flipping his shiv in his hand a few times.

"And as you pointed out before you little shit, what's the difference to a lifer?" Riddick rumbled.

"Not like this you haven't. Neither one of you have a clue. You think this is just a smugglin' rap? The package that boy is carrying…"

"Yeah, it's a girl, we saw that, kinda cute too," Jayne cut him off.

"Got nice legs," Riddick added, "Don't think she's all there," he smirked, making a crazy in the head gesture with the hand holding his shiv, "but then again, I've been told 'fore I ain't quite all there either." He lowered his voice to a whisper and knelt down in front of the Dobson next to Jayne, dragging his shiv along the Fed's thigh, not hard enough to break the skin, just a small reminder of what he would be in store for.

"Believe the words they use in them bounties is, criminally insane," Jayne smirked, "you ever been cut on by a criminally insane person?" He asked looking at Dobson, "Can't imagine it's real pleasurable, gotta be worse than your average run of the mill criminal."

"That girl is a precious commodity," Dobson told him shortly, "They'll keep coming, long after you bury me, they'll keep coming."

"Ain't planning on killin' ya Dobson," Jayne half chuckled, "Hey what's your first name?" he asked. "I like to get to know a man 'fore I start cuttin' on him, makes it more personal like, don't ya think Riddick?"

"Don't matter much to me," Riddick growled out, "more interested in iffin' he told them my name, cause see I had this nice little cover goin' of bein' dead and all." He said increasing the pressure of his shiv ever so slightly.

"They know everything!" Dobson spat out closing his eyes, "Every name, every record, every…every nose hair you have!" He cracked an eye open as he felt the pressure instantly removed from his thigh.

"Gorram it!" Jayne swore getting up and kicking the bunk wall, "They don't know a damn thing. It's all over your face, and I ain't even," Jayne's sentence dissolved into a growl, "I was goin' get me an ear too." He huffed disappointed

Riddick snorted, he was more than a little disappointed himself, "Pathetic shit," he snarled kicking the man's chair and knocking him over, ever so slightly satisfied by the crack as the fuck's head hit the grating, "Ain't you a gorram officer of the law? I know they teach you fucks to withstand interrogation."

"Can't even tell a goddamn lie." Jayne bitched planting a boot into the Fed's stomach considerin' Riddick got to tip over his chair.

"Okay, I can see now you're not idiots," Dobson said groaning, his voice slightly muffled.

"Wish I could say the same Dobson, 'cause this is disappointin' as hell." Jayne complained sitting down on the bed with a huff.

"Let me speak a language you can both understand, money. This girl is worth a lot of money, I mean a lot. You kill me there's nothing, but help me out and there will be enough to buy you both each your own ship. A better one than this piece of crap."

Jayne snorted, "It just gets worse and worse don't it?"

Dobson looked confused.

"Hell, Riddick's worth damn near a million himself, 'course I ain't turnin' on him 'cause man's got a knack for escapin'. Only a gorram fool rats on man good at escapin'. Ain't gonna lie, mighta considered it iffin' you waited to get me alone, iffin' for nothin' else than to piss all over Core boy's day, but now Riddick here knows all 'bout it and he's been sniffin' round that crazy girl since she popped up all naked outta that box, ain't about to turn on what's his neither, that'd be twice as ruttin' painful." Jayne answered him honestly, in truth in another life, without Riddick bein' around he mighta just taken the Fed up on the offer, but as much as Jayne liked money, he liked not gettin' dead a whole lot more.

Riddick's head jerked up.

"What?" Jayne shrugged, "You wanted down in that infirmary just as much me, ain't as dumb as everybody thinks I am, even this gorram _gou neong yung de_ (son of a bitch) sees that." He snorted jabbing his shiv in the Fed's direction.

Riddick chuckled, "Don't live long in our line of work iffin' you ain't."

Jayne glared at the Fed one last time before standing to report back to the captain, "Gorram ruttin' disappointment, been days without a damn tussel, just the promise of one everywhere I gorram turn, nothin' but let down after fuckin' let down, worse than tryin' to get into a tease's pants."

Riddick froze before exiting completely, "Just 'cause I'm walking away now Dobson don't mean I ain't comin' back," he said without turning around, adding with a smirk as he hit the light controls, "hope you're not afraid of the dark."

* * *

Mal stood in the infirmary, in the same spot Riddick had stood moments before the Reavers showed up, watching the sleeping girl all the fuss was about. Didn't look like much, just the slip of a half grown thing, what could possibly be so special 'bout the girl the Alliance had such an itch on their ass on over getting' her back? He didn't realize it than, nor would he for several years to come, but that was the exact moment he made his choice.

"Captain?" Kaylee's weak voice came from his left.

"Hey there _mei-mei ._What's the news?" His voice was soft and gentle, a tone even Zoe would be surprised to hear.

"I'm shiny Captain, A-okay," she slurred weakly, "Can't feel much below my belly though," her voice faded, and her gaze drifted off, "And I'm getting' a bit cold, I'll have that heat fixed soon as I'm movin' 'gain Cap, promise."

Mal turned away to get a blanket for her, grateful for a moment to compose his face, "You just gotta rest. Somethin' on this boat worse than the heat is bound to break real soon, and who else I got to fix it?"

"Don't worry none," Kaylee told him sweetly, her arm moving in the general direction of his arm reaching out for his hand, which he gave her, "Doc fixed me up pretty. He's nice." She smiled sleepily.

"Don't go workin' too hard on that crush _mei-mei_, Doc won't be with us for long."

"You're nice too." She smiled at him.

"No, I'm not. I'm a mean old man." He told her gently.

"He wasn't gonna let me die. He just wanted to…" her voice turned serious trying to make him understand her through the haze of her thoughts and slurred words, "It's nobody's fault. Promise me you'll remember that."

"I'll keep it in mind."

"You are a nice man Cap, always lookin' out for us," her voice began to trail off as sleep threatened to overtake her, but she continued to smile, "Gotta…gotta have faith in people."

Mal didn't answer, his gaze had drifted towards the sleeping girl opposite Kaylee.

"She's a real beauty ain't she?" Kaylee added smiling still as she followed her captain's gaze, and then darkness overtook her and her hand slid from Mal's.


	4. SerenityIV

"Thank you," Simon said to Inara gratefully.

"It's just a standard Companion immunization package. I'm not sure if any of it will even help."

"It won't hurt, the supplies down there are pretty rudimentary."

"Is there anything else I can do?" Inara offered genuinely.

"I don't think so but I appreciate it." He turned to leave, but Inara's voice stopped him.

"Kaylee's very dear, to all of us." She added quickly.

"I'm sorry," Simon looked away, fumbling his words, "for my part in what happened, I've never… I don't know what to do." He confessed.

"You're lost in the woods. We all are. Even the Captain, the only difference is he likes it that way." She said gently.

"No the difference is," Mal cut in entering Inara's shuttle unannounced, "the woods are the only place I can see a clear path," and then he turned on Simon, his face hard, his voice icy, "What's your business here?"

"It's my business, the usual," Inara told him cuttingly, "I gave the boy a free thrust since he's not long for this world. What are you doing in my shuttle Mal?"

"It's my shuttle, you rent it." Mal spat out.

"Then when I am behind on the rent you can enter unasked." She retorted evenly.

Simon took it as his cue to leave and made for the door, but Mal was not willing to let him go so easily and caught up with him a few steps outside of Inara's shuttle.

"You'll ruin her too ya know." Mal yelled across the walkway, causing Simon to pause and turn, "This is the thing I see you're uncomprehendin' on. Everyone one on this ship, including a legitimate business woman like her, their lives can be snatched away 'cause of that Fed. You got a solution for that? You got a way around?"

"I don't," Simon answered quietly.

"Comes a time somebody's gonna have to deal with him. That should be you, but I don't think you got the guts." He paused before adding, "And I know you don't have the time."

"What do you mean?" Simon asked suspiciously.

Mal's face went hard, his tone even and cold as he spoke, "Kaylee's dead." He turned abruptly on his heel and headed for the bridge.

Simon bolted for the infirmary, nearly collapsing as he rounded the corner and flew through the door, only to see Kaylee sitting up a bit, speaking quietly with Riddick, something about compression coils. "The man is psychotic." He panted out, when both Kaylee and Riddick looked up at him a mixture of confusion and humor on their faces.

* * *

On the bridge, Mal, Jayne, Wash, and Zoe were in different states of hysterical laughter as Mal recounted the look on the core boy's face.

"You really are psychotic," Wash laughed out wiping tears from his eyes.

"No but you shoulda seen his face." Mal snickered, "I'm a bad man."

"And Kaylee's really okay?" Zoe asked sobering up.

"Yeah, tell ya the truth, I didn't expect her to heal this quick. The doc knows his trade, I'll give him that."

A sudden beeping from the console redirected their attention, "We're getting' waved," Wash looked over.

"That'll be Patience, put her up." Mal told him takin' a seat in front of the vid screen.

A moment later the image of an older weather beaten woman flickered onto the screen, "Malcolm Reynolds?" A bitter voice asked.

"Hello Patience," Mal greeted with false cheerfulness.

"Hate to say it, but I didn't think I'd be hearin' from you anytime soon."

"Well we may not have parted on the best of terms, I realize certain words were exchanged, also certain bullets," Mal swallowed nervously, "But that's air through the engine, the past," behind him Zoe rolled her eyes and shifted her weight, she had a real bad feelin' 'bout this whole thing. "We're business people," Mal continued, "'Sides your days of fightin' over salvage rights are long gone, hear you're mayor now." He flattered.

"Just 'bout," she shrugged, glancing at something or someone to the side of the vid screen, "you tellin' the truth 'bout that cargo? 'Cause you're askin' price is a bit generous for that much treasure."

"It's imprinted, Alliance, hence the discount." Mal's voice was all business.

"_Na mei guan xi_ (in that case nevermind)," Patience turned her head away.

"If that doesn't work for ya, no harm, just thought ya could use a…"

"The Alliance don't scare me!" She snapped at him, "It's just a little late in the day as they say. I like the fact that you're up front about it," she smiled a smile that reeked of insincerity. "We can do a deal. I'll upload coordinates for a rendezvous outside of town."

"See ya in world." Mal said clicking off the vid screen, after a pause he added to his crew, "I believe that women in plannin' to shoot me again," he said, bitter humor on his face.

"She was plannin' to pay ya she woulda tried to haggle ya down some," Jayne told him reaching up to lean his arm against a low hanging pipe, a thumb on his other hand hooking around a belt loop. Captain was about to get himself shot again, not that it wouldn't be amusin'.

"Just a little effort to hide it woulda been nice," Wash added as Mal knocked over a pile of parts on top one of the consoles, pissed as hell, grabbing hold of the ladder to keep from tearin' somethin' they just might need later to bits.

"Sir," Zoe stepped forward, "we don't have to deal with her."

"Yes we do," Mal told her calmly looking over his shoulder.

"Here's a little concept I been workin' on, why don't we shoot her first?" Jayne suggested.

As much as Wash hated agreeing with Jayne, he had to agree on that one, "it is her turn."

"Well that doesn't get us what we need either," Mal told them both.

"There's moons on this belt we ain't seen." Zoe insisted, "We could try our luck…"

"Our luck?!" Mal snapped, "You notice anythin' particular 'bout our luck these last past couple of days? Any kinda pattern? You depend on luck up end up on the drift, no fuel, no prospects, beggin' for an Alliance meal 'cause you can't work, that ain't us," he said bitterly, the words alone living a filthy taste in his mouth, "not ever. Patience got the money to pay and she will one way or 'nother. There's obstacles in our path, we're gonna deal with them one by one." Mal said firmly, before adding, "You think Riddick's up for makin' a bit of coin?"

"Hell, ain't a man in the 'verse that ain't up for makin' a bit of coin." Jayne snorted.

"Good, he's comin'." Mal decided.

"You bringin' on more crew?" Wash asked.

"Mayhap."

"Do we trust 'em?" Zoe asked.

"Ain't killed us yet," Jayne said.

"Got a point," Mal agreed with Jayne which was beginning to happen on a more and more disturbingly common basis, "And hell, we toasted to the man when we found out what happened to the General Zoe, couldn't even walk back to the shuttle. Ain't no harm in another gun."

"'Specially if he's a big scary serial killer that's suppose to be dead? We ever get his story by the way? Like why he ain't dead? And how do we know he won't kill us in our sleep?" Wash asked.

"Man didn't get on board lookin' for trouble," Mal said, "trouble just found him, ain't got no 'cause to think he would, more liable he'll kill that Fed once we go off ship to make the deal."

"Sir," Zoe argued.

"Man, might come in useful, would really like to not get shot." Mal added cheerfully.

Zoe still had her reservations but the Captain had a point, man didn't need another bullet scar.

"Who knows maybe we'll get lucky and nobody will get shot," Wash said optimistically.

Jayne, Mal, and Zoe paused a moment to look at each other before breaking out into laughter once more.

"Why is that so funny?" Wash asked worriedly.

* * *

Kaylee drifted back into sleep, a smile still on her lips, it was nice to have someone to talk shop with, being her last conscious thought.

"That's right little sunshine, you go on and sleep," Riddick rumbled softly, girl reminded him of Jack just in a different kind of way, kinda thought Kaylee was like the girl Jack shoulda been iffin' shit hadn't gone all to hell for her.

"Little Sunshine?" Simon attempted a joke at Riddick's expense.

"Got a problem Doc?" Riddick's gentle rumble turned into a slight growl as he rose from the stool he'd been sitting on.

"None… none at all, I'm just uh, going to get something from my bag in my bunk." Simon stammered quickly, making a mental note to speak as little as possible to the mass murderer.

Riddick smirked, as Simon scurried out of the infirmary. He knew he should be playin' nice with the doc, in case he got shot and all, but then again he wasn't plannin' on gettin' shot and it was just too much gorram fun to watch Mr. Core get all riled up.

"Not nice."

Riddick smirked, as he turned his attention to the little crazy woman, "Fun though."

"Killer." It was not an accusation, merely a statement.

"Sometimes." Riddick shrugged.

"Never children."

"Ain't right." He answered plainly.

"Ssshhh, he mustn't tell," River said as she laid back down and pretended to sleep, Riddick quirked an eyebrow at her not really understanding, until Jayne appeared in the doorway.

"You just been recruited." Jayne smirked, though it faded quickly as his eyes landed on Kaylee.

"She was talkin' a bit 'fore."

Jayne grunted with feigned indifference.

"This make me crew now?" Riddick smirked following him out of the infirmary.

"Suppose so, gotta warn ya though Captain's liable to get you shot."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Riddick chuckled.

"Won't be the last," Jayne snorted, "Ain't kiddin', been shot three times in the last year and stabbed twice over his gorram dumb ass, well two of the three were grazes but still, ain't such a shiny record."

"Why stay?" Riddick asked, he didn't know 'bout anybody else but he was havin' all kinds of fun.

Jayne shrugged as they climbed the stairs into the bay, "Ten percent, my own bunk, kitchen privileges, decent lookin' womenfolk on the crew, plus workin' for Mal keeps a man on his toes, all manner of opportunities to tussel, hell Unification Day ain't all that far off, that's always a good one round here. Not sayin' I wouldn't jump ship iffin' a better offer came up, but I am less liable to shoot the man over it as I did my last employer, man gets shot enough."

Riddick chuckled, _all sorts of fun_.

"Hey, why's you still wearin' them goggles?" Jayne asked as they rounded into the bay.

"Got my eyes shined in no daylight Slam." He spoken the lie so many times it rolled off comfortably from his tongue without hesitation.

"No shit? Sos you can see whose sneakin' up on ya in the dark?"

"Exactly," Riddick smiled darkly.

"Shiny." Jayne replied appreciatively.

* * *

Less than an hour later, Zoe and Mal were walking down the airlock ramp, and headed North on foot, while Jayne and Riddick riding the ATV loaded with the cargo and shovels headed East.

Was a bit of a walk before Mal and Zoe reached the mouth of the small valley the coordinates lead to. "Nice place for an ambush." Zoe remarked.

"That it is," Mal said calmly, thinking to himself, _Son of a whore_.

Jayne and Riddick joined them a few minutes later running up at a decent clip. "Buried 'em good, equipment's back on the boat." Jayne panted slightly as he handed Mal a single brick from the load, and he and Riddick adjusted their ear pieces. "Testing, testing, Captain, Riddick, can you hear me?"

Riddick turned his head to look at Jayne, "Standing right next to ya Jayne."

"You're comin' through good and loud." Jayne answered, fiddling with the piece's placement in his ear.

"'Cause I'm standing right here."

"I meant the transmitters," Jayne scowled.

Riddick growled low, his gaze drifting out around their surroundings, a small valley, dotted with brush and surrounded by rocky hills and cliffs. "This is a gorram shooting gallery." His eyes caught the glint of metal in the distance and then another on his three.

"Ain't been overlooked Riddick," Mal informed him, "She'll figure we buried the cargo. Which means puttin' us to our ease before any action. She'll come at us from the East, talk the location of the cargo out of us, 'course she'll have some coin to show us first. We get the coin, give up the location, snipers hit us from, there and there." Mal pointed off in their directions.

"Likely there already in place," Riddick commented, thinkin' he wouldn't have exactly physically pointed them out, but also realizing he'd underestimated the Captain, and a little pissed at himself for it.

"Should be," Mal agreed, "You boys feel like takin' a walk in the park?"

"Sure ya just don't wanna piss yourself and back down like ya did with Badger?" Jayne asked grinning.

Mal stared at him until Jayne stopped smiling.

"Who's Badger?" Riddick asked.

"Another time," Mal snapped, "Walk soft. I want Patience thinkin' there in place, and don't kill 'em iffin' you don't have too, we're here to make a deal."

Both Riddick and Jayne snorted before heading off in different directions.

"Don't think it's a good spot sir." Zoe warned him again, "She still has the advantage over us."

"Well everyone always does, that's what makes us special." He smirked back at her," 'Sides, don't ya feel safe?" Mal grinned sarcastically at Zoe as they both wearily took stock of their surroundings once more. "Got Jayne and Riddick watchin' our backs."

"Mayhap, if I didn't feel like they might just shoot us all and take the coin and the ship."

"Ain't likely, iffin' it was just me I'd be worried, your husband would leave my _pig gu_ behind to save his skin. They'll have to shoot 'em 'fore he'd leave you, and Jayne can't fly."

"What 'bout Riddick?"

Mal hadn't thought of it, "Ain't nothing to think on Zoe, deal will go down fine." He said quickly.

"Let me guess, 'cause?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, 'cause." Mal replied, as he headed down the slope, unlatching his holster.

"Shiny." Zoe said, opening her holster guard with an annoyed flick.

"No denyin' the inevitable, let's get this done." Mal said.

* * *

_Aboard Serenity…_

The last bit of rope fell away from Dobson's wrists and he immediately dove for his suitcase pulling out a small handheld cortex, swearing and smashing it against the wall angrily as he realized the ship was still jamming the frequency. "Gorram it!" He snapped out loud as he tore the clothes from the suitcase digging for the two guns stash inside, he checked the ammo in each before sliding one in his waistband and flicking the safety off the other.

* * *

"Mal! How ya doin' boy?" Patience greeted, a bit too cheerfully for Zoe's comfort, as she and a gang of six rode out on horseback from behind a thick bush, along with another man driving an ATV.

"Walking and talking," Mal answered off handedly eyeing the crazy old bat and the small gang of with her, one sporting a black top hat that made Mal extremely uneasy for some reason he could not yet figure.

"And is that you Zoe? You still flyin' with this old boy?"

"Awfully lotta men for three little crates," Zoe answered ignoring the greeting.

"Well I couldn't be sure my Mal here wouldn't be waitin' for some kind of payback," she answered warily. "You understand."

"We're just on the job Patience, not interested in complications," Mal reassured her, though he was feelin' the need for a bit of reassurance himself.

*

Jayne eyed his target from around the side of a large boulder, he was a little upset by the no killin' rule, not 'cause he was itchin' to kill somethin' at the moment but more 'cause he felt like it limited his options. Don't kill, keep quiet, how in the gorram hell was he supposed to do that when he brought guns and knives?

Jayne crept silently from behind the boulder grabbing the sniper's feet he yanked him back, and before the man could blink Jayne had his head smashed against a stone. He smirked pleased with himself, man was unconscious, Jayne toed him nervously, okay man was maybe just unconscious, maybe dead, either way check, done quietly, check, stop Mal from gettin' shot, well that was really more on Mal, but he'd give it a shot.

*

Riddick didn't bother to waste time on the unconscious or dead debate, the minute Mal had sent him off his guy was dead, just didn't know it yet. Fuckin' back water yokels, wasn't even amusin' really, he'd even stepped on a twig to see iffin' he could make it more interestin', gorram deaf idiot didn't flinch, deserved to be dead, woulda happened sooner or later anyhap.

Mildly irritated Riddick settled himself behind the scope, for a brief moment the idea of just pickin' them all off from up there to make up for the disappointment flashed through his head. He could see the bullet pass through Mal's skull, Zoe wouldn't even have realized what woulda happened before she'd been dropped, Patience and her crew, they'd scramble faster than cockroaches when the light's turned on, a dark chuckle escaped him, as he tried to remember the firing speed of the rifle he was holding.

Though the imagery was vivid the idea itself was fleeting and as Riddick cracked his neck and refocused the scope, the thought passed as it had never occurred at all.

*

"I don't see my cargo anywhere." Patience observed less than pleased.

"And you ain't gonna 'til I see my two hundred platinum." Mal informed her.

"Oh come on Reynolds, I'm supposed to take it on faith that you got the goods."

Mal reached to push aside his jacket, pulling out the sample bar from just above his holster, and tossed it up to her.

She ripped the foil wrapping away revealing a foul looking slab of brown and sniffed it, taking a bite after a moment.

"It's pure Patience. Genuine grade-A foodstuffs. Protein, vitamins, immunization supplements. One of those would feed a family for a month, little bit longer if they don't like their kids," Mal attempted to joke.

"Yup that's the stuff," she said, her mouth still half full, as she tossed him a bag of coins from her saddle bag. "So where's the rest?" She demanded.

* * *

_Aboard Serenity…._

River sat up, unable to focus for a moment, confused, where was she? Where was Simon? Something was wrong. Anger, rage, disgust, it was bombarding her, pounding against her head, "Simon?!" She called out frantically.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Kaylee asked groggily, wondering iffin' she could reach the comm if she needed to call Simon.

River ignored her, pushing herself onto unsteady feet, she fumbled toward the door, she needed Simon, Simon could make the voices stop, or the one called Riddick, the Furyan, impossible, his mind was far away. She turned to look at the other girl, who was she? Kaywinnet Lee Frye, the Furyan had called her little sunshine, she was yellow, third female progeny to Matthew Louis Frye and Mary Lynn Lee Frye, she spoke to machines. River's head twitched as the world went out of focus. There was pain, pain in her stomach, she'd been wounded, a bullet, shattered, pieces, tiny pieces tearing. River shook herself free and pulled her gaze afraid from the frightened mechanic, was she trying to call her name? Irrelevant, she required Simon.

River stumbled, a sudden riot of emotion slamming into her, self righteous rage pinning her against him, it's arm around her neck, a model T32 modified military issue sidearm, it was new, never tasted blood, didn't know what it was, its memories were empty, River felt the weight of its empty newness contradicting with the death contained within its depths and she cried out terrified of this rage and the newness and cold metal memories, screaming voices screaming.

"Well look whose all woke up," Dobson sneered as his second gun leveled itself on Kaylee, "I'm sorry about what happened before," he said to her, "but you so much as make a move and the next one goes through your throat." Dobson turned his gun back on River as he pulled the terrified and trembling girl away.

* * *

"…Then a half a mile East, foot of the first hill. You'll see where it's been dug." Mal finished, hoping like hell his hired guns hadn't turned on him.

"Reckon' I will."

"Well then," Mal rocked back on his heels.

"Yep," Patience replied.

No one moved.

"I'd appreciate it," Mal started after a moment of utter quiet, "iffin' ya'll would turn around and ride out first."

"Well now ya see Mal," Patience started leaning forward a bit, "There's a kinda hitch."

"We both made out on this deal, don't complicate things," Mal warned, there went that gorram itch again.

"I never let go of money I don't have to."

Zoe honored Mal with another one of those I-told-you-so eyebrows.

"Which is maybe why I'm runnin' this little world and you're still on that dinky old boat sniffin' for scrapes," she told him simply.

*

Jayne and Riddick watched through their respective scopes as Mal tossed the money back up to Patience.

*

"You got your money back, ain't no need for killin' now." Mal told her.

"We're just gonna walk away sir?" Zoe asked tersely.

"Guess that's up to Patience here. Could be messy," Mal warned Patience again.

"Not terribly," Patience shrugged with a slight chuckle. "Now Mal you just ain't very bright are ya?"

Mal ignored that remark and took stock of the man with the top hat's impressive looking rifle, "That's quite a rifle, must be quite a shot with that."

Patience tilted her head, "He's called Two-Fry."

The man with the big top hat smiled, Mal now understood why he had taken an instant disliking to the hat, come to think of it he was becoming mighty suspicious of hat wearers in general. Zoe's hand slid across her waist to her the Winchester holstered on her thigh. "Two Fry, nice hat," Mal complimented and the man continued to smirk for only a moment before two bullets punctured him from either side of his head, meeting up somewhere inside the core of his brain shattering on contact.

A lot of things happened next, all simultaneously, and all without a breath of a pause between them. Mal drew his side arm and nailed a second one hitting him the chest, knocking him from his horse, at the same time Zoe fired as well taking out the ATV driver. The gang opened up all at once and Zoe was knocked off her feet by the force of a shot gun blast taken to her shoulder, Mal could only afford her a quick look, which cost him a graze to the shoulder before he swore and fired back, taking semi cover behind a bramble of bushes, all while Jayne and Riddick picked off who they could from their positions above.

* * *

_Aboard Serenity...._

"Should think about asking the Captain to drop you somewhere else, Whitefall ain't exactly civilization in the strictest sense," Wash told Simon as he leaned back in his chair in the cockpit, genuine concern in his voice.

"You don't have to worry about me." Simon dismissed him, not thinking he could handle any more pity or reproach in one day.

"Zoe's out on a deal," Wash shrugged, "I always worry, so it's not exactly out of the way for me."

*

"He took her," Kaylee's voice came panicked and breathless over the comm, "He took River."

*

Simon bolted from the cockpit, Wash following a step behind him, freezing in the doorway when the proximity alarm began to blare. His eyes locked on the screen, "Oh don't…don't you dare," he whispered.

* * *

Mal kept firing, Jayne swore missing Patience, he nicked a man's horse throwing him to the ground, too much movement to hit anything with a gorram sniper rifle, continuing to swear he tossed it down and broke out in a run towards the fray. Riddick managed to clip another 'fore he gave up as well and made the same break for it as Jayne.

Zoe leaned up coughing, firing at a man trying to make a break for it and nailing the shot right between his shoulder blades, Mal clipped the last one standing as Patience took cover behind her horse. Mal held his fire.

"Zoe?" He called glancing over angrily, glaring at the bleeding wound in his arm.

"Armor's dented," she groaned, plucking off the remnants of the shot gun shell which stuck to her shirt revealing the thin layer of Kevlar beneath it.

"Well, you were right about this bein' a bad idea." He admitted.

"Thanks for sayin' so sir," she pushed herself up.

"Mal, don't you take another step boy!" Patience yelled from behind her horse, shot gun leveled.

Mal was done talkin', that's what a man got for tryin' to be civilized and peaceable, he got ruttin' shot, he took a purposeful step forward and shot her horse down, pinning her to the ground beneath it. "I did a job," Mal growled, towering above her, his gun leveled on her head, "And I got nothin' but trouble since I did it, like an itch I can't scratch, not to mention a whole lotta unkind words in regards to my character, sos let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job," he picked up the sack of coins, "I. Get. Paid." He pulled back his gun, "Go run your little world."

Just as Mal stood both Jayne and Riddick came barreling full speed down their respective hills, "Mal!" Jayne yelled, waving the comm frantically, "We gotta go! Those gorram Reavers followed us!"


	5. Serenity V

Simon skidded to a halt on the walkway above the bay, watching in horror as Dobson hit the airlock door release and started dragging River towards the desert. For once though he didn't hesitate, he acted and threw himself over the railing of the walkway as they past beneath it, his body colliding with Dobson and knocking them to the ground.

The guns clattered to the grating, River back away terrified of them, and of those she knew were coming, pushing herself into the wall of the ship, mumbling vague and incoherent prayers in Mandarin to be melded into to it, to become of stone, a bird to fly away, anything, anything to take away the voices screaming at her from every direction, like razors, like a thousand cutting blades she felt them cut, like needles made to puncture bone.

* * *

"Get to the gorram horses!" Mal ordered.

* * *

Dobson crawled for one of the guns, but Simon threw himself on top of him, struggling to obtain it first. The Fed planted a quick elbow into Simon's jaw and lunged forward as Simon stumbled back from the force of the blow. Dobson scrambled again for the gun, but Simon's hand landed on the second weapon just before his fingers touched the metal.

"Don't move!"

*

"Reavers! Reavers incoming and headed straight for us. We are in the air in one minute!" Wash's voice yelled over the ships comms, adding to himself quietly as he powered up, "Guess they got hungry again."

*

Simon's hand trembled slightly from the weight of the gun he held, aimed at another human life.

"You gonna do that? You gonna kill a Lawman in cold blood?" Dobson asked him. "I know what you did for your sister, and I can understand that, but it doesn't make you a killer."

Above them Inara gripped the railing of the walkway having come out of her shuttle hearing the commotion.

"I don't wanna hurt anybody. I got a job to do and that's to uphold the Law. That's what we're talking about here. There's nowhere you can take her that they won't find. Nobody's gonna hurt her unless you hurt me."

Simon hesitated. Dobson went for the gun on the ground.

"I said don't move!" Simon snapped, jerking his weapon forward.

"It's your call," the Fed told him.

*

In the cockpit Wash yelled into the comm at his crew still not back, "Come on, come on, _**Where the hell are you?!**_"

*

Simon turned his head to look at his sister, cowering in the far corner, terrified.

Dobson lunged for his gun and fired the instant his fingers wrapped around the trigger.

"Simon!" Inara yelled as the doctor hit the ground, the bullet missing him by inches as Dobson grabbed a hold of River for cover.

"I am not playing anymore!" Dobson yelled pointing the gun at River's temple as the four missing crew came riding up.

Riddick snarled, leaping off his horse.

"Anybody makes a move I'll…" He never finished his threat.

Riddick drew his gun and fired in the same fluid movement, and a tiny circle of red beaded out the center of the man's head, a small river of blood flowing as his body collapsed against the grating.

"Wash! Were on!" Zoe yelled into the comm.

"Jayne, Riddick, get 'im off my boat!" Mal snapped.

The two men each grabbed an arm and a leg, unceremoniously dumping the Fed's corspe off the end of the ramp as Zoe pulled the level to raise it. The second they were back inside Wash brought Serenity into the sky.

After the shock of what had just happened wore off Simon went to his sister, who did not look at him, but whose eyes silently followed the visage of the Riddick as he strode past. Her large brown eyes locking onto his mercurial blue stare even behind the goggles as he passed following behind the others up to the cockpit.

**

"How close are they?" Mal demanded rushing into the cockpit, the crew one step behind.

"About twenty seconds from spitting distance." Wash answered calmly.

"Well lose 'em gorram it!" Jayne snapped.

"Bring me up the rear vid screen," Mal ordered, leaning over Zoe's shoulder as she did so.

"_Ai ya wo men wan le_ (we're in big trouble)," Zoe breathed.

"How close they need to be to fire the grapples?" Mal asked.

"Wash you dumb ass dodge 'em!" Jayne yelled at him again.

"If everybody could just be quiet a moment." Wash requested, a zen like quality to his voice, as he veered hard to the left deftly maneuvering the ship around the large rocky cliff faces. "I need Kaylee in the engine room please," he requested just as calmly.

"Can she even…" Zoe was cut off by Mal who looked at Jayne and Riddick.

"Get her in there now!" He ordered.

Jayne and Riddick moved, one step behind them Mal followed, meeting Inara before she had made it to the bridge, "I want you to get in your shuttle, get the Tams and get ready to go."

"Mal, don't,"

"We get boarded, you take off, head for town. We might be able to stop them from following you."

"They'll kill you."

"Inara." Mal said putting his hand over her shoulder, for the briefest of seconds a flicker of emotion flashed across his eyes. "Go." He finished pushing her shoulder away, and turned back for the bridge.

**

"Wash how we doin'?" Mal asked as he came up behind him leaning over the console, his eyes anxiously searching the open sky ahead of him.

"I don't mean to alarm anybody, but, I think we're being followed," Was answered his voice controlled and tight.

**

Jayne was carrying Kaylee out of the infirmary followed by Riddick as the Inara, River, and Simon crossed their paths headed for her shuttle.

"Should I?" Simon offered to follow them with Kaylee.

"No, Doc," Riddick told him over his shoulder as they pushed past, "Stay with your sister, keep her safe."

River didn't move for a moment, she remained still as a stone as her eyes followed the Furyan before Simon tugged her away. "We need to go River," he urged her and with a blank look she complied offering no further resistance.

**

"Can't keep this up they get a bead, they're gonna lock us down," Mal said anxiously, gripping Wash's chair with one hand and the console with the other, Zoe in a very similar position on the opposite side of her husband.

"Kaylee how we doin?" Wash yelled through the comm.

**

Jayne set Kaylee down as gently as he could, tucking the blanket around her sides, "Want me to go for full burn?" Kaylee asked weakly, still a little doped from the pain killers, and pretty sure a few of the dainty stitches Simon had put in where torn to hell.

"Not yet, just set it up." Wash answered back.

Kaylee looked at Riddick, "You know where the press regulator is?"

Riddick nodded and after a brief glance around the engine room he found it.

"Head of the class," Kaylee smiled slightly as she winced in pain.

Riddick smirked back at the girl, little sunshine had some grit after all.

**

"Full burn in atmo?" Zoe asked panicking slightly. "Won't that cause a blow back? Burn us up?"

"Even if it doesn't, they can push just as hard, keep right on us," Mal shot his pilot an uneasy look, "Wash, I'm gonna need an Ivan."

"See what I can do," he answered, unfazed. "Kaylee," he yelled into the comm, "how would you feel about pulling a Crazy Ivan?"

**

"Always wanted to try one," she shrugged, "Jayne open the port jet control cut the hydraulics."

Jayne looked around, a mite confused, "Where in the hell?"

"Look," Kaylee ordered, "Look where I'm pointin'." She said to him in annoyance pointing off into the other direction. Riddick got to the box first, and cracked it open.

"Okay now it's real simple."

Jayne and Riddick looked up at each other over the tangled mess of wires and rigged connections which spilled out from the box the moment Riddick popped the lid. They swore in unison.

**

"They're on us!" Mal barked as he watched the magnetic grappler fire from the Reaver ship.

"Kaylee!" Wash yelled.

"I'm ready."

"Everybody hold on to something," he yelled, and right before he reversed the thrusters he added to the Reavers, "Betcha ya can't do this," and slammed down the lever.

Serenity's port jet reversed itself, causing the ship to lurch forward a perfect one hundred and eighty degrees, spinning on a smooth dime, the jet flipped back propelling Serenity straight towards the Reaver ship.

For Wash it occurred in slow motion, the echo of the lever, the lurch of the ship, the brief moment where he convinced himself he was going to die when he thought the Reaver ship wasn't going to dodge, and then it all slammed back into real time as he ordered down to the engine room, "NOW!"

**

Jayne slammed his fist down on a large button, while Riddick manually cranked the engine gear, and Serenity hit full burn straight into the big beautiful black, an explosive blast lighting the sky aflame behind them.

**

Wash eased his hands off the controls, looking quite pleased with himself as Mal and Zoe stared at him for a moment in a bit of wonder.

"New I hired ya for something," Mal smiled at him clapping him on the back.

**

In the engine roar Jayne let out a yell of triumph, "Gorram hell that was fuckin' close!"

"Everyday this much fun aboard this ship?" Riddick smirked.

Kaylee let her head loll against the cool metal of Serenity's hull, one hand loving caressing a pipe, "That's my good girl."

**

"Ain't no way they can come around and follow us in time now." Zoe's face broke out into a wide smile as she checked the radar.

Mal grabbed the comm, "We're good people, we're outta the woods."

"We should have just enough to get us to a fuel station and we'll need to do some patching up," Wash swiveled around in his chair once he'd had time to run a systems check. "Hope we got paid today."

"We did," Mal grinned at him.

"Sir, I'd like you to take the helm please," Zoe looked over at her husband and grabbed his shirt, "I need this man to tear all my clothes off."

"Work, work, work," Wash mock grumbled low as he let Zoe drag him off the bridge.

Mal sank into the pilot's chair, and switching off auto pilot he took control of the helm, he needed to feel his girl for a bit.

"Captain Reynolds," Riddick's dark voice came from behind him.

_Gorram it,_ he thought to himself, ain't a minute of peace on this gorram ship. "Yeah Riddick?" He answered flipping the autopilot back on and swiveling in his chair to face him.

"Thought you might like those words now, I like to find a man before he finds me." He smirked taking a seat in the co pilot's chair.

"You fly?" Mal asked, watching him look over the controls.

"A bit." Riddick answered.

"Why were you headed to Boros?" Mal asked, done with the small talk.

"Wasn't," Riddick shrugged, leaning back in his chair, "Sittin' dirt side was startin' to make me twitch, just needed to get in the sky, you're mechanic convinced me I'd drop outta the black iffin' I took any ship but hers," he smirked. "It's a real interestin' crew you got Mal, and I figure you'll be takin' on the Tams."

"How's that?"

"You're the big damn hero type, don't know you but I know your kind, ain't a bad kind of man to be, they sure as hell wouldn't make it a day out there without gettin' nabbed iffin' you dumped 'em, plus you're a brown coat Mal."

"War's over." Mal said harshly.

"That is it Mal, don't change the fact of bein' a thorn in the side of the Alliance pleases you somethin' fierce," Riddick answered.

Mal's face relaxed a bit, "That it would."

"Plus it wouldn't hurt havin' a medic on board, thought they was all jokin' 'bout how often you get shot." He chuckled.

"Ain't that often." Mal defended, and after a pause, "Iffin' I'm the big damn hero type, what does that make you? What kinda man are you Riddick?"

"The bad kind." Riddick answered honestly.

"Different kinds of bad."

"Iffin' that's your way of askin' if I'm lookin' to kill you and your crew, take your ship, answers no, honestly, if I was lookin' to steal a ship and go through the trouble of killin' the crew, wouldn't be yours, your folk seem a bit hard to kill."

"Heard that a time or two," Mal smirked.

"So you offerin' me a job?"

"You willin' to take it?"

"For now," Riddick said as he stood and walked off the bridge without giving Mal a chance for another word.

"Good talk," Mal said to the empty chair Riddick had been sitting in, "we'll cover the details later."

* * *

Riddick headed straight back to the dorms after his little talk with the Captain, not thinking on much more than gettin' some ruttin' sleep when the soft whisper of voices from the dorm just passed his caught his attention and he paused to listen.

**

Simon leaned over his sister, tucking her into bed, "The shot I gave you will help you sleep."

"I've slept for so long," River complained, her fingers nervously twisting at her hair.

"Just a little while. Then we'll find a place, a safe place." Simon tried to sound convinced himself, even if only for River's sake, and he offered her a weak smile.

Gently River reached out to touch his face, assuring herself he was truly there, that it wasn't just another figment, or another punishment for resisting treatment, small tears forming as her fingers danced across his newly blackened eye. "I didn't think you'd come for me."

"Well you're a dummy." He told her softly.

She tried to smile, he wanted her so much to smile, she could feel it, she tried, instead tears welled up and she buried her face against his neck, quiet sobs racking her thin body.

* * *

"Mal," Jayne called stepping on to the bridge.

"What is it Jayne?" He asked not taking his eyes from the sky in front of him.

"Lawman said they'd keep lookin'. Said the girl was somethin' real special to the Alliance brass, goin' bring a 'verse of trouble down on us."

"You scared Jayne?" Mal asked.

"Ain't scared of shit Mal, you know that." Jayne said defensively scowling, "Concerned 'bout how our ability to make some decent coin's gonna be effected by that."

"He offered ya a deal didn't he? How come you didn't turn on me Jayne?" Mal asked curious.

"Got sisters that girl's gorram age." Which was true, but the truer part of it Jayne left out, didn't want Mal thinkin' he'd walk tip toed 'round anybody, but the fact was Riddick had an itch over the crazy girl for some reason and he wasn't stupid enough to try to pull one over on that, "'Side"' he smirked, "money wasn't good enough." He added just to keep Mal on his edge.

"What happens when it is?" Mal asked turning to look at Jayne finally.

"Well Mal," Jayne said in all honesty, taking a deep breath, "That'll be an interestin' day."

"I imagine it will." Mal said quietly as Jayne turned to leave shouldering into Simon as he passed the boy on the stairs.

* * *

The minute Simon climbed the stairs Riddick stepped out of his dorm, quietly sliding the girl's door open. "Know you're awake girl," He rumbled, closing the door behind them, and leaving them in darkness, Riddick pushed up his goggles, listening to her heart, measuring her breaths.

"Know your secrets Richard B. Riddick, see their blood on your claws." She answered quietly.

"Iffin' you know 'em, why'd ya bother askin'?"

"To see if you would tell."

"What's that mean?"

"The girl sees you."

"See you too."

She shook her head, "Listen closer, the girl _**sees**_ you."

"See you too," he snapped impatiently, "I can see in the gorram dark girl."

"Does he? He doesn't." River conversed with herself, "The girl sees what dwells beneath, he cannot rejoin the human race, when he's not entirely human." She yawned and rolled over to her side dismissing him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked growing more and more irritated.

"Furyan." She answered absently.

Riddick growled, practically tearing the screen off its hinges as he exited. Girl was fucking _feng le_ as hell, he'd been stupid to think anything else, and he might have convinced himself of it too, if it weren't for the slight stirring of the creature every time that word was spoken, "Furyan," alone in his dorm he tried the word out on his lips, tasting the familiarity of it and not understanding why.

* * *

"You need me to look at that?" Simon asked as he entered the bridge.

"Just a graze," Mal shrugged him off.

"So," Simon ran a hand through his hair, "Where do you plan on dumping us?"

"There's places you might be safe. You want the truth though, you'd be safer on the move, and we never stop moving."

"I'm confused, no wait I think maybe you're confused."

"It may have become apparent to you the ship could use a medic. You ain't weak, I don't know how smart you are, top three percent, but you ain't weak and that's not nothing. You live by my rule, keep your sister in line, you could mayhap find a place here. 'Til you find a better." Mal offered.

Simon took a seat and opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to figure his words before he spoke them as they had had a habit of getting him punched as of late, "I'm trying to put this delicately, how do I know you aren't going to kill me in my sleep?"

"You don't know me son," Mal answered evenly, "So let me explain this to you once: Iffin' I ever kill you, you'll be awake, you'll be facin' me, and you'll be armed."

Simon smiled uneasily, "You always this sentimental?"

"Had a good day," Mal answered leaning back.

"You had the Law on you, criminals and savages… half the people on this ship have been wounded or shot, including yourself, and you're still harboring known fugitives." Simon remarked.

"Still flyin'." He shrugged cheerfully.

"That's not much," Simon frowned.

"It's enough." Mal answered his gaze drifting off into the black. "It's always enough."

* * *

**Episode endnote: Whew… holy cheese and rice crackers…hope I did it justice. **

**For those of you mayhap a little upset I'm playing on Riddick's softer side, the whole him naming Kaylee little sunshine and all, I'm exploiting the fact Riddick's weakness seems to be for kids and those he considers friends, T2 really changed him in this 'verse, you'll see a lot of internal struggle, such as his visual of blowing away Mal and Zoe in the valley just for kicks, but ultimately in this story line Riddick is making his attempt to rejoin the human race, don't worry he's not going super cuddly just a tad less prone to gut people.**

**That being said I am going to try really hard to not jump straight away in the Train Job, I am going to try, mainly because I want to finish up BnB, which I promise you is finally finished in my head I just have to translate it to paper or keyboard rather which is proving difficult, but I digress.**

'**Til After Now.**


	6. Interlude 1: Nightmares

**Celticicegoddess: Thanks momma :D and yes after the series is complete I will be moving along to the movie and after Miranda we'll be taking a trip through CoR mayhap, not entirely decided on that one as of yet. Much luv :D**

**Ariblack: Bring on the constructive criticism! LOL I love it all. I do realize I am the run on sentence queen, there's something about periods that offends me I suppose and despite my best efforts it can't be helped. As to the grammatical errors I went back and reread it myself after I got your review and your right, I'm glad it didn't affect the story any but I know how those little details can really goad at a reader so I will do my best to pay more careful attention in future updates, when it is completed I'll go back and fix the ones already made. River will come into her own a little bit more quickly since Riddick is around and you'll start to see why hopefully in this update and the next. For your other question over Riddick's back story it will dribble its way out throughout the course, once we clear Miranda he'll have some demons of his own to beat down.**

**Julian Carax: This time around we are going a bit slower with R/R. I am hoping my writing has evolved a bit since the early days of BnB, one of my biggest problems is I tend to get a bit anxious to get certain things out especially relationships, (sucker for a girl meets boy) I am going to be working on that this time around. River though a big part of the series has very few actual scenes and speaking lines so that in and of itself limits the amount of contact she and Riddick have, though between each episode I am putting interludes (much like this update) that will be completely River and Riddick centric. **

**Sabrina1204: As always you make me blush girlie :D I'm lovin' the dialogue between Riddick and Jayne you'll see these two pop up in scenes a lot together, poor Simon, I'm afraid Riddick doesn't have much respect for the Core Boy either. Much luv momma :D Enjoy.**

**Hotagainstawall: :D thanks momma!**

**Pyrobabe7713: River is going to be crazy for a bit yet, but moments of clarity are going to have a bit more often than in the actual series., she's going to have a bit of a bigger role as well instead of waiting until the movie to explore her character. And thanks for hoping on board momma :D**

**Don't own a gorraam thing….**

* * *

_**Two weeks later…**_

Riddick woke, his shiv in hand and his body drenched in sweat, a snarl on his lips. Nothing, his nostrils flared as they searched for the unseen threat and he stretched out his hearing, and still nothing save the quiet hum of Serenity's breathing. He sank back against the stiff mattress and allowed the shiv to roll from his grip.

"Fuck." He swore, as he pulled himself back up and swung his legs onto the cold grating, the sensation of metal against his bare feet grounded him and his mind settled.

_Fucking dreams,_ he thought to himself. It had been years since he'd had one, thought he was past that shit, and then that gorraam crazy girl had to go off, spoutin' shit she shouldn't have known nuthin' 'bout and they were back, stronger and more vivid than ever.

Riddick inhaled deeply, he could still smell the ash, the stench of decaying bodies mingled with volcanic sulfur, images of jungles inhabited by creatures too vicious to be imagined, and ruined cities drifted through his mind, clinging to its edges. That thing, that creature which he felt lurking inside his mind knew that place, and that place was home. And then there was the woman, that gorraam nameless woman, '_Furyan,',_ she had said, and her voice had been full of betrayal and disappointment, and Riddick, Richard B. _fucking_ Riddick had felt ashamed, fucking ashamed as he looked into her eyes, pools of silver which mirrored his own.

He shoved his feet into his boots, he needed a fucking drink.

**

River jerked herself awake, the beginnings of a scream dying in her throat before any sound was made. She was on the floor and the world twitched itself in and out of focus, she felt every jar like another volt of electricity inside her mind. Desperately, she clung to the one thing she knew to be real, the quiet hum of Serenity's breathing, and as her hands balled into fists which she banged against her temples, her nails left tiny crimson puncture marks in her palms.

**Abruptly Reality shifted.**

Who was she? What was she? She watched a pale tiny girl stare in wonderment at bleeding hands, but she could not see her own hands, she could not lift them to see. The bleeding girl was a shell without a seed and she, she was a seed without a shell. The shell served no purpose without the seed it should contain, and the seed would be destroyed without her shell. River felt parts of herself begin to bleed out into the endless sea of diamonds, and she struggled to contain herself, but without a shell it was useless, the _**RIVER **_ran to the sea.

**Again Reality shifted.**

River felt herself suddenly jarred back into her body, her head tilted to the side, and she raised her hands to her face to better see the six tiny crescent moon shapes she had made in her palms. They were familiar. The room she was in however was not. Where was she? Was she inside her head? Were they inside her head? Who were they? Why was she running? Was she running? No, she was sitting. Should she be running? She couldn't be sure, but it was better to run if she shouldn't be running, than to remain still when she should be running.

River stood in one liquid movement, as her eyes nervously shifted around the room, one hand balled into her hair and nervously tugged. She stumbled back, suddenly assaulted by a thousand images and a thousand voices, screaming a thousand secrets, in a thousand different languages and the world twitched again.

When it settled, River ran.

**

Riddick sat alone in the dimly lit mess, his goggles off, and a three fingered glass of whiskey in front of him, he picked it up and slammed it back in a single swallow. Nasty shit, cheap shit, but the burn felt good, the burn focused his mind. He poured another, Jayne was gonna be pissed iffin' he finished off the bottle, but Riddick was sure a coin or two would shut him the hell up. Two gorraam weeks now, he'd been having that same ruttin' dream, every gorram night, _what the fuck did that girl do to him anyway?_ Not like he could ask her, she'd been avoiding him, and that was a pretty fucking hard thing to do, especially on a fucking ship in the middle of the fucking black. Girl was either _gao gan_ (extraordinarily clever) or completely _feng le_ (crazy). Honestly he was puttin' his money on both, which was a dangerous fucking combination.

Riddick considered himself a pretty good stalker, once he set his mind to it, but it was as if the girl could feel him comin'. In two weeks he hadn't seen more than a flash of her hair, iffin' she wasn't with her brother and he really couldn't grab her up by her scrawny neck and demand to know what she had done to him in front of him. Crew would start thinking he was completely _feng le _(crazy) himself, which now that he thought about it wasn't really a bad idea either.

Briefly the image of slamming the girl into a wall and squeezing her neck until those pretty little eyes popped out flashed in front of his mind. Only the sudden realization that he had thought her eyes were pretty halted it. Riddick cracked his neck and finished his drink. _Fucking girl,_ he half growled to himself as he poured another. He halted mid sip at the sound of panicked footsteps running towards the mess, he put down his drink and flicked out his shiv.

**

River skidded to a halt in the entrance of the mess, her eyes locking on a man, he was armed, he was in her path, and his thoughts were a twisted mass of growls and snarls and blood soaked blades, desire for the hunt, desire for the kill, the smell of fear, he needed to be taken down.

"Whatcha doin' up?" Riddick growled at her, as he relaxed back into his chair, "Decide to stop runnin' from me yet?" His nostrils caught a whiff of blood, and his body went rigid once more, "You hurt girl?"

River blinked, who was he? Was she supposed to be running from him? Why run when she could attack? Was she hurt? Why did he care? River caught the glint of metal from his shiv.

**Reality shifted.**

Calmly she approached him.

"What girl?" Riddick snapped, uneasy over the sudden change of her heartbeat from frightened and rapid, to calm and steady and the deadly focus which had taken the place her glassy eyed confusion.

River didn't speak.

"What?" he snapped, shoving his chair back from the table and he stood.

"You block the flow of the RIVER, this cannot be allowed."

"What the fuck are you…" Riddick didn't have time to finish his question as River spun kicking her leg up at an inhuman angle she caught him square in the jaw.

The shock of the unexpected blow sent Riddick reeling, and he grabbed at the table to keep from hitting the ground. Slowly his head turned, a growl forming and pushing past his lips, "You little…"

Again he was cut off, but this time it was by a blow to his knee.

"Fuck!" He snapped , as his arm shot out he sent her flying backwards from the force of his slap.

River's head connected with the metal floor grating.

**Reality shifted.**

Riddick stalked forward, more than willing now to act on his previous fantasy, but when the girl sat up again the look in her eyes caused him to pause. Gone was the deadly focus, the cold calculation, replaced once more by confusion and fear. Girl didn't look like she had any idea where she was or how she had gotten there. Is this what they did to her? "What the _**fuck**_ is your damage girl?"

"He mustn't tell." She said quickly, crab walking backwards until her back hit the wall, "He mustn't tell, Simon will make her sleep, sleep and dream, dream things she can't escape, everything is one and nothing is everything, it makes no sense, it makes no sense." She shook her head furiously as her hands pulled and yanked at her hair.

"More secrets girl?" He asked her in a low rumble, as he righted his chair and finished off his drink. Girl's legs were good for more than lookin' at, his jaw throbbed violently and he was afraid iffin' he did anything else besides sit back down and pour himself another drink he'd cross the room and fuckin' gut her.

"Do it." She whispered from behind a curtain of hair.

"What?" Riddick asked eyeing her warily from above the rim of his glass.

"Gut her."

Riddick raised any eyebrow, _how_?, he thought.

"Hear you." River began to quietly sob.

Riddick blinked, _Fang pi_ (you're lying), he thought.

"Truth is in the eyes of the perceiver, and the River flows through everything, everything flows through the RIVER, she is the perceiver."

"_Qiang bao hou-zi de, qing wa kao de liu mang_ (monkey raping, frog humping son of a bitch)," Riddick half whispered to himself, "no shit." He finished off his drink. "My head ain't a pretty place to be girl, I'd probably want to kill me too."

"He mustn't tell."

"You keep my secrets, I'll keep yours." He said as he pushed himself away from the table again, albeit much more calmly, and walked past her without another glance. His mind reeling with the possibilities, both advantages and disadvantages to having a mind reader onboard the ship, _so the Alliance wants mind readers now,_ he thought to himself as he walked.

No wonder they wanted her back so bad, iffin' it got out, the almighty and all powerful behind the Alliance could be seated at the same table as a psychic, but more importantly however, he wondered just what kind of secrets the girl really had. Labs like the one they'd cut up the girl's brain at woulda had alotta top brass walking through, takes money to do shit like that, and they'd want proof, and their minds woulda been playgrounds for her. Just how much did the girl really know? Everything? _Fuck,_ he thought, Dobson wasn't lyin' 'bout that part, sure as shit they'd want her back, want her quiet and everybody she'd come in contact with quiet too. This changed everything, and the girl knew it, question was, why the fuck did she tell him?

River remained huddled in a ball against the wall of the mess, quietly sobbing to herself until Serenity awoke and Simon found her there still, trembling and muttering incoherently on creatures who stalked worlds with three suns that never shined and babies found in trash cans.

_**Two nights later…**_

When the haze cleared from Riddick's mind he realized he had River pinned to the far wall in his dorm, his shiv pressed tightly against her throat, another moment and he would have painted his dorm with her blood.

"Fuck girl!" He snapped, as dropped her and stepped back, "Don't _**ever**_ try to wake me up when I'm like that!" He yelled at her, and dropped back down onto his bunk, wiping the sheen of sweat off his face and head, _Holy fucking shit, I almost fucking killed her,_ he ranted in his head.

"Wouldn't have," She assured him, more calmly he thought, than she had any right to be.

Riddick snorted at her, and slid his shiv back beneath his pillow, "What in the gorraam hell are you doin' in here anyway?"

"You dream too loud," she answered and scrunched up her face as she rubbed her temples.

Riddick honestly had no reply, not a one.

"She won't tell, you keep her secrets, I keep yours." She reminded him.

"Keep 'em just fine iffin' I kill you. Dead don't talk," he threatened, a wicked gleam entering his eyes.

"Won't." She answered confidently, and then added much more quietly, "They scream."

"You so sure?" He asked, ignoring the second remark, as he slide his shiv back out, "Cause you done 'caused a world of trouble for me girl, had enough people lookin' for my ass, and now I'm dead iffin' they ever catch up to you, me and everybody on this ship."

"Doesn't kill women unless they shoot at him."

"You kicked me in the head," Riddick pointed out.

"Not relevant, and death would not end the hunt."

Riddick flipped his blade a few times in his hand before answering, "Suppose not, you poppin' outta that box changed the game."

River nodded silently, watching the expressions change in his eyes more closely than the turnings of his mind.

"Why's it you told me girl?" He asked the one question he had been waiting to ask since the night in the mess.

"The Riddick saved the girl, shot down the rage and saved me."

"Ain't a hero." He snorted.

"No." River answered, "He is a Furyan."

Riddick's head jerked up.

River giggled, "He wants to know, he wants to know but he won't ask, afraid to know, the big bad beast that stalks the creatures which burn by day is afraid to ask, afraid of a word."

He growled low.

"He can ask, she won't tell, will keep his secrets just like he asked."

Riddick stopped growling, confusion out weighing his anger. "You won't tell me my own ruttin' secrets?"

River looked at him as if he was some kind of drooling idiot child, "That would be telling."

"How the fuck is it tellin'? They's mine girl, got more right ot 'em they you do." The anger was back again.

River merely shook her head and twirled her way to his door, humming broken bits of a lullaby as she went, "_Rén_ _shēng_ _rú_ _mèng_ (life is but a dream)."

"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?"

River didn't answer.

_**One week later…**_

Riddick smelt her long before he heard her, girl was quiet as shit when she wanted to be, he thought to himself, as he finished his last set of pull ups. Serenity was deep into her night cycle, and once more he had been chased away from his bunk by that same fucking dream, and that same fucking woman he saw every time he closed his eyes. The lack of sleep was working on his temper, and it didn't help that god damn girl had taken to following him around like a gorraam fucking shadow. Most of time she stayed quiet and out of sight but, he could smell her and hear her heartbeat. They were constant now, even when she wasn't near him he knew exactly where on the ship she could be found. It was fucking unnerving as hell. God damn girl was in his head and under his skin.

"Know you're there," he rumbled as he dropped from the handholds Jayne had rigged.

"Is not." Came a small voice from on top a stack of crates.

"Fine you're not," he growled in response, "quit starin' its fucking creepy girl."

"Tell me about Jack," the voice answered, as a head popped out from behind one crate and then she dropped fluidly back onto the ground.

Riddick couldn't help but notice the girl moved like her name, every step or spin, it was like liquid, everything flowed, that was training, that and the quiet way she walked. Her footsteps didn't echo through the ship like everyone else's'. He had begun to think they'd done more than just cut into the girl's brain, that the gorraam ruttin' Alliance had wanted more than just a psychic. "Thought you wasn't there?" He quirked an eyebrow at her.

"If she admits to being corporeal will he tell her?"

"Corporeal?"

"Bodily, physical, having mass."

"No, and stay out of my head." He grunted as he bent to pick up the towel he had brought down with him.

"Not possible, the River…"

"Yeah it fucking flows, I got that," he snorted and started to head back towards the dorms.

River followed closely on his heels, "He dreamed again."

"Stay out of my dreams too."

"Can't not feel." She defended.

"Ain't feelin' its seein', so stop fucking looking." He snapped.

"They are of the same."

"Go look at your brother than," he grunted as he stopped in front of his dorm and jerked his head back towards the girl's brother's room.

"He sleeps." She pouted.

"Go sleep." Riddick shrugged, "Quit that fucking lip too girl, ain't some fuckin' teddy bear, find yourself a different security blanket."

"But he saved me."

"Won't make that mistake again," Riddick growled blocking his doorway, wasn't no way in hell he was little crazy into his room again.

River giggled, "Of course he will."

Riddick growled.

"Tell her about Jack and I will tell you about Shirah."

"Who the fuck is that?" Riddick asked, caring only because of a slight tug at the back of his mind, that thing had stirred at the sound of the name.

"The nameless woman." River answered easily, smiling broadly as though it should have been obvious, a trait Riddick was beginning to find ruttin' grating and his temper flared.

"How the fuck…"

"Dummy," River teased him as she tapped her finger against her temple.

"Tell me." He growled.

"I asked first," She pouted.

"Tell me."

"No."

"God damn it River I swear to fuckin' god I'm gonna…"

"Secret for secret!" She demanded as she stomped her foot.

"Gorraam it girl," Riddick snarled and lunged for her.

River neatly sidestepped and then ducked as he lunged again, and Riddick nearly snapped completely as she yawned after dodging him for a fourth time. "Bored now, dream quietly please." She said absently as she ducked around him again and slid into her brother's room.

_Xi niu_ (cow sucking) _crazy ass little bitch!_ Riddick yelled at her through his mind, seething all the more at the sound of the giggle which answered him from the other side of the doc's door. Briefly Riddick thought of ripping that fucking screen off its hinges and snapping the bitch's neck, but that wouldn't get him any answers. Not to mention it would piss Mal off somethin' fierce and then he'd have to kill him, and then Zoe would try to kill him, so he'd have to kill her. After which would lead to Wash's death and then probably the Doc and Little Sunshine too, only one he wouldn't have to kill would be Jayne, but then again Jayne would probably be pissed he'd offed Kaylee, and then he'd wind up having to kill him too, and there he would be again, surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies and a hellva mess to clean up. So instead he settled for another stream of silently thought Mandarin, in which he placed a few choice curses he knew would make even Jayne blush and topped it off with a few mental images of some of his more unfortunate victims before slamming the door to his own dorm, the slight echo of a whimper not quite as satisfying as killing her would have been, but it did well enough for now. Girl would have to realize who the fuck she was dealin' with.

* * *

**Endnote: Just a little note here, River has pretty much chosen Riddick now as her protector since he shot down Dobson, unfortunately for her Riddick as of yet has no desire to be anything at all to the crazy girl, he just wants his answers.**

'**Til After Now.**


	7. The Train Job I

**A/N:**

**Julian Carax: I was hoping someone would catch the Serenity's breathing bit, and LOL (is it strange I take the disturbing imagery bit as a compliment?). It is a bit odd isn't how this is the least violent Riddick I've written, but I actually took some time and did a little reading on sociopaths so I'm trying a different angle. You'll see me exploit the fact that kids seem to be his weakness (why he became a con and how Johns caught him before Pitch Black) in this update. Thanks for taking the time to review I do appreciate it greatly and I did try to shorten up my sentences in the action sequences here, hopefully you'll enjoy. :D**

**Ariblack: I'm stealing a bit of the back story from the games, but I've never actually played them; mainly I'm using various wikis and a little bit of creative rearranging to come up with something. Thanks for noticing the effort on punctuation and grammar I am REALLY trying since it was pointed out, and I think I've reread this update at least fifty times double checking. I do however realize that it is by no means perfect in that department still, but I get points for trying right? LOL, how I love being a bad influence, but your thesis is rather important. Thanks for reading and taking the time out to review. :D**

**Hotagainstthewall: Dontcha worry a fight scene is a coming! :D**

**Sabrina1204: Oh Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina, the definition of fabulousness. There is a special little surprise tucked away in this episode for you. And I did catch the whole schizophrenia thing after I had watched the episode but unfortunately it was after I published the update, I'm thinking of fixing it before the next update of Partners goes up. And LOL I am just itching to get to Jaynestown (my favorite episode of the series as well.) For the moment Riddick hasn't change too much, but as we hit episode three, Bushwhacked that's when things are gonna start to change up quite a bit. Much luv momma. :D**

**I am really trying to work on the run on sentence thing… but go easy on me… it's like trying to break the finger nail biting habit.**

**Without further ado…don't own a thing and most the dialogue is stolen… even still enjoy!**

* * *

The Drowned Miner was the kind of bar the crew of Serenity liked best, dim, smoky, cluttered, and always itchin' for a brawl. Various languages spoke at once, making deals and placing bets, some honest and some not so honest, some meant to be kept and others which begged to be broken. Belly dancers swathed in silk and silver circled the patrons, spinning up clouds of smoke in their skirts and scarves to the tune of exotic music played by a small band. The four gunslingers of Serenity sat huddled around a small table in a darkened corner; their faces set in various forms of intensity and concentration.

"Your move," Jayne told the Captain, his voice even.

Mal sipped off his drink, and pocketed a small slip of paper a dancer dropped into his hand as she passed. He eyed the board of Chinese checkers for a moment longer and jumped several pieces, moving his marble half way across the board.

"Bold move," Zoe complimented with false sincerity.

"I like to live on the edge," Mal said smugly and tilted his glass slightly in her direction, as if to say, _Beat that._

"Bold and stupid," Riddick snorted.

Mal looked offended until Zoe crossed the entirety of the board in a single move thanks wholly to the space the he had left open. She drank to his challenge, as small chuckle broke from her lips.

"Told ya," Riddick smirked.

"Nice move dumbass," Jayne grumbled he had had a chance, until that move.

"Been thinkin' about movin' off the edge," Mal remarked, "ain't the ideal location, mayhap a place somewhere in the middle," he finished with a half grin.

"A toast!" A man yelled from the bar, as he stumbled slightly.

Mal immediately forgot about the game at hand and turned his attention to the drunk.

_Every gorraam year,_ Zoe thought to herself.

While Zoe and Mal focused their attention on the drunk Jayne and Riddick took the opportunity to "adjust" the placement of a few key pieces. Neither above playing dirty when a week's worth of dish duty was on the line.

"A toast!" The drunk, a bald overweight man, yelled again. "Shut up! Quiet! I'm got words, I say, today," he went on, as his drink sloshed over the edge of his tumbler, "is an asspishus day, we all know what day it is."

"Did he say suspicious?" Jayne asked Riddick as he frowned thinking hard, "What day is it?"

Riddick eyed Mal and Zoe carefully, listening to the sudden uptick of their heart rates, the sudden wave of anger that tickled his nostrils.

"A glorious day for all proud members of the Allied Planets. Unification Day, the end of the Independent scumbags and the dawn of a new galaxy!" He yelled, as he raised his glass high.

Mal pushed out his chair.

"Captain," Zoe warned.

"Just feel the need for a drink," he said evenly.

"What month is it?" Jayne asked more to himself than anyone else; up in the black it never really seemed to matter, one day cycle just blended into the next.

_

Mal found himself a spot at the bar, directly beside the toaster, "'Nother, _Ng-Ka-Pei_ (just a drink name)," he told the bartender as he slid his glass across the dark wood.

"Hey, ya gonna drink with me?" The man wobbled slightly, and leaned against the bar for better balance, "Six years today, the Alliance sent them Brown coats runnin', pissin' their pants," he laughed.

Mal did not answer; instead he took his drink and tossed a paper bill down on the bar.

"Yer coat's kinda a brownish color," the man observed through slightly bleary eyes, as his demeanor changed.

"It was on sale," Mal told him absently, as he took a hearty swig off his drink, a slight grimace on his face more from the company than the burn of the alcohol.

"You didn't toast, and ya know I'm thinkin' you're one of 'em Independents." The drunk accused.

"And I'm thinkin' you weren't burden with an overabundance of schooling, so why don't we just ignore each other 'til we go away?" He answered a half smirk on his face.

"The Independents were a bunch of inbred, cowardly piss pots shoulda been killed offa every world spinnin'," The man turned his back as he spoke.

Mal slammed his drink onto the bar and turned, "Say that to my face."

"I said," He started, taking a step closer to Mal leaving no space between them, "you're a coward and a piss pot. Now what you gonna do 'bout it?" The man sneered, bringing himself up to his full height.

"Nothing." Mal smirked. "I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind you."

The man spun around to meet the butt of Zoe's mare's leg, and he went down like a sack of rotten potatoes.

Mal and Zoe exchanged a smile, "Drunks are so cute," he mused as he returned to his drink.

Abruptly the band halted, and several of the bar's patrons rose from their seats.

"_O, zhe zhen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan_ (oh this is a happy development)." Mal said placing down his glass once more.

"Jayne, Riddick…" Zoe yelled.

"Hey we didn't fight in no war," Jayne said, as he leaned back in the booth and toasted to them.

"Best of luck," Riddick added, as he tipped his glass.

Mal redirected his gaze back to the crowd of men that were approaching; he looked at them with amusement and expectation, "Fine. Let's do this."

_

Jayne flinched as Mal took a hard right hook to his jaw.

"I'll put a twenty piece on Mal gettin' thrown through the window." Riddick smirked.

Jayne snorted as he grinned, "I'll take it, don't look there's a man strong enough that's sober 'nough for that."

Riddick watched as Zoe broke a bottle across some _ben dan's_ (idiot's) face. Girl fought dirty as hell, he liked it, "How's it a man like Wash winds up with a woman like Zoe?"

"Got me, personally I think it's all kinds of weird." Jayne shrugged as he scowled at his now empty glass. "Think there's a chance I could get 'nother whiskey?"

Riddick chuckled as he watched Mal get thrown through the front window. "Tell ya what, next time we hit dirt I'll buy the first round. Seein' as how I'm twenty platinum richer, and I'm thinkin our Captain gettin' thrown through the window is the signal our kind ain't wanted here no more."

"Gorraam it!" Jayne bitched as he dug into his cargos for the money.

"Easiest twenty I ever made." Riddick pocketed the coins.

"Wells I'm ready to punch somebody now." Jayne grumbled cracking his knuckles.

"Hell been awhile since I've been in a good bar fight," Riddick chuckled cracking his neck.

The window of the Drunken Miner crackled rather than shattered as Mal passed through it. The owner having replaced it with an ionized field some time ago for just such occasions. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and reached for his comm link, "Wash, we got us some local color, a grand entrance would not go amiss."

*

"Kept the engines warm Capt, we're on our way." Wash responded as he rolled his eyes and brought Serenity into the air. There wasn't such a thing as a quiet drink on U-Day and he had been prepared.

*

Zoe followed Mal out of the bar, but rather than through the window she came out through the door. The man who preceded her did so by the brute force of her boot in his chest, and the unfortunate one who followed behind, found himself on intimate terms with a stone pillar.

Mal pushed himself up fully to take down another _hun_ _dan_ (bastard) that came barreling out of the bar. He ducked quick to avoid a sloppy punch and came up with a hard uppercut to the man's stomach. Almost gleefully he finished him off with a knee to the nose as the man doubled over. "Are Jayne and Riddick even awake?" he snapped as Zoe fought her way to his side.

As if to answer him, she yanked him to her left as a body came flying out from the same said window he had exited by. Another three were shoved out the door by a stool wielding Jayne, who clocked a fourth behind him with his elbow, not evening sparing the man a glance.

Mal ripped Zoe out of the way of another flying body, as he ducked a wild punch. Riddick followed the third man through the window, though Mal judged by the way he landed that it had been Riddick's choice, unlike himself and the last couple of _hun dans_ (Bastards). He had to flinch a little as he caught the brutal uppercut Riddick gifted the man he had landed closest to with that sent the poor son of a bitch flying backwards into one of his buddies.

Zoe would have admired the uppercut herself iffin' she wasn't busy taking a jab to her face which was meant for the captain. She recovered quickly, and slung a handful of sand into the _gou neong yung de's _ (son of a bitch's) eyes. He stumbled backward and she grabbed for his collar taking him down with a vicious head butt.

Riddick delivered a spinning back fist, and savored the feel of bone breaking beneath his hand. After the first hit landed he reversed his spin, and introduced his steel toe boot to the side of the fuck's head. It'd been too long since he'd been in a good brawl, usually going for the quick and dirty take down his shiv provided and he had to admit he was havin' a hell of a time.

Mal felt the skin on his knuckles break open at the same time he heard the sound of a jaw crack beneath them. However he felt it was worth the sacrifice and paid it little mind. Jayne, still enjoying his stool club cracked it across a _hun dan's_ skull. He took an elbow to the back for it and spun to reward the man with an elbow of his own, straight across his jaw.

The crew of Serenity, enjoyed a few more minutes of what would later be recounted as the most brutal, throw down, knock out, brawl the bar had ever seen, before they found themselves side by side backing up towards a cliff face as more and more angry drunken patrons came pouring out through the door.

"Well there's just an acre of you fellows," Mal laughed nervously, a little wobbly from a blow to the head he had taken. "That's why we lost ya know," he turned to Zoe, "superior numbers." He explained, unworried as the sweet sound of Serenity's engines filled his ears.

"Thanks for the reenactment Sir," Zoe replied, breathing a bit heavily but a smile on her face none the less.

"Ain't possible to be bored crewin' with you Mal," Riddick smirked as he spit out a mouthful of blood. However, the smirk disappeared from his face and turned into a snarl as the original toasting drunk pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and leveled a rather larger six shooter at the crew. The others in the mob took this as a signal to draw their own as well.

"Hey them ain't koserized rules!" Jayne snapped trying to judge if he could draw 'fore he got shot. _Gorram U-Day,_ he thought, needed to keep better track of the days. Hell, iffin' he'd realized it was U-Day he woulda brought Vera. As it was all he had on him now was his LeMat, Lucy and his favorite blade, Sabrina.

"I'm thinkin' somebody oughta put you dogs down. What do you think?" The drunk sneered.

"I'm thinkin' we might rise again," Mal grinned wickedly, as Serenity rose from behind the cliff face.

Wind whipped around the assembled mob as Wash 's voice came over the ship's speakers, "Every man there go back inside," he spoke as the airlock ramp lowered, "or I will blow a new crater in this little moon." Nervously the mob took a few steps back, some shielding their faces from the dust the ship's engines kicked up.

Mal and the others made the short leap from the cliff onto the ramp. Mal pausing a short moment to wave before the airlock closed and Serenity took off into the blue.

_

"Damn yokels can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns," Jayne chuckled as soon as the doors sealed cleanly behind them, "Blow a new crater in this moon," he laughed harder to himself as he headed to his bunk.

"Gotta say Captain, I like your idea of a quiet drink," Riddick smirked as followed him and Zoe up to the bridge.

"Wasn't me that started no trouble, Zoe swung first." Mal said innocently, as he smiled a smile that was anything but.

Zoe shot him an amused glance as she climbed up the stairs.

_

"My thanks Wash," Mal said as they entered, "nice save, as always."

"My pleasure," Wash answered sarcastically.

"And how are our passengers?" The Captain asked.

"They're fine," Kaylee answered rolling out from beneath a console, "So what happened, another terrible brawl?" She snickered.

"Oddly enough, there was," Zoe said eyeing Mal as she hopped up on the console in front of her husband. Being careful not to sit on any buttons which would send them plummeting back to the moon they'd just escaped. She had a feelin' the locals wouldn't be jumpin' to come to their aid.

"Are you getting my wife into trouble?" Wash asked inspecting a nice cut along Zoe's cheek.

"What?" Mal asked with feigned offense. "I didn't start it, just wanted a quiet drink."

"Funny Sir, how you always find yourself in some Alliance friendly bar come U-Day, lookin' for a 'quiet drink'." She smirked.

"See this is a sign of your tragic space dementia. All paranoid and crotchety," he shook his head, and placed his hand on his chest, "it breaks my heart." he said, earning a giggle from Kaylee.

"Well did we at least make contact?" Wash asked.

Smiling Mal removed the slip of paper from his pockets, "Ladies and menfolk we got ourselves a job. Wash, take us off world," he handed the paper to Zoe, "Got us some crime to be done." Mal said feelin' all sorts of pleased. If you were to ask him, he'd had a pretty good gorraam day, had a few drinks with his crew, got a job, and got to knock in some Alliance friendly folk, man couldn't ask for much more than that.

* * *

_The cold steel stung her back and she wanted to escape it but colder steel bound her wrists and legs, and as she fought the needles went deeper, prodded places they shouldn't prod, poked things lose and the RIVER fled from her body encased in ribbons of scarlet. Ribbons which left trails of fire behind them, melting into her eyes and all she saw was RED and all she was was RED and all of the world was angry and hateful and RED. And there was PAIN, and there were THOUGHTS and they were BELIEF. And they were for A BETTER WORLD. And SECRETS all of their SECRETS. Old men covered in blood but it never touched them, SINS SECRETS SINS SECRETS SINS SECRETS SINS SECRETS, __**THEY SCREAMED. EVERY VOICE IN THE UNIVERSE SCREAMED ALL AT ONCE THEY SCREAMED…**_

_The dam broke… and River **SCREAMED**…._

River suddenly jerked upright, knocking herself off the infirmary bed, trembling and shaking as she muttered incoherently in Mandarin intertwined with English, and laced with Latin.

"River," Simon approached her cautiously, his voice soft, "River, it's me."

She jerked away from him and skid backwards along the floor and into a cabinet.

"River, you know who I am right?" He asked anxiously.

"Simon." River answered, and looked at him in a way that could only be translated as, '_Don't be a boob.'_

"Right," he said sheepishly, "Sorry. Were you dreaming? Did you dream about the Academy?"

She pushed herself off the floor and away from him, and began to pace nervously as she tugged at her hair, "Not relevant."

"If you can talk about it," Simon tried, "I know it's hard, but the more I know the faster you'll get better."

River stopped pacing suddenly, "This isn't home."

"No. No, its not River, we can't go home. If we go home, they'll just send you back to the Academy. This is safe for now." He paused before adding with feigned cheerfulness, "We're on a ship."

"Mid-bulk transport, standard radion-accelerator core, class 03-K64, 'Firefly'," River answered reflexively.

"Well that's something," Mal interjected as he stepped through the door, "I can't even remember all that," Riddick was a step behind him.

"Need a weave on that?" Simon asked pointing at the Captain's left hand which was bleeding slightly overtly. "Or that?" He added to Riddick, looking at the deep gouge marks on his arm.

"It's nothing," Mal shrugged him off running his hand underneath the sink.

Riddick didn't bother to answer; he just kept one eye on the girl, a habit he had developed since that lovely little kick to the jaw she'd gifted him with.

"I expect there is someone's face who feels different." Simon joked.

"Ya know, they tell you never hit a man with a closed fist, but it is on occasion hilarious," Mal smiled as he remembered the look on that particular _hun dan's _(bastard's) face. Riddick chuckled.

"I suppose so," Simon said uneasily, "The fight… it didn't draw any attention did it?"

"No Feds. Just an honest brawl between honest folk, ain't one of us that wants the Alliance on us, that's why you're here Doc."

"I thought I was here because you needed a medic."

"Well, not today," Mal shrugged happily and exited the infirmary as quickly as he had entered.

River had remained silent during the exchange between the Captain and her brother, though her eyes followed him as he left, "Mal…bad." She turned to her brother, "in the Latin."

Riddick smirked as he leaned against the counter, ignoring the sting of the anti septic as he poured it over the gouges, "What's Richard?" He asked curiously.

"Richard, strong… power," she eyed him and took a step closer, "Brought to Earth-that-was England by the Normans, derived from Germanic elements '_Ric_, power and '_hard_, strong. Richard," she spoke with wide eyed awe, "the name of Kings."

"Kings huh?" Riddick smiled as he thought it over, "Like the sound of that," he said as he tossed the swabs he had used into a trash container, and headed out of the infirmary. Taking advantage of the fact the Doc would keep her from following him.

"River, you shouldn't talk to him he's dangerous." Simon told her after he was sure the killer was out of earshot.

River tore her gaze away from the door and back to her brother, "Safe."

"River," Simon said in warning and he took both of her arms in his hands to make sure she understood him, "He is a x_iong meng de kuang ren_ (violent lunatic), stay away from him _dong ma_ (understand me)?"

"Not _xiong meng de kuang ren, shi li _(strength). He protects her."

Simon sputtered, "Are you kidding me? When has he protected you?"

"Stood guard when the men who have forgotten themselves came too close, would have died, shot down the rage and saved the girl from eternity in a cage."

"River," Simon said condescendingly, "he shot down Dobson because Dobson would have turned him in too, and he came to the infirmary when the Reavers past because it seals up tighter than any other room on the ship in case of infection or disease."

"Simon does not see." She told him sadly.

"See what?"

"_Dao_ (direction**/**path/principle/truth/ morality/reason/skill/method/Dao (of Daoism)/to speak/classifier for long thin stretches, rivers, roads etc, used to signify the true nature of the world)." She answered as her eyes drifted back towards the infirmary door.

"And what's the truth?" He asked.

"He wouldn't understand." She sighed dramatically.

"Well make me."

"I cannot, one must learn _Dao_ for themselves."

"River you're not making any sense."

"See? He cannot see and so he calls her crazy."

"I didn't call you crazy." Simon defended.

"He thinks it."

"You can't possibly know what I am thinking River." He said absently as he searched for something he really didn't need. Mainly because he wasn't entirely sure she couldn't, but he told himself that that was crazy, people couldn't read minds.

"Everything flows through the River," she whispered quietly.

* * *

"Where we headed Mal?" Riddick asked as he caught up to him on the stairs.

"Skyplex 'round Ezra." Mal answered as he continued to walk.

"_O di yu _(Oh hell), tell me it ain't Niska."

"What's wrong with Niska?"

"Did a job for him a while back, man ain't right Mal."

"Coming from you that's absolutely terrifying," Mal replied, amusement in his tone.

"Ain't kiddin' Mal, keep the girls on the ship," Riddick warned. "Ain't a place for them and you don't want him knowin' all you count as yours. The job goes south for any reason; he'll grab everyone around you first and make you watch."

"Well I wasn't plannin' on lettin' them go for a picnic Riddick, ain't a gorraam idiot." Mal snapped and then stopped dead in his tracks in front of the engine room.

"Think little Kaylee's havin' an off day," Riddick remarked as he raised an eyebrow, and took in the unholy mess of wires and cords which hung draped across everything. Every panel and console had been torn open and patched together again seemingly at random with no regard for fire prevention whatsoever.

"Kaylee!" Mal yelled.

* * *

The mechanic in question sat with her eyes closed, a dreamy smile on her grease stained face in the Companion's shuttle as Inara brushed out her hair.

"Do you want me to put it up?" She asked.

"No that's okay," Kaylee mumbled enjoying the rare sensation of being pampered. She mighta been a mechanic but she was still a girl gorraam it; something the rest of the crew seemed to forget.

"You have lovely hair," Inara smiled down at her, "I'm sure the doctor thinks so as well."

"Simon?" Kaylee piped, "No, he's just… He could never… I'm a…Do you think it looks better up?" She asked anxiously.

"We can experiment," Inara laughed, "and who knows maybe we'll get wild later and wash your face," She teased.

"Do you ever do this for your clients?"

"Very occasionally, not all of them have hair enough to brush."

"Have you ever had to service a really hideous client? Like one that had boils and such?" Kaylee asked curiously.

"A companion chooses her clients, that's guild law. But physical appearance doesn't matter so terribly. You look for a compatibility of spirit… there's an energy about a person that is difficult to hide, you try to feel that…"

"Then you try to feel the energy of their credit account, it's got a kinda aura," Mal interrupted walking into the shuttle unannounced.

"What did I say to you about barging into my shuttle?" Inara asked coldly.

"That it was manly and impulsive?" Mal offered.

"Yes, very precisely," she narrowed her eyes, "only I believe the precise words I used were, 'Don't.'."

"Well your holding my mechanic in thrall, and Kaylee what in the hell is goin' on in that engine room? Were they're monkeys? Some terrifying space monkeys that maybe gotten loose, 'cause I can't see a single other gorraam reason for its state." Mal snapped.

"I had to rewire the grav thrust 'cause somebody won't replace the crappy compression coil." Kaylee shot back heatedly.

"Well get the place squared away, it's dangerous in there and I ain't payin' you to get your hair played with."

Kaylee rose in a huff, "_Ke-wu de lao bao jun_ (horrible old tyrant)." She grumbled passing him.

"We work before we play," he shot at her back as she stormed out. "You servicin' crew now?" He asked Inara.

"In your lonely pathetic dreams," She snorted. "What do you want?"

"We got a job."

"Congratulations. This job wouldn't be on any decently civilized planet where I could screen some respectable clients?" She asked arching an eyebrow.

"Respectable clients? Seems like a contradiction."

"Don't start." She warned him.

"We don't have a location yet, we'll be docking on a Skyplex in a bit, its run by a fellow called Niska."

"Never heard of him," Inara shrugged.

"Well I have, and while we're there you and Kaylee will stay confined to the ship."

"Is the petty criminal perchance ashamed to be riding with the Companion?" She asked.

"Niska's got a very unlovely rep, he's got work for me fine, but it ain't the kinda place you'd be safe."

"Mal, if you're being a gentleman I may die of shock." Inara teased.

He gave her a half smirk and bowed dramatically at the waist before he walked away, only to pop his head back in a second later, "Have you got time to do my hair?" He asked playfully.

"Out." She ordered him.

* * *

Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Riddick followed two heavily armed and armored guards deep into the bowels of the Skyplex. Serenity's four gun hands walked alertly, all subconsciously memorizing the path they had taken from the ship, counting guards they passed, and noting possible spots for cover. That gorram itch was back, but this time it seemed to be a collective one. They stopped in front of a large reinforced vault door, and Mal though outwardly just as stoic as his crew, had to restart his own heart as a huge, tattooed, hulk of a _hun dan _ (bastard) appeared on the other side of a door, brandishing an overly large angular blade.

"Crow." Riddick greeted evenly.

Crow growled in response.

"Great, a friend of yours?" Mal asked sarcastically.

"Its fine Crow, they can come in," a heavily accented voice called from behind the tattooed monstrosity, who stepped aside to allow the crew to enter.

"Malcolm Reynolds is which?" An older man in an expensive suit and thin wire framed glasses asked from behind a large wooden desk.

"I'm Captain Reynolds, my first mate Zoe, this is Jayne and…"

"Richard Riddick," he finished for Mal, a small smile gracing his face, "If I had known Malcolm Reynolds had a man of your such caliber aboard his ship I would have requested services much sooner," he said happily. "I am most pleased to learn you are not dead."

"Ain't that easy to kill," Riddick rumbled in response.

"Well that is good, yes? Yes." He turned his attention back to Mal, "Forgive me, I am being rude, I am Adelai Niska. You have all met Crow, he likes to stand behind door and give big "Boo"," he said good-naturedly.

"We got word you might have a job for us," Mal replied evenly, very much ready to get the job and be on his way, old man gave him the creeps somethin' fierce.

"Yes, yes, an exciting job, a train, you have worked a train before?" He asked as he rose and walked around his desk.

"We've hit a few," Mal told him.

"Are you going to ask me what I need?" He asked.

"As a rule no."

"Yes good, you have a reputation, you and Richard Riddick, you do the job, no complications, Malcolm Reynolds is a man that gets it done that is the talk."

"Well I'm glad to hear that."

"Do you know what a reputation is?" He asked, as he face grew serious, "It is… people talk, it is gossip," he struggled for the words in English, "it's not to hold, touch it, you can't. Not from gossip. Now I also have a reputation, not so pleasant, I think you know. Crow?" He gestured toward a door to his left and Crow opened it.

Zoe had to physically stop herself from taking a step back at the image of a man hanging upside down over a drainage pipe, his body mangled beyond identification. Mal exchanged a meaningful glance with her as Niska closed the door. Jayne gave Riddick look, as if to say, '_You gotta be ruttin' kidding me right?' _he merely shrugged in response. He had been expecting that, having gotten a similar 'talk' when he took his first job from Niska. First and only job, man just wasn't right. The others however had not, and their faces showed it clearly.

"Now for you, my reputation is not from gossip. You see this man; he does not do the job. I show you what I do to him and my reputation is now fact, solid," he emphasized his point by hitting his closed fist into the center of his open palm. "Richard Riddick knew this fact, but," he shrugged, "I felt it was important for you to know this as well. You do the train job for me, than you are solid, this is a strong relationship."

"Right," Mal looked more than a bit uneasy.

"You do not like that I killed this man." Niska stated as he wagged his finger.

"Well, I'm sure he was a very bad person," Mal assured him. It didn't look good to criticize the man that was givin' you the job, but would he be taking another? _Fuck no._ Not to mention he didn't think Niska was the type of man who took criticism well.

Niska waved a hand in dismissal, "My wife's nephew," he shrugged. "At dinner I am getting earful, there is no way out of that," he said as he walked behind his desk. "So… The train job." He continued, as he pressed down on a large clear piece of digital paper and a train schematic appeared. "Here in the fifth car, two boxes, Alliance goods. You don't mind taking from the Alliance from your reputation I think." He smiled at Mal, who quite honestly didn't have it in him to smile back.

"You get on the train at Hancock, heading to Paradiso. You get the boxes off before you hit Paradiso, and," he clicked the paper over to reveal another map, "deliver to Crow here. Half the money now, Crow gives you the other half at rendezvous point. Anything goes wrong then your reputation is only gossip and things between us, not so solid. Yes?"

* * *

**Endnote: Next update is being posted immediately.**


	8. The Train Job II

Zoe sat across from Mal on the dimly lit crowded train; she fidgeted with a silver pocket watch. Everything about this job left a sour taste in her mouth. She wasn't afraid of much, but that man Niska had scared the living piss outta her. The image of the dead and hanging man seemed burned into her mind, although the unknown face had the disturbing habit of transforming into faces all too well known to her. She mentally snorted at herself, in the war she'd seen worse, but they weren't in the war. Niska wasn't torturing enemies. He had done that to his own gorram nephew, even if by marriage, just to prove a gorraam point. If that's how far he would take it with his own family just how far would he go with a member of her own?

"How long 'til we reach Paradiso?" Mal asked, breaking her out of her morbid thoughts, for which she was grateful.

"Another twenty minutes. We should be in the foothills in another five." She answered.

"Best get to work then," He replied as he stood and Zoe followed suit.

"He's a psycho, you know Niska." She said as she stood.

"He's not the first psycho to hire us, won't be the last. Do you think that's a commentary on us?" Mal asked casually, subconsciously counting the number of civilians as he past.

Zoe gave him a look, "I've just got an image in my head of a guy hanging from the ceiling."

"Yeah and I got an image of it not being me." Mal told her as they reached the end of the car, "Let's just do the thing." He added as they stepped through the door leading into the next car.

Immediately they froze. The entire car was filled to the brim with Alliance soldiers all armed to the teeth. Mal felt his heart drop into his stomach and than catapult into his throat. He said the only thing his brain could manage to communicate to his mouth, "Hi."

There had been only a few occasions in their long friendship in which Zoe had to fight the urge to shoot the Captain herself, and this had just made the list.

* * *

_Aboard Serenity…_

"Oh, hello River," Inara greeted, as she walked into the mess for a cup of tea.

River did not bother to look up, too focused on what she was doing for pleasantries.

"What are you sketching?" Inara asked, undeterred by the girl's silence as she put the water on to boil.

"_Shi li _(strength)," River answered quietly.

The Companion smiled gently as she walked over to the table. "And what is the face of _shi li?" _She asked as she leaned over River's shoulder to take a look, and found herself temporarily speechless. Drawn on the page was an astoundingly accurate and beautifully crafted portrait of Riddick. "It's very beautiful River, you have quite a gift," she compliment the skill, because the thought behind it she could not even begin to comprehend.

"You do not see, that is why you do not understand." River told her doing her best to ignore the woman's intrusive presence.

"See what?"

"It is not relevant, you would not understand."

"I would like to though," Inara said gently, as she brought her tea to the table.

River sent down her pencil, sighing dramatically as she turned her attention to the Companion. "_Dao_," She answered, as a smile curved around her lips.

"The truth?" Inara asked confused.

River huffed and returned to her drawing, giving Inara the look the other crew had come to know as the _could-you-possibly-be-anymore-of-a-boob_ look. "You cannot understand because you do not see." She answered, irritated to be having the same conversation for the second time in one day. Repetition was irksome.

"What am I missing?"

"The truth," River told her harshly.

"Yes, I understand that part," Inara said, as she reminded herself to remain calm, "but what truth am I missing?"

River released another sigh, frustrated and no longer interested in the conversation whatsoever, "_Wo dui ni bu wen bu jian_ (I neither see nor hear you)." She said firmly as she stood and very calmly collected her sketch pad and drawing pencils, "Good day to you." She added with a polite curtsy.

Inara watched River twirl her way down the steps humming. She would to have to speak to Riddick on as to why the girl seemed to think him the physical embodiment of _shi li_ (strength), and quite possibly warn Simon as well. The signs were all there, if only visible to one trained to notice them. She was sure Riddick had no idea of it; quite honestly she was surprised the man hadn't killed the poor girl yet. A single day didn't pass aboard the ship any longer in which Riddick couldn't be heard yelling the girl's name accompanied by a colorful stream of Mandarin and an echo of giggles.

Normally she wasn't one to stand in the way of love, no matter how mismatched the pair may have been. However, the romantic involvement of a slightly psychotic barely grown woman and a sociopathic murderer was, as Jayne would put it, all sorts of creepifying; especially if said sociopath was more likely to straggle said girl than to reciprocate. River's mind was fragile enough already and Inara didn't think the girl would be able to handle such emotional rejection, nor did she imagine the girl's brother would be able to handle his poor crazy little _mei-mei's_ attraction to a convicted murderer. For now she would wait and observe. Should the situation escalate to more than just a simple crush she would speak to River herself, as she doubted highly both Riddick and Simon's ability to handle the situation tactfully.

* * *

For a few brief moments Mal and Zoe remained utterly motionless. It was the opening of the door on the far side of the car that reminded them they had an actual purpose to be aboard this particular train, and they slowly made their way down the aisle. They both kept their eyes lowered avoiding eye contact at all costs with any of the Feds as they squeezed past the family which had entered from the opposite side. Zoe did not breathe again until they had cleared the car.

She stopped Mal with a hand on his arm, and took a quick glance around the car to be sure no one was listening. It was filled with nothing but poor immigrant families either standing or lounged across the dirty floor, but none paid them any mind. "Sir," she tried to say with all due respect, "is there some information we may be lacking? As to why there's an entire Fed-squad sitting on this train?"

"It doesn't concern us," he said as he turned away.

"It kinda concerns me," Zoe snapped in a whisper as she grabbed hold of his arm again.

"I mean, they're not protecting the goods. If they were they wouldn't be lettin' people past 'em."

"You don't think it changes the situation a bit?"

"I surely do. Makes it more fun." He said a wide grin on his face.

"Sir," Zoe smiled back with false sweetness, "I think you have a problem with your brain being missing."

"Come on. We stick to the plan, we get the goods, and we're back on Serenity before the train even reaches Paradiso. Only now, we do it under the noses of twenty trained Alliance Feds, and that makes them look all manner of stupid. Hell," he smirked as he headed towards the back of the train car, "I'd do this job for free."

"Then can I have your share?" Zoe asked as she followed.

"No." Mal snorted.

"If you die can I have your share?"

"Yes." He shrugged, couldn't much argue with that.

* * *

_Aboard Serenity…_

"We start flying with the hatch open keepin' her steady is going to be a hell of a job," Wash looked over his shoulder as he spoke to Riddick and Jayne. "Lucky for you both I'll be flyin'." He cracked a smile and then his brow furrowed slightly as the ship jerked hard to the left. "All the same, strap in."

"Well that's a little ominous." Jayne grunted as he eyed the speeding train beneath them with more than a little trepidation.

"You scared Cobb?" Riddick chuckled.

"Ain't scared of shit," Jayne snorted straightening himself, "You get me killed Wash, I'm gonna come back as a ghost and punch out your liver."

"Well there goes Plan A," he smirked.

Riddick laughed harder; _yeah this crew was all sorts of fun._

"Ain't jokin' none flyboy, you get me dead…"

"Yeah Cobb, he heard ya, you'll punch out his liver," Riddick clapped him on his back as he turned, "Let's get this done."

Jayne shot Wash another glare for good measure before he turned to follow Riddick off the bridge. Once they had cleared the stairs Riddick looked at him, "His liver?"

"'Bout to jump onto a movin' train, what do ya want from me?" Jayne snapped back.

_

Still on the bridge Wash took a moment to ponder the threat himself, "My liver?" He looked at the T-Rex, "Did that make any sense to you?" The T-Rex stared at him silently, "Yeah I didn't think so either." He shook his head. "Ready for another display of amazingly heroic flying?" The T-Rex continued to stare, "Yeah me neither. Let's just hope nobody gets shot and I don't crash us into the side of a cliff okay?"

The T-Rex didn't look so hopeful.

_

"Hey," Simon called out across the bay to Kaylee with a tentative wave of his hand.

"Oh hey Doctor," Kaylee said with a smile and blushed a little as she worked the controls for the bay floor hatch.

"You really should just call me Simon."

"I'll…I'll do that then," she smiled a little bigger looking down at her feet.

"So what are we doing?" Simon asked looking down through the open hatch and seeing only an empty space.

"Oh, crime." She perked back up.

"Crime…good." Simon said a little anxiously. "Okay… crime." He added resolving himself.

"It's a train heist," Kaylee explained, "We fly in, and then the Captain and Zoe sneak in, and we lower Jayne and Riddick onto the car from Serenity and then buddle up the booty and we haul 'em all back out. Easy as lyin'." She said confidently.

"You've done this before?"

Kaylee laughed, "Oh hell no," and then her face sobered up, "But I think it's gonna work the Cap's a real _qi cai _(genius) when it comes to plans." She assured him.

Simon however did not look so convinced, "Well is there anything I should be doing?"

"Yeah," Jayne snorted as he and Riddick entered the bay, "stayin' the hell outta everyone's way." He was decked out in layers and tying a hat around his head as he walked, while Riddick hadn't felt the need to add anything to his usual attire of a black t-shirt with cargos for this adventure.

"No call to be snappy Jayne." Kaylee shot at him.

"Are you about to jump out onto a movin' train?" He snapped right back at her, now even angrier at the Doc for makin' him yell at Kaylee. "The Captain's not around, I'm in charge," he told Simon.

"Since when?" Kaylee asked.

Jayne ignored her, "Just cause Mal says your Medic don't make you part of the crew. You just play at figurin' out what's wrong with that moon brained sister of yours and we'll be shiny. _Dong ma_ (Understand me)?"

"Jayne," Riddick warned.

"_Cai bu, cai bu,_ (yeah,yeah)" he snorted at Riddick.

_

River watched the exchange from the catwalk above the bay, her bare legs dangled over the edge. Was she insane? No, she saw the truth, it was not her fault the others would not understand, that they could not walk the path. They could not wade the river. The _shi li_ understood though, not yet, but he would. The _shi li_ could follow the flow of the River. He would not be carried away.

_

"Right," Simon said slowly, "I'll be in the infirmary waiting for someone to come back injured than," he said coolly and turned to walk away not seeing the point in arguing anything with the trained ape.

"You shouldn't be so rude to him Jayne," Kaylee scolded him.

"Why 'cause he's all rich and fanciable?" He snorted.

"No, 'cause he's the guy that's gonna be patchin' ya up next time Mal gets you shot." Riddick smirked, as he shrugged on his harness.

"Aw, he ain't got it in him, he's got morals and such, wouldn't leave me die, them docs' got a code." Jayne replied as he tested the straps and his rigging.

"He wouldn't never!" Kaylee defended.

Riddick shrugged, "Guess we'll find out, won't we? You ready for this?"

Jayne pulled down his goggles, "Bring on the thrilling heroics."

Kaylee rolled her eyes and hit the hatch doors.

* * *

"Niska's sources better be good…" Mal said as he slid a keycard into the security lock on the storage car.

_

Private William Hens got up from his seat and stretched. There was a pretty little thing back in the steerage car, and he was bored as hell, might as well chat her up for a bit.

_

"Shiny." Zoe smirked as the storage compartment door slid open. Mal headed straight for the center of the compartment, while Zoe turned to set a smoke bomb trigger on the door. It was a little something they'd picked up in the war, and it would buy them some time to act without being seen should anyone walk in and try to ruin their little party.

"Find the cargo," he ordered, as he dragged a crate to stand on into the center of the aisle and pulled a screwdriver from his pocket. His voice was all business, crime was afoot.

Zoe's only reply was a brief nod of her head as she began sorting through the crates. "All hail the great Alliance," she smirked to herself as she pulled away a tarp covering two crates with the AngloSino flag painted across their tops.

* * *

Riddick leapt first, sliding slightly as he grabbed a hand hold. Once he was sure he wasn't going to go flying to his death, he turned to look up and give Jayne the signal to drop. Jayne's landing wasn't as pretty, but he made it all the same and pulled himself against the raging wind to come up alongside Riddick.

_Fucking captain didn't have the gorraam ceiling panel open yet,_ and Jayne would have remarked upon it but he doubted Riddick would have heard him. What was the point of bitchin' iffin' no one could hear you? Instead, they both waited with forced patience another few life endangering moments before a panel slid open a few yards ahead of them. They exchanged a quick glance before crawling their way forward.

_

Private Hens had been making some progress, he thought, with the pretty girl he'd chased down. He was leaning against the side of the train car admiring the low dip in the girl's shirt when a noise from the next car caught his attention.

_

Zoe helped the Captain lower the panel; the sound it made against the metal as they dropped it was lost to her above the roaring of the incoming wind. She had one thing on her mind, get it done. She hadn't quite been able to shake the itch she'd gotten after seeing the car load of Feds. They were rigging up the crates as both Riddick and Jayne jumped down from the outside of the train.

The foursome was unusually quiet as they went through the motions of finishing up the rigging. Mayhap it was the car load of Feds, or mayhap having just jumped from a moving ship onto a moving train, or it coulda been the fact that the man they were doing the job for would have no issue with removing their fingernails and feeding them to them should anything go wrong. Whatever the cause or causes no one spoke until Mal called through his comm, "Fifteen seconds."

_

Private Hens nervously pulled his rifle off his shoulder, seeing the storage compartment door ajar. Briefly he thought about calling for backup but if it turned out to be for nothing he would hear hell for leaving their assigned car. Steeling himself, he moved toward the door, probably wasn't nothing at all, he told himself, just some gorraam crates rattling around.

_

Jayne latched back onto the zip line as Riddick double checked the rigging. Satisfied, he gave Mal the nod of approval as Zoe stepped up to hook on as well, and that was precisely the moment Malcolm Reynolds' carefully constructed plan went to gorraam hell.

* * *

River froze mid spin in the infirmary, her face deathly pale.

"River?" Simon asked concerned.

After a moment she completed her spin, "Smokers in the non smoking section, management will not be pleased. Prep the tables company is coming for dinner." She answered in a sing song voice.

Simon looked at her blankly. His brow furrowed, he had thought the new medicine they were trying might have been helping. Apparently, he had been wrong.

* * *

Riddick smelt the sudden spike of fear, a half of a second before he heard the faint creak of metal, "Get down!" He snapped.

The smoke bomb triggered, and spewed directly into Hens' face. He fired blindly, rapid wild shots which ricocheted off the walls.

"Fuck!" Riddick snarled as he felt the hot metal of a bullet eat into the muscles of his left arm.

"Son of a bitch!" Jayne followed with as he took a bullet to the thigh pushing Zoe down to cover.

"Go!" Zoe yelled.

"Go! Go!" Jayne relayed into his walkie, "God damn it get us out!" He roared.

Mal lunged into the cloud of smoke for the Fed. A right hook, followed by a boot planted into his chest. As the Fed went down Mal grabbed him by his rifle and spun it, and used the strap to slam him against the wall. As Private Hens ate the wall, Mal wasted no time in yanking Zoe to her feet, "Come on," he yelled as he pulled her forward.

She pulled out two more smoke canisters and tossed one to the Captain. They rolled them into the steerage car just as the Feds began storming in from the opposite side. Coughing and keeping low they faded into the small panicking crowd of immigrants.

* * *

"Where are the others?!" Kaylee asked panicking.

"Shot my gorraam leg!" Jayne swore as he practically fell off the crate.

"God damn it," Riddick swore, "god damn captain got me fuckin' shot!"

"Are they on the train? Are they okay?" Kaylee asked again real fear in her voice.

* * *

Mal and Zoe exited the train, doing their best to look as dazed and confused as the other passengers, which for Mal at the moment wasn't that difficult. He was tryin' to figure a way out, and so far he had nothing, and the clock was ticking.

"Our man didn't get a look." He heard one of the Feds tell who he figured to be the sheriff.

"Well Jesus, can't somebody find out what they took at least? Pendy!" The sheriff barked at his deputy, "Keep those people together! And quiet them down!"

Zoe's ears perked up a bit, but her gaze followed her Captain's to a group of families standing nearby, mostly women and children, and all of them very clearly waiting for something on the train.

Pendy came running back up to the sheriff, "Sheriff Bourne, it was medicine, all of the supplies."

"They stole the gorraam medicine?!" He demanded, and Pendy nodded, "We've been waitin'… all of it?"

She nodded again, "Every ounce."

"God help us." He spoke the prayer like a curse.

Mal and Zoe looked at each other, and then back to the row of waiting families, some of the women crying now, clutching their children to them. "Son of a bitch." Mal swore. He was goin' to ruttin' hell.

* * *

"Goddamn it why ain't we movin'?" Jayne barked at Wash as the pilot walked into the infirmary.

"I'm not done yet," Simon tried to stop him as he tore loose a stitch he had just put in.

"Why you got us parked here," he demanded ignoring the Doc. "This ain't the rendezvous spot."

"It is now." Wash told him. If Jayne thought he was leaving without his wife he was out of his gorraam mind. Mal, maybe, his wife, no fucking way.

"Niska's men are waitin', and they ain't partial to waitin'." Jayne growled.

"Let 'em read a magazine, we ain't making the sale without Zoe and Mal on the boat." Wash argued.

"These are stone killers little man, they ain't cuddly like me."

River sat next to Riddick staring wide eyed as she watched him stitch the hole in his arm back together. "Quit starin' girl," he growled low at her.

"Inefficient," she wrinkled her nose, "too big, clumsy paws."

Riddick glared at her sideways. "Doc…"

"River, get away," Simon corrected her from the other side of the room as he struggled to finish off Jayne's stitches.

"I'm not flying anywhere without my wife." Wash said firmly.

"I said 'git girl!" Riddick snapped as River tried to take the needle from his hand.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Doc!" Riddick barked less than thirty seconds away from ramming the gorraam needle into the girl's eye.

"River," Simon said with a sigh as he gave up on Jayne's stitches and physically moved River away from the sociopathic killer.

"I'm sure she'll be okay," Kaylee tried to comfort Wash; "she's with the Captain."

"See there? Everybody wins!" Jayne said trying to push past but he stepped wrong on his wounded leg and let out a cry, "Damn it Doc! I need a pop to kill the pain." He ordered as he limped back into the chair.

"You?" Simon asked Riddick, as he started prepping Jayne's smoother.

Riddick was about to agree, but the one eye he kept on the girl caught a furious shaking of her head. "Nah Doc, ain't nothin' but a graze. Ain't my good arm anyway." He noticed the slight shift in the Doctor's stance and he turned his full attention to the girl, mentally cocking an eyebrow at her. River smiled broadly. _Interesting,_ he thought to himself.

"Cobb, should keep your head on, got a job to do still." Riddick warned ignoring River's sudden scowl.

"Need to be able to walk to get the job done," Jayne snapped.

_Might not be walkin' much longer Cobb,_ he thought, but didn't say anything further.

"What about the authorities? We're sitting here with Alliance goods." Simon asked as he walked toward Jayne, "Won't they be looking for us?"

"They buzz this canyon we'll be able to hear 'em before they see us. I figure we got…"

"Won't stop. They'll never stop." River suddenly spoke as she backed herself against a wall. "They'll just keep coming until they get back what you took."

The crew grew silent, and Riddick wondered iffin the girl was talkin' about the same people they were. Her eyes were far off and glazed over, and she had curled herself into a ball on top of one of the counters. He had an itch and a hundred platinum that said she wasn't.

River laughed quietly to herself as she stared down at her hands, "Two by two…two by two, hands of blue… Two by two, hands of blue." She sang softly in a small broken voice.

Riddick could smell her terror.

"How's about you keep your crazy mouth shut? Is that a fun game?" Jayne snapped at her, last thing he needed right now was to listen to the crazy girl be all ominous and creepifying. Wasn't helpin' a gorraam bit, "Now I'm in ruttin' charge here and here's how it works," Jayne flinched as Simon injected the painkiller and he paused to shot the Doc a nasty look before continuing. "Niska doesn't get the goods on time he'll make meat pies outta all of us. I ain't walkin' into that."

"Don't matter none Cobb," Riddick said, as he shook his head, one eye still watching the crazy girl, case she decided to go all crazy. There was a scalpel sitting a little too close to her for his liking. "Niska made his deal with the Captain; means Captain's gotta be there to finish it. No way 'round that. Iffin' Niska finds out Mal got nabbed and might talk," Riddick paused as he tested his wounded arm, "Bein' late is better. Trust me."

* * *

Mal and Zoe sat stiffly next to each other in the stuffy sheriff's station on an uncomfortable wooden bench. However, the comfort of the seating was the farthest thing from either one of their minds. Which both ran along the lines of the crowds of sick people gathering around the station demanding their medicine.

"This is a nightmare," Mal said finally breaking their silence.

"Nothing points to us yet Sir."

"That ain't what I'm talking about." He answered his eyes moving through the crowd full of sick people, as the sheriff walked another couple out.

"I know Sir," she answered quietly.

"Whatever happens Zoe remember that I love you." He said quietly as the sheriff turned towards them.

"Sir?" Zoe asked him, shocked by his sudden declaration and the timing of it.

"Because you're my wife," Mal cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Right, Sir, Honey." She corrected herself more than a little relieved.

"Car three, row twelve, Mr. and Misses Raymond?"

Mal's demeanor changed from smuggling transport captain to protective and loving husband, "Can you tell us what's going on? We've been waiting so long; did somebody on the train get killed?"

"No, no nothing like that," Bourne answered him, as he motioned for them follow. "I see your fares were paid by a third party?" He questioned as he walked them into a back room and sat himself behind a desk, motioning for Mal and Zoe to have a seat in the two chairs in front.

"My uncle. A wedding gift," Mal recited their cover story.

"Wedding gift? You're spending your honeymoon in Paradiso?" The sheriff asked suspiciously.

"Actually we're here looking for work," Zoe clarified a shy smile on her face.

"That right?"

"My uncle said he knew a Joey Bloggs out here. Said he might have a job for us. Thought we might try our luck." Mal continued in earnest.

"You a miner by trade? Either of you?"

"Not really."

"Won't find many who choose this life that ain't born to it."

"Well work's real scarce for a couple just startin' out," Zoe said, exaggerating her accent a bit.

"How come there's so many sick here?" Mal asked.

The sheriff looked to the line of those waiting inside the station for answers, "Bowden's Malady. You know what that is?"

"Affliction of the bone and muscle, it's degenerative." Zoe answered.

"Every planet that's been terraformed for human life has its own little quirks. Turns out the air underground, mixed up with the ore processors, it's a perfect recipe for Bowden's. Everybody gets it: miners, dumpers, hell I got it and I ain't never stepped foot in a mine. It's worse on the kids a'course." He explained as he lit a thin brown cigarette.

Zoe inwardly flinched, "But it's treatable."

"There's medicine, Pescaline D, works on the symptoms. Person could live like a person if they get it regular. But our shipment got stole right off the train you was ridin' on which is why you won't be seein' no parade in town today."

Mal feigned shock, "Stolen? Didn't we see a regiment of fine young Alliance Federals on the train?"

"You did." Bourne acknowledged, rising to give the prisoner in the cell across from them a drag from the smoke, "The same regiment that let the medicine get swiped right under their noses and then took off for their camp without so much as a whoopsie daisy."

"Well that sounds like the Alliance. Unite the planets under one rule, sos everybody can be interfered with or ignored, equally." The bitterness in his voice was not feigned.

"Alliance ain't much use to us on the border planets." The sheriff agreed, as he took a seat on the corner of his desk. "But them ain't the ones that stole the medicine. I find those people; they ain't gonna never see the inside of a jail cell. I'm just gonna toss 'em in a mine and let them breath deep the rest of their lives." He leaned in close to Mal, and leveled his gaze.

"Can't argue with that." Mal returned his look.

"Mind telling me when it was last you talked to Joey Bloggs?"

Mal immediately tensed, somethin' wasn't right, "Never did myself."

"Right. Your uncle, and it was indicated to you that Joey Bloggs had a job opening?"

"Any job would do."

"Funny your uncle never went on to mention the Bowden's problem, or that Joey Bloggs ate his own gun 'bout eight months back."

"Did he?" Mal asked swearing a stream of colorful Mandarin inside his head.

"Yup, blew the back off his head right off."

Mal hesitated a moment before he asked, "So would his job be open?"

The Sheriff smiled warily at Mal and Zoe. He knew something was up, and Mal and Zoe both knew he knew something was up. No one was just going to be polite and openly say it, wasn't no proof just as of yet, and it was the as of yet Bourne was counting on.

* * *

**Endnote: Next update goes up immediately.**


	9. The Train Job III

_Aboard Serenity…_

"They've been pinched," Riddick broke the silence on the bridge.

"You can't be sure," Kaylee argued, "Could just be held up, mayhap there's other trouble in town."

"He's right Kaylee," Wash agreed, anxiety clearly written in the lines of his face. "Shoulda been back by now, they know what's on the line here."

"So whadda we do?" She asked.

"We get this gorraam bird in the air!" Jayne snapped as he stomped up the stairs, Simon trailing behind him.

"No ruttin' way." Wash said firmly.

"You really should sit down," Simon told Jayne anxiously.

"We can't just leave the Captain and Zoe here," Kaylee protested.

"They ain't comin'! And we can't walk in there and 'git 'em, they're done." Jayne snapped and pushed Wash back against the controls, "Get her in the air."

"What's going on?" Inara asked appearing in the doorway.

"Strap in we're takin' off." Jayne told her.

"Cobb," Riddick warned, stepping in between him and Wash. "Don't make any kinda difference iffin' Mal's not there. I ain't lookin' to be shot twice in the same day. Best grab yourself a seat."

"Capt' would do the same if it was any one of us!" Jayne barked, and then shook his head; he was beginning to feel a bit woozy.

"Not in a million years!" Kaylee argued back.

"Listen…" Wash tried, but Jayne interrupted.

"Shut it!" Jayne barked, "Do you know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go and get to beat ya with 'til you understand whose in ruttin' command here!"

"Cobb, you wanna come again with that, 'cause I coulda sworn I just heard ya threaten me." Riddick growled low. It was more for the show of it though. He could smell the Novocain seeping from the merc's pores, only be a matter of minutes now.

"Ain't sittin' here waitin' to get strung up!" Jayne barked. "Now we're gonna finish this deal and then maybe…maybe… we'll come back for those morons," he swayed on his feet but caught himself, "who got themselves caught and you can't change that by, by, gettin' all bendy…" He said as he squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side.

"All what?" Wash asked, thoroughly confused.

Jayne's gaze drifted off to something just above Wash's head, "You got light from the consoles…to keep ya…lift ya up… they shine like angels." Jayne said dreamily trying to catch the little orbs of light with his hand. His eyes glazed over, and then Jayne Cobb toppled forward and hit the ground hard.

"Did Jayne just go crazy and fall asleep?" Wash asked.

Everyone looked at each other, Riddick was the one to state the obvious, "You drugged him didn't ya Doc?"

"I warned him to sit down," Simon shrugged.

"You doped him!" Kaylee accused.

"It was supposed to kick in a good deal sooner. I just didn't feel comfortable about him being in charge. I hope that's alright?"

"Tell me Doc, you wasn't plannin' on doping me up too was you?" Riddick asked a dark expression on his face, and had his eyes been ungoggled Simon might have been truly afraid.

"Of… course not," Simon stammered, "Jayne's just a bit… a bit…"

"We'll have words on that later Doc," Riddick rumbled, "Ain't got time for it now, Niska's waitin ' on his goods and Mal and Zoe are pinched, can't make the deal without them, so we gotta break 'em loose."

"Can't just waltz in there and pull 'em out." Kaylee mused, "Gonna have to come up with somethin'."

"Someone respectable enough can." Riddick pointed out eyeing Inara.

"I don't mean to insult the one still conscious violent thug, no offense of course," Wash joked, "but you ain't really all that respectable lookin' Riddick."

"Not me you fucking _ben dan_ (idiot), her." Riddick jerked his head toward Inara.

* * *

Mal nervously tapped his leg, the sheriff was eye balling them something fierce, and it was makin' him itch. The sudden stir of activity did nothing to calm him either.

"You figure Serenity's still waitin' on us?" Zoe asked him.

"Iffin' they are their all fired."

"And if they're not?"

"Everybody's still fired," he snorted.

_

"Why are there so many sick?" Inara asked quietly to Riddick, as they exited her shuttle.

"Gotta be a terraformin' thing." Riddick answered her, glaring at a man who coughed on him as he passed.

"So many children," she said sadly.

"There's your all powerful Alliance in action, where's the medical care these poor fucks need?" Riddick asked bitterly.

"Just because I'm a Companion doesn't mean I support the Alliance blindly," she snapped coolly at his accusation. "I support what they stand for, not the methods they use to obtain their goals."

"You ever listen to yourself talk?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and was about to make a snappy retort, but Riddick cut her off.

"You ready for this?" He asked.

Inara raised an eyebrow, "For the opportunity to publically humiliate Mal?" She softened towards him, "Riddick, you've given me the moment I've been dreaming of."

_

"So how do you wanna play this?" Zoe asked.

Before Mal could answer the crowded station went into a muffled uproar of excited whispers. Curiously he craned his head to see and he caught sight of Inara moving magnificently through the crowd as if she was queen of all Londinium. Riddick followed behind her glaring at anyone who came to close. Mal and Zoe rose to their feet, "What in the he..."

A vicious smack cut off his words, "Don't you dare speak to me!" She snapped.

"Sheriff I want this man bound by law immediately. That's assuming he hasn't been already," she gave Mal a cold stare.

"No one's been bound, not yet." Bourne eyed the group.

Mal still hadn't quite worked out what exactly was going on but he figured, judging by Riddick's presence and smirk it was a rescue and not some form of perverse payback for all the whore remarks he'd made lately.

"Well thank god you stopped them," she said and then turned to Mal and Zoe, "Did you honestly think you could access my accounts and I wouldn't find out?" She demanded. "And Zoe… what would your husband say if he knew you were here?"

"I was weak," Zoe said hastily, looking down at her feet, barely able to bite back the smirk which threatened to blow everything.

"So I take it they ain't newlyweds?" The sheriff asked, not surprised at all by the revelation.

"Hardly, Malcolm is my indentured man, with three years left on his debt," she eyed him coolly, "I imagine we'll have to add another six months after this little adventure." Inara said, glancing around the room, which was entirely focused on her, a flurry of whispers and hushed awe.

"You'll have to pardon 'em, don't think a single one of 'em has ever seen a registered Companion 'fore," He apologized, and Inara smiled graciously. "Fancy lady such as yourself don't pass through here every day."

"I apologize for my manner," she said as she continued to smile at the Sheriff, enjoying the slight blush which crept up his neck and face.

"Not a bit."

"Should I have my man contact my ship?" She gestured toward Riddick. "Will you be much longer?" She asked.

"Looks to me like we're done, had some trouble and their story had a bit of an odor to it."

Inara looked back at the pair distastefully, "Yes, it's not the only thing that does."

Mal silently seethed at the enjoyment Inara seemed to be getting from this little act of hers, and chewed visibly on his lip.

"Thank you very much Sheriff," she said respectively with a slight bow of her head, before she turned back to Mal and Zoe, "Come along," She added much more harshly. "Richard do make sure he doesn't try to make a run for it again," She smiled sweetly at him.

"Yes Miss Serra," He smirked wickedly as he shoved Mal forward.

Zoe nearly bit through her cheek to keep from laughing.

"They still fired Sir?" she asked quietly as they cleared the building.

"Yup, every gorraam one of 'em." He grumbled.

* * *

Mal, Zoe, Inara and Riddick stepped off the shuttle and into the bay.

"How'd it go?" Kaylee asked.

"She hit me," Mal said incredulously, "and I got pushed, ask me, ya'll were having a bit too much fun with this particular rescue mission," he complained coming down the stairs as the others followed. He stepped over a semi conscious Jayne on the landing, and raised an eyebrow, "What in the gorraam hell?"

"We tried to get him to the infirmary, but he's just too heavy." Kaylee explained.

Mal didn't bother to ask.

"Told ya, ya wanted to keep your head on," Riddick smirked as he stepped over him.

Jayne didn't have it in him to even glare.

"Kept the engine running, we're good to go," Wash said after he released his wife.

"We're not going." Mal said firmly.

"Not what? Why?" Wash asked.

"We're bringing the cargo back." Zoe told him.

Jayne moaned in a full body Novocain stupor, "Whadda ya mean? I waited for ya!" He slurred.

"Let's get this on the trailer," Zoe ordered.

"That's a death sentence Mal," Riddick warned, "didn't risk my ass to save yours to get me kilt slow and painful like."

Mal opened the ramp, "Others need it more."

"Don't give a fuck Mal, ain't goin' back to Niska empty handed." Riddick growled.

Zoe unsnapped her holster guard.

"You didn't sit in that god damn station for five hours listenin' to them babies scream." Mal shot back. "Thief I may be but monster I ain't."

"Its medicine ain't it?" Riddick asked.

"It is." Mal answered evenly.

"Fuckin' hell." Riddick bitched as moved to help Zoe load the crates.

"My shuttle will be faster," Inara offered.

"You risked enough flying in once," Mal told her, "And I don't wanna get slapped no more. As far as Niska goes we're gonna have to explain the job went south, and give 'em back his money."

"Didn't figure you for the sentimental type," Zoe said quietly to Riddick as she refastened her holster.

"Don't try to figure me Zoe," Riddick growled low, gorraam crazy girl was hiding beneath the trailer. "Ain't what they painted me to be, but I am."

"We all begin as something else."

"_Ai ya tian a _(Merciless hell)_!_" Zoe jumped nearly a foot, "Make a god damn noise girl!" She snapped at River.

River tilted her head to the side, "I did."

"I mean before you pop out of air." Zoe told her.

"_Shi li _(strength) heard her."

Zoe raised an eyebrow at Riddick.

"Don't ask," he grunted, now regretting asking the damn girl what his name meant, though his ego preened a bit.

"Wash be ready to fly as soon as we get back, _dong ma_ (understand me)? I wanna be in the air the second that ramp closes behind us." Mal ordered.

"No arguments from me," he answered.

River gasped, and took a step back. Riddick eyed her carefully. "One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four a birth, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret not to be told, eight for heaven, nine for hell, and ten for the devil's own sel'."

"What is she talking about?" Zoe asked.

"She does not see, she does not understand!" River yelled at Zoe and fled the bay.

"I have no fucking idea." Riddick said as he shook his head, but his nostrils flared and his body stiffened as he caught the scent of something foul. _Fuck._ "Mal, you wanna explain, you're 'bout to get your chance." He said as Crow and a handful of armed thugs rounded on the ramp.

"Fuckin' hell." Mal groaned.

"You didn't make the rendezvous," Crow growled.

"Ran into a few complications," Mal answered him as he stepped forward.

"You were thinking of taking Mister Niska's money and his property, maybe?" Crow asked.

"Interestingly…neither."

"I don't understand."

"Yeah, look, the deal's off. We changed our minds." Mal said hurriedly.

"You entered into an agreement with Mister Niska, there is no mind changing."

"'Fraid that's where you're wrong. We just, we just can't take this job. So you just relax and we'll get you the money Niska paid us and we'll be even."

"There is no even." Crow growled.

"Is that right?" Mal's hand drifted toward his gun.

Crow's throw was faster however and his knife implanted itself into Mal's shoulder. Zoe and Riddick drew their guns as the thugs opened fire, each picking one off immediately before diving for cover. Crow was on Mal and before he had a chance to remove the blade himself, Crow did it for him and slammed his fist into the wound. Mal dodged the swipe that came next and answered with a knee to the gut and a quick right jab.

One of the thugs came running at Zoe as she paused to reload her mare's leg. Riddick body slammed him against a stack of crates, finishing him off with a clean swipe of his shiv. She held his gaze for the briefest of moments, breaking it only to yank him out of the way of a sudden burst of gunfire.

Mal was undeniably out muscled and out matched he realized as he took another hard blow to his ribs, hoping like hell somebody noticed their beloved Captain was in dire straits and soon.

The ATV roared to life and Wash drove it straight into the three men who were firing. He took out one and scattered the other two. The sudden halt in gunfire gave Riddick the opportunity to throw his shiv. It implanted itself into Crow's back. He reared back, infuriated and a single shot rang out. He collapsed, and let out a scream of pain. Mal looked up confused to see a gaping hole in the _hun dan's _left leg. His head swiveled to see Jayne, looking for all manner like a dying stroke victim, one arm lazily propped up and holding a gun."Nice shot." He said gratefully.

"I was aimin' for his head," Jayne slurred and Riddick barked out a laugh.

Mal chose to ignore that and just be grateful, "Riddick, you Wash and Kaylee get the ones that are dead gone, tie up the ones that ain't and somebody find that gorram Doc and have 'em look at Crow's leg, don't want him dyin' fore he can return the money to Niska." He grimaced as he pushed himself up, ignoring his own bleeding wound. "Zoe," He called out last hopping onto the ATV's trailer and she fired it up as she hopped on too. "We ain't back in an hour it means they nabbed us again, and you best be comin' for us." He told the others.

"Don't get two in a night Mal," Riddick smirked as he toed one of the bodies of the thugs, trying to decide iffin' he belonged in the dead or unconscious category.

* * *

Mal tapped Zoe on the shoulder and she pulled the ATV over and cut the engines. "We're gonna have to drag 'em from here, leave 'em just off the street. We'll notify the sheriff once were in deep, deep space." Mal told her.

"Why don't you tell him yourself."

Mal and Zoe immediately drew their weapons, but slowly holstered them again as the sheriff and six armed guards stepped out of the shadows.

"We got word of a ship not far from here, didn't expect to see you two comin' back. Check the crates Pendy."

"Didn't expect to be comin' back." Mal answered him honestly as he watched the deputy check over the crates.

"Nothing's missing Sir." The deputy called over her shoulder.

Sheriff Bourne eyed Mal carefully. "You were truthful back in town. These are tough times. A man can get a job and he might not look to close at what it is." He paused for a second, making his decision. "But a man learns all the details of a situation like ours, well than he has a choice."

"I believe he don't." Mal cut the sheriff off.

Bourne cracked a small smirk, "No, no he don't. Let's get these crates back to town. Make ourselves useful." He snapped at his crew.

Mal and Zoe climbed back onto the ATV.

"Ain't seen the end of this," Zoe told him over the sound of the engine.

"Woods never do end."

* * *

Riddick shoved Crow to knees in front of the Captain as Serenity's engines whirred to life, kicking up a cloud of dust around them. Zoe came up behind them to hand Mal a wad of bills.

"Now this is all the money Niska gave us in advance. You give it back to him. Tell him the job didn't work out. We're not thieves."

"Mal, we are thieves." Riddick smirked.

"Okay so we are thieves, but we're not thieves thieves," Mal continued, irritated by the interruption, "The point is we're not takin' what ain't ours. We'll stay outta his way best we can from here on out. You explain to him that's what's best for everyone."

Crow pulled himself back up to his feet, hatred clearly etched in the lines of his face. "Keep the money, use it to buy a funeral. It doesn't matter where you go I will hunt you down…"

Riddick abruptly planted his boot into the fucker's stomach. Crow was instantly sucked back up and into the engines. A sickening crunch.

"Got enough god damn people trackin' my ass." Riddick shrugged to Mal.

"Fair enough." Mal returned his shrug as Zoe shoved another one of the surviving thugs down to his knees in front of him. "Now this is the money…" Mal started again with the new goon.

"Oh I get it." The man hurriedly replied, "I'm good. Best for everyone. I'm right there with ya." He nodded.

Mal smiled and slid the money into the man's pocket. "Knew one of ya was bound to be smarter than you looked."

* * *

"Where's your brother girl?" Riddick rumbled as he walked into the infirmary, the fight in the bay had torn his stitches opened and he still owed the Doc a few words on account of him tryin' to dope him up.

River didn't answer; instead she continued to lie across the infirmary bed, back towards him, while one arm dangled from the edge, her finger tips barely brushing the floor.

"Know you ain't sleepin'." He winced, as he ripped out what remained of his stitches.

She still did not reply, nor did she move in any way.

Riddick came to realize her stoic silence was more unnerving and creepifying than her staring and rambling. He eyed her carefully as he reworked his stitches. She still hadn't spoken a word twenty minutes later when he finished, as much as he didn't want to, it was time to talk to the crazy girl. "What's up girl?"

Nothing.

"River?" He questioned, kneeling down in front of the bed so he was eye level with her.

Still nothing. She merely stared at him in a glassy eyed daze.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face.

**Reality shifted.**

River suddenly shot upright on the table, her head tilted to the side and her gaze pinned to a wall.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting…" River began in a voice not entirely her own, "there's always one crisis or another." Her tone switched and her smile faded, "We're not interested." She switched again, though her face remained stoic, "We're here on a theft." The first tone came back; a look of confusion crossed her face, "The medicine?" The second, "We didn't fly eighty six million miles to track down a box of band aids Colonel." The third voice, "We're looking for a girl."

**Reality shifted.** The world twitched back into focus.

River turned her gaze to Riddick, but when she looked at him there was no recognition in her eyes. "Two by two… hands of blue…" she said softly, as she slowly lowered herself back onto the infirmary table. "Two by two, they'll never stop, never stop, never stop… hands of blue."

Riddick stared at her blankly.

"Can I help you?" Simon asked as he stepped into the infirmary.

It took Riddick a moment to restart his brain. "Said we were gonna have words over you tryin' to dope me."

"Look, I…" Simon started nervously, "I didn't..."

"Save it Doc. Lights dim," he growled out and pushed up his goggles.

Simon debated whether or not screaming would help him, but before he could make the decision Riddick had him shoved up against the infirmary wall. One hand wrapped tightly around the doctor's throat.

"I will kill you." Riddick growled into his ear, "Ain't got any qualms on that account, you _**ever**_ try a stunt like that again Doc, and I swear to shit I will feed you your own gorraam hands before you die. _Dong ma?_"

"_Tong che_ (understand completely)." Simon rasped out.

Riddick squeezed slightly to emphasize his point. The urge to not stop suddenly overwhelmed him. The thing inside him savored the feeling of life rushing through his hand. The doctor's quickly rising heartbeat was the sweetest melody and the scent of his fear more tantalizing than any flavor he'd ever encountered.

"Please."

Riddick came back into himself at the sound of the tiny broken voice and the invasion of her scent. He turned his head slowly to look down at her. The dead look in her eyes unnerved him and he released the doctor who collapsed into a gasping heap on the floor.

"Thank you." She whispered and returned to her previous semi comatose state, muttering over hands of blue as she walked away from him.

Riddick growled stepping on Simon's hand and he went to leave the infirmary.

Simon let out a cry of pain and cradled his hand to his chest the moment it was free.

"A warning Doc, you only get one." He rumbled from the doorway without looking back.

Simon bit back the several insults he had nearly let slip out, self preservation beating out anger.

"Got one more question for you Doc," Riddick turned his head slightly, and the glint of silver chilled Simon to his core. "Your sister, she said something about one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding…"

"Four for a birth," Simon finished for him, picking himself up of the ground as he glared at the killer. "It's a children's counting rhyme, River recited it endlessly."

"What's it countin'?"

"Crows."

* * *

**Endnote: Hope you enjoyed it. Much love.**

**Til After now.**


	10. Interlude 2: Daydreams

**A/N:**

**Pyrobabe7713: Thanks momma, sorry for the wait hope you enjoy.**

**Hotagainstthewall: Lol, you'll have to wait a bit longer for that fight scene but I hope you enjoy anyway.**

**Intelligo: Thanks I think this is probably the best of the three stories, but I've taken the beast advice to heart in the reworking of BnB; you were right, it gets old and fast lol.**

**Sabrina1204: I agree with you, my ass woulda been on that box too lol, but than we would be short one episode. Poor Simon… I'm afraid in this version he is a little bit bigger of a boob than usual and it won't fare well for him either. As always momma your reviews keep me going much luv and I hope you enjoy.**

**Kinley626: You make me blush.**

**Ariblack: Your honest reviews and advice are greatly appreciated and I don't want to give anything away but I've got a few pretty nifty ideas up my sleeve for Our Mrs. Reynolds Lol. Thanks so much for noticing the effort I've put in to mending my grammatical atrocities.**

_**Taking Ariblack's advice, I am now actively accepting any brave beta volunteers; though I warn you my rough drafts are absolutely heinous and I have a tendency towards compulsive last minute plot changes; so serious volunteers only please.**_

**That being said… thank you all so much for finding my writing worth your time and attention, I am truly grateful.**

**Don't own a thing…thank Tuohy and Whedon.**

* * *

Riddick froze; something was off. He inhaled deeply and after a moment, took two steps backwards and turned slightly to face the wall in the rear port stairwell. Immediately he cocked his head to the side and inhaled once more. There it was; the faint trace of Crazy laced undeniably with absolute terror. He cast his glance around the stairwell. Girl was nowhere in sight but he could smell her as though she was right in front of him. _What the fuck?_

Slowly he ran his fingers along the paneling; his calloused tips caught on a near invisible seam and he followed the line to the topmost corner and pushed against it. Soundlessly, the panel popped open to reveal a secret compartment large enough for three or four men his size to hide comfortably. "Huh." He shook his head with a smirk and then turned his attention to the reason he had discovered the compartment.

She was rocking herself back and forth against the farthest wall; muttering something he could not understand, switching languages too quickly for him to translate. If she noticed his presence she was too far gone to react. Against his better judgment he stepped in and sealed the panel behind him. The compartment was pitch black and he tugged off his goggles as he crouched down on his ankles to avoid standing stooped over. At first he reached out to touch her, but caution stayed his hand. _What if she snapped like the last time? _Riddick withdrew his hand and waited for her to acknowledge him; prepared to stay crouched there for as long as it took.

*_**  
And you like school?**_ Says a man without a face…just another number…just another lab coat with a pen.

_I do. It's... Sometimes things move a little slowly for me._ She's just a girl…she doesn't know any better.

_**I imagine they do. What's your favorite subject?**_

_I'm finding physics a challenge._ She smiles pretty…like mother told her too.

_**You're in the graduate program already.**_

_They call me "Little Mouse"._

_**Do you think they're jealous because you're so young?**_

_Volger is, a little. He plans to become very important. _She rolls her eyes.

_**Did he tell you he was jealous?**_

_Oh, no. I just..._

_**You feel it.**_

_People tell you things all the time without talking. The way they move, the way they aren't talking._

_**You're very intuitive.**_

_Simon says I was born with the third eye. He hates when I can tell which girls he likes._

_**Your brother, he's a doctor, right?**_

_He's a trauma surgeon in Capital City._

_**Quite a family.**_

_Simon's a genius. I could never do what he does._

_**I think you could do whatever you put your mind to. That's what the Alliance needs. That's what this institute is all about. Your mind, letting it do everthing it could. Does that sound like something you'd be interested in?**_

_Would I still be allowed to dance?_ All she wants to do is be a girl… a girl who dances…

_**The world loses focus; her mind twitches with her body… Time passes…**_

_**But you understand why these treatments are important?**_

_I don't think... I'm sorry. I think there's been an error. I don't think... I think I may not be the right subject for these... For this program. _She struggles to make words…words… they don't come so simple any longer…everything swirls…swirls…swirls…_  
__**It's perfectly natural to feel a little nervous.**_

_I just... If it were possible to be transferred, I would make a... I would like to request a transfer._ Please God take her away.

_**You want to be back in Gen Ed?**_ Contempt…it radiates from his pores.

_Please. _ Please God please.

_**You told us that was no good for you, that it was too slow. That's why you're here.**_ Condescension._  
Please. It hurts._

_**Well, I can help you with that. You know how proud Dr. Mathias is of how you're progressing.**_

_I'm not progressing._

Electricity. Shocks. Seizures…

_It's the Pax. _She knows your secrets…your dirty, dirty secrets…the RIVER flows…she FLOWS through all and everything… nothing is hidden

_**Tell me what you see.**_

_You lost the first one. You cut too deep, he died on the table. One of your attendants cried and you comforted her. "We're doing such good work." _All for a better world. The ends justify the means…one life is inconsequential in the GREAT PLAN.

_**Do you understand that that is true? Work we do here is very important, and you're a part of that.**_ He was impatient…he was angry… they were going to pull the plug…he needed results.

_I would like to see my brother._

_**Well, you can write to him anytime you like.**_ He LIES…they're all liars… they pollute the air with their existence.

_I need to... I would like, please, to see him._

_**Well, I'm sure he's very busy.**_

_Yes. Yes, I'm sure._ They have forgotten her…

*

Riddick watched in fascination as the girl's body jerked and twitched. She prayed in contorted versions of Latin and Mandarin. She called on Gods Riddick had never even heard of to save her. _River-girl, ain't one of 'em any more than Sadistic pricks,_ he thought; unsure of what to do besides wait. Other than her prayers she had not spoken but he could see the battle that waged behind her eyes. Girl was fightin' somethin' inside that head of hers. Her scent was utterly overwhelmed by fear; he repressed the urge to growl. Fear was a complicated smell, everyone wore it differently. Distinct and sharp, pheromones and sweat laced with something bitter he had never been able to name; it was one of his favorites, but not on women; on women he preferred lust. It was infinitely sweeter.

*

_I have a system. You make an assumption because you have a system. Your system. You're symptomatic. It's chronic. You think it's benign, but it has to be cut out. This system is simple. Blanket folded thus, the sheet pulled taut, the mattress. The mattress can't be trusted. It has to be gutted. I looked under 20 and found a pea, and you wonder why I'm not sleeping? Are you worried that I cut up my mattress for no reason, or that I had a perfectly good reason that you can't see? Can't see anyone. Even the orderlies wear masks._ She paces…what she says makes no sense… she knows it makes no sense… she tries to make it make sense but the RIVER carries it out before she can revise and rewrite…needs to be reworked…they can't see… there is no seeing…she sees…and she doesn't see… OH GOD WHAT IS SAYING?!? _  
__**Why did you cut up your mattress?**_Impatience.

_I am trying to protect my spine._ How could he not see…

_**Are you worried you might be injured? Your movement trainers have given you excellent...**_

_No one will give me a mission._

_**A mission?**_

_I have a reason. I'm reasonable. I have a reason._

Static. Focus…Like ants chewing on bones…PAIN…

_My movement hasn't been dictated yet, but I am not here for nothing. I am a... Sty. And you know I have a spine. There's something wrong with the body politic._

PAIN_  
They're sticking in me. It's in the mattress and it's crawling inside me. You cut it out! You cut it out! You cut it out!_ She screams…she feels them always…needles…samples…biopsy…PAIN THESHOLD… PLEASE GOD MAKE THEM STOP…WHY WON'T YOU HEAR ME….

**PLEASE GOD MAKE ME STONE.**

_  
__**You're very quiet today. How did your session with Dr. Mathias go?**_ Annoyance.

_He gave me a mission._ You talk too much…they do not like it… Do you know what your sin is? PRIDE…

_**Really? Did he tell you your mission out loud, or did you just hear it?**_

_He plays hide and seek with me._

_**Dr. Mathias?**_

_My brother. He's a doctor. He thinks he can find me, but I'm deep down and I do not make a sound._

_**River, what mission did Dr. Mathias give you?**_Nervous…he should be.

_I can't tell you._ Acquire weapon.

_**You can tell me anything. You know that.**_

_Can't… tell. I'll have to write it down. _Acquire weapon.

They told her she would dance…What is killing but a dance of blood?

He twitches now…Warm blood on her fingers…stains her palms… covered in blood…it never washes away… The RIVER RUNS RED WITH IT…She wears it so they don't have to…

_What has she done?_

_I can see you._ She whispers…they have eyes…eyes …. And they see her though they do not see and she will never escape them…never escape them… **I WILL CLOSE MY EYES AND MY HEART AND MIND WILL BE STONE. MERICFUL GOD MAKE ME STONE.**

She just wanted to dance….

*

**Reality shifted.**

River's head snapped up as though she had been torn from a dream; her breath came in great heaving gasps, her body shook violently. W_ho was she? Where was she? _ She leapt upwards and her head slammed into the ceiling of the compartment, she jerked backwards; her ears ringing and her head spinning. _Trapped…_

"Easy girl," a soft rumble came from somewhere in the darkness.

"Riddick." She whispered; as her body puddled to the ground, she gave herself over to violent sobs. She was on the mother. Simon was here. She pushed out her senses to envelope the ship, to allow it to envelope her; to be soothed and comforted by its loving embrace. _Serenity. _The only god that had heard her cries.

"You with me?" He asked her.

River lifted her head from the cool grating. "She is."

"What they'd do to ya girl?" Riddick asked her slowly as he leaned in closer; as cautious as one would approach a wild animal. "Where were ya just now?"

"She was trapped."

"Trapped where?" He locked his gaze on hers.

"In a dream." She breathed out.

"And what was this dream?"

River scurried up and pressed her back against the opposite wall, "Don't make her remember." Her eyes grew wide, fear permeated the air.

"You know mine." He rumbled, as he closed the distance between them once more.

"He mustn't tell. Simon will stick her with needles and then she will be encased. She will be encased and unable to escape."

"I keep yours you keep mine." Riddick smirked at her; his eyes glinted in the darkness.

"She killed him."

"Who?" He asked almost greedily.

"The Doctor whose sin was pride…they gave her a mission…acquire a weapon… kill the prideful one. He spoke on secrets. Secrets never meant to be spoken."

"How'd ya do it?"

"With his pen."

Riddick quirked an eyebrow.

"It scratched. Incessantly it scratched, scrawling her secrets. It needed to be silenced as much as the Doctor. She ended the prideful tongue and the incessant scratching. They watched."

"Your first kill was with a pen?"

River nodded.

"How many you killed?"

"Sixteen."

Riddick rocked on his heels and rested his back against the opposite wall. "More than just a psychic ain't ya girl?"

She nodded.

"They wanted a killer."

She nodded.

"Sixteen?" He asked in disbelief.

"He is not afraid of her." River stated in wonder. "Does not think she is evil."

"My count's higher." Riddick snorted.

"Why is he here?"

"Beats the fuck outta me," he shrugged. "You're in my head why don't you tell me?"

"Curiosity killed the felis silvestris catus." She scolded.

"I'm gonna assume that meant cat, and yeah, sounds right." He smirked as he flipped out his shiv and tossed it in his hand a few times. The weight of it was comforting, grounding.

"This cat cannot be killed easily."

Riddick chuckled, "Happen sooner or later, men like me don't live long."

"He is lonely."

"Mayhap," he shrugged. _No point in lyin' to a reader_.

"He is correct. Lies are counterproductive. We are beyond that."

"Suppose we are. Why is it you won't talk to your brother 'bout any of this shit?"

"He does not see."

"And I do?"

"Not yet."

Those two words unsettled Riddick more than he thought two words ever could. "How'd you find this place?" He asked to change the subject.

"Serenity tells me."

"The ship talks to you?"

"Anyone who listens. She talks to the Sunshine. She talks to the Captain. The girl is not her only confidant."

"Does Mal know 'bout this?" He gestured to the air around, not entirely sure the girl was able to see the motion in the darkness.

"She cannot see, but she feels, and no, he does not."

Riddick thought he should be creeped out by the way the girl always answered the questions in his head, but he wasn't. Well at least not entirely. "Soundproof?"

River nodded.

"Huh, so this is where you been hidin'?"

She nodded.

"Won't save you." He told her honestly.

"No. It won't." She answered sadly.

"They're close aren't they? They ones lookin' for you, that's why they're in your head ain't it?"

She nodded.

"You can feel 'em comin' just like the Reavers and Crow?"

"The River flows through everything, and everything through her."

Riddick tossed her his shiv.

River instinctively caught it.

"They get close, pretend it's a pen." He smirked as he rose the best he could and felt for the panel's release.

"He is not afraid of her." She stated in wonder again as her gaze drifted from the blade in her hand to the man who had given it to her.

"Already put your ass into a wall, twice." He answered as the panel popped open. "Don't tell anyone where you got it."

"You keep my secrets, I'll keep yours."

Riddick merely grunted and stepped out; he took care to ensure he sealed the panel completely behind him.

__

"Have you seen my sister?" Simon asked the killer nervously as he rounded on the dorms.

"Wasn't my turn to watch her Doc." Riddick grumbled as shouldered past him to his bunk. _But I will be… real close too._

* * *

**Endnote: Sorry this update took so long. I am working diligently on the reworking on BnB and then Partners will get a tweaking as well. Sorry have patience please; each story is still being actively worked on. Check my profile for story updates.**


	11. Bushwhacked I

**A/n:**

**Hotagainstthewall: I would LOVE to read your story when it's published! I love R/R fanfic and there just is not enough of it out there which is why I started writing my own. I can't wait girlie… may inspiration rain down on you and thanks for your groovy review…you make me blush!**

**Sabrina1204: Since the series itself really didn't have a whole lot of River time I had to come up with another way to progress their relationship, glad you like it. The Interludes have been hell to write but I think they're worth it. There is def goin' to be some CoR type stuff after Miranda, to what extent I'm not really sure but I've gone too far into Riddick's story to back out of a confrontation with the Necromongers now. LOL. Thanks for your support momma I probably would have abandoned a long time ago with out it :D and just for you the Lemons stay in LOL. much luv.  
**

**Don't own a thing…give it up to the greats…not to me…sniffle.**

* * *

Mal found himself on intimate terms with the floor of his ship; he drew in short erratic gasps as he fought against the burning in his lungs.

"Sir?" Zoe reached to down to help yank him to his feet; breathing a bit heavily herself.

"We're dead," Mal groaned as he heaved himself up and forwards with Zoe's assistance.

"Oh, I believe we still have a chance," She panted.

"Haven't learned a terrible lot 'bout losin', have you Zoe?" He swallowed hard.

"Only since I've been under your command, Sir." She looked at him sideways, a glint of humor in her eyes.

"Fair enough," he conceded.

"Am I the only one on our team still playing?" Wash complained as he tried to dodge his way around Riddick; in all honesty he felt the whole thing to be a bit one sided. _Sure, put the fleshy pilot up against the shiv wielding assassin that can see in the dark. _"Why don't you cover my wife?" Wash suggested ruefully as he tried to lunge left and instead tripped over a loose crate as he spun to keep the ball out of Riddick's reach.

"Think Jayne's on that." Riddick smirked as the pilot faltered.

"Wha…Hey!" Wash yelled as Riddick stole the ball and spun around him.

"Over here!" Kaylee squealed.

Riddick tossed her the ball and she swerved around Mal. A slight hop and it passed cleanly through the hoop which dangled above them.

"Alright Kaylee!" Jayne hooted.

"Don't suppose we could threaten to put her off the boat iffin' she does that again?" Mal asked Zoe as she picked her husband up off the ground.

"Ya could Sir, but she's the only one who knows how to fix anything." She smirked.

Mal furrowed his brow, "Gotta point Zoe, that's why I hired you."

Zoe's smirked broadened as Jayne passed the ball back to her so she could put it back in play. "Thought it was to keep you from gettin' shot."

"Ain't like somebody gets shot everyday 'round here!" Mal defended.

Zoe snorted as she tossed him the ball; however it remained in Mal's possession only briefly.

"Hey!" he yelled as Riddick shouldered past him stealing the ball once more for his side.

"I got shot." Riddick called over his shoulder as he made his bid for the hoop. Kaylee squealed as her team scored again. "And I never get shot; ain't been shot in like a year." He neglected to mention that he'd been electrocuted, stabbed, clawed, almost eaten, burned, and implanted with a bomb; it wasn't relevant, point was, he hadn't been shot.

__

River giggled at his thoughts from above on the catwalk as she and her brother watched the spectacle below. "He forgot nearly mounted and put on display." She smiled at her brother whom had heard none of the exchange between Riddick and the Captain; he stared at her blankly. River scowled at him. "She told him he did not see."

Simon pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and took in a deep breath.

"Who's winning?" Inara asked as she emerged from her shuttle.

"I can't really tell," he shrugged, grateful for the interruption. "They don't seem to be playing by any sort of civilized rules."

"Well we're far from civilization." She teased.

River had edged away from her brother upon Inara's arrival; she had no desire to repeat herself about their lack of sight. Repetition was irksome.

"How is she?" Inara asked when she believed River was out of earshot.

River snorted ruefully as she watched the game. _Did they not understand she was never out of earshot? That the River carried it all to her; too much to her, an endless blathering and screaming that never made any sense. No sense._ **The world twitched**. _No sense._ She tightened her grip on the railing. The voices of those around her faded; her breathing became erratic. The dead were screaming.

"She's… good. Better. She has her days. She still won't talk about what it was they did to her at the Academy." Simon answered Inara.

"Perhaps she's not sure herself."

"She dreams about it…nightmares."

_*_

_Silly Simon… didn't he know there was no fixing her? They took…they took and they'll never give back...they want back…they don't give, they take._ River began to tug at her hair. _Something's wrong… all wrong… They were coming…they were coming to take and they'll take the wrong but think it will be the right._

_*_

Simon eager to speak with someone who wasn't completely uneducated or insane momentarily forgot River's presence all together. "Do you know I supported the Unification?" He asked her as he leaned against the rail.

"As did I," Inara nodded.

"I believed everything they told us. How the Great Alliance would solve our problems, right the wrongs; I wanted to be a part of that, a part of something great."

"Things are better now for a great many." Inara argued gently.

Simon shook his head and looked at her, "Three years ago it would have been unthinkable that I'd be on a ship like this, with people like that." He gestured down to the bay where the game was still going on; nothing more than mindless bashing and crashing in his view. _How could it be fun?_

_*_

_How could the wrong be the right? Or perhaps it was the right that was wrong? _

_How could they not hear it? **MERICFUL BUDDHA IT DROWNED OUT ALL ELSE HOW CAN THEY NOT HEAR IT?**_

*

__

"Who picked these teams anyway?" Wash huffed.

"Ain't over yet, we can still get 'em." Mal said indignantly as he tossed the ball back into play.

"Yes, our cunning strategy of getting our asses kicked is startin' to confound them." Wash snorted as he ran to cover Kaylee.

Jayne swiped the ball from Zoe and passed it to Riddick.

Kaylee sidestepped around Wash and raced up one of the platforms. "Up here!" She yelled.

Riddick tossed it up to her as Jayne ducked under the platform; just as Mal was about to grab her from behind, Kaylee hopped on Jayne's shoulders. Another shot; another point.

Jayne hollered and spun her circles as he hooted; her wild laughter echoed through the bay.

"What do ya know; Little Sunshine's got the arm." Riddick chuckled as he high fived her.

"That's it she's off the boat." Mal grumbled as he picked himself up off the ground yet again.

__

River clutched her hands to the side of her head and pressed herself against the upper walkway wall. _**Please gods make it stop.**_

"They're good people." Inara told Simon.

"Yes," he admitted, "and I am grateful, very grateful. It's just that here on this ship, I'm not sure I'll be able to help her and I need to help her."

Inara moved by the desperation in the young doctor's eyes, rested her hand gently on his shoulder. "Simon, you are helping her. I'm sure your sister understands what you risked to rescue her from that place. You left your entire world behind, that's incredibly selfless. Not many would have been able to do what you have done."

Simon tried to smile back at her, but just could not find it in him, "I _selflessly_ turned us both into wanted fugitives."

"Well, we're all running from something I suppose," she smiled wistfully.

Simon looked at her curiously as he waited for her to continue; something in her smile told him she wasn't going to without prodding. He was about to ask when an alarm sounded.

River's world froze. "Ding, Dong."

__

The game halted at the sound of the alarm.

"Proximity alert." Zoe said looking up, "Must be comin' up on somethin'."

"Oh gawd!" Wash paled. "What could it be? We're doomed! Who's flyin' this thing?" His panic paused and he smirked. "Oh yeah, that'd be me. Well back to work." He shrugged and jogged up to the bridge.

"Guess that leaves us a man short." Kaylee said.

"Little Kaylee's always a man short," Jayne teased as he pinched her side.

"Jayne," she playfully slugged his arm. "What'd ya say Doc? Wanna play?" She yelled up. "I'm sure 'Nara won't mind iffin' we steal ya away for a bit."

Riddick caught the dark look which passed over Jayne's face, though it was gone just as quickly as it had come.

Simon hesitated. Inara shooed him with her hands, "I'll look after your sister." She still had not as of yet had a chance to speak with the young girl further on the subject of Riddick.

"Alright then," He was half way down the stairs when the ship lurched; he grabbed at the railing to keep from tumbling down them.

* * *

The carefree expression on Wash's face faltered immediately upon entering the bridge; through the cockpit window he could see they were coming up fast on a derelict ship. It was nearly the size of Serenity and spun ominously in a dead orbit. The beginning of an itch formed behind his ear as he slid into the pilot's chair. He flicked off the alarm as he leaned in for a closer look.

"Aah!" Wash yelled as he recoiled back into his chair; instinctively his hands grabbed the controls and banked the ship as a drifting body collided with the window. Empty black eye sockets in a pruned purple face burned into his mind. He swallowed hard; the itch had just become a full blown rash.

__

"Wash you have a stroke or somethin'?" Mal demanded as he stormed onto the bridge; the rest of the crew trailing behind.

"Near enough." He conceded as he scanned several of the monitors.

"What happen…?" Zoe's voice trailed off as her eyes locked onto the dead ship.

"_Wuh de ma_ (Mother of God)." Jayne swore under his breath.

"Anyone home?" Mal asked as he leaned across the console for a closer look.

"Been hailing her, but if whoever's there's as healthy as the guy we just ran over, can't imagine they'll be pickin' up." Wash told him honestly.

"Bring us in a little closer." Mal said as he stepped towards the window.

"I'll get ya close enough to ring the bell."

Riddick stood to the back of the crowd; one eye on the girl who was trembling and pressed against the wall. She was muttering incoherently to herself again and while he really wasn't sure what the fuck she was sayin'; he had a feelin' girl was 'bout to have a spell. Could see it in her eyes, the way they glazed over, and he had realized by now that the girl's 'spells' weren't ever without cause. Whatever was on that ship was twitchin' out her brain; things were 'bout to get real interestin'. In truth he was kinda lookin' forward to it, this crew seemed to find all manner of trouble everywhere they went; it was all sorts of entertain'.

"What is it?" Simon asked as he craned his head for a better view.

"It's a ghost." River whispered and none save Riddick heard her; though he'd be damned iffin' he could figure what it meant.

"So what do we figure? A transport ship?" Mal asked.

Wash nodded, "Converted cargo hauler or a short range scow, mayhap."

"You can see she don't wanna be parked like that, somethin's funny. Port thruster's gone that's what's makin' her spin like she is." Kaylee pointed out.

"A short range vessel? This far out?" Simon asked.

"They get retrofitted to carry passengers. Settlers can pick 'em up real cheap at government auctions." Riddick answered as he pushed off the wall and leaned in for a closer look. "Just a few mods and they're good enough for a one way push to the outer planets. Cram probably 'bout fifteen, mayhap twenty families on a boat that size, iffin' you pack 'em in tight 'nough."

"Families?" Inara asked sadly.

"Tell ya want I think," Jayne said from the co pilot's chair, one leg propped on the console. "I figure that fella we run over did everyone on board. Killed 'em all. Then he decided to take a swim; see how fast his blood would boil outta his ears."

"You're a very 'up' person," Wash snorted.

"Shouldn't we report this?" Inara asked.

"To who? The Alliance?" It was Mal's turn to snort, but his was full of contempt. "Right 'cause they're gonna run right out here lickety-split and make sure these taxpayers are okay."

"Rudderless boat this far out, probably canned fish by now anyways." Riddick stated the obvious. What wasn't so obvious was why one guy tried to talk a walk; don't just pop out into the black without gorraam good reason.

"You can't know that for sure." Kaylee argued.

"He's right though. Iffin' them folks are alive in there, why ain't there no beacon?" Jayne asked.

Mal looked to Zoe for conformation.

"It's true, there's no beacon." She nodded.

"Means no one's gonna come lookin'," Mal exchanged a slight smirk with his first mate.

"What we a search and rescue tug now?" Jayne complained as he stood.

"Ain't nobody home Cobb, settler's cargo fetches a pretty price; gen-seed, protein, crop supplements." Riddick broke it down for the merc.

"Oh, right," Jayne's face broke out in a grin. "Well what we waitin' for then, got some salvagin' to do."

* * *

"Just try and get some sleep River," Simon told her gently as he smoothed out her hair. "The new medication is going to make you very tired and weak until your levels balance out."

"Day, night, awake, asleep, it makes no difference." She answered bitterly as she rolled away from him. "_Ren sheng ru meng_ (life is but a dream). Why can't I wake up?"

"Give the meds a chance to work."

Her body tensed as the ship lurched almost imperceptibly to lock on with the derelict. She shot upright; her head cocked to the side and her eyes glazed over.

"River?" Simon asked nervously.

She answered him without looking. Her gaze fixated itself to the wall and she spoke as one trembling hand reached out to touch it. "One wintry day a Woodman was tramping home from his work when he saw something black lying on the snow. When he came closer he saw it was a Serpent to all appearance dead. But he took it up and put it in his bosom to warm while he hurried home. As soon as he got indoors he put the Serpent down on the hearth before the fire. The children watched it and saw it slowly come to life again. Then one of them stooped down to stroke it, but the Serpent raised its head and put out its fangs and was about to sting the child to death. So the Woodman seized his axe, and with one stroke cut the Serpent in two. 'No gratitude from the wicked.'"

Simon stared at her blankly. "Um… Well yes." He ran his hands through his hair. "I'm going to go and see if I can be of any assistance, there may be someone injured or sick on that ship."

River tore her gaze from the wall, "Has he not been listening?" She demanded. "If the serpent does not get him the spider has her within her grasp. Eight coils, eight legs. Her fangs are set and drip with venom; we have been poisoned! Our sanctuary desecrated! Tic…toc…boom."

"Try to get some sleep _mei-mei_ please." He ignored her rambling as he rose.

Riddick waited for the doctor to retrieve his bag from the infirmary and head up to the bay before he slid into the girl's room. He'd heard everything. The girl wasn't crazy. Well she was, but she wasn't _just_ crazy. He might not have had the fancy Core bred education the Doc had had, but he was by no means unintelligent. Ain't much else to do when you're alone and drifting in the black beside read and he was surprisingly familiar with River's little tirade.

* * *

"What's comin' girl?" He growled from the doorway.

"Where do ya think you're headed?" Jayne grumbled from his perch on one of the crates in the bay.

"I thought I might offer my services, in case anyone on board might require medical attention." Simon answered as his gaze drifted to Mal and Zoe who were suiting up. He swallowed hard.

"Yeah well, Cap and Zoe are goin' in first." Jayne grunted as he loaded a round into Zoe's shot gun. "We'll holler iffin' we need ya."

Simon continued to watch Zoe and the Captain. The beginnings icy fear crawled beneath his skin. Jayne followed his gaze and smiled wickedly. "Somethin' wrong Doc?"

"Hmm? Ah, no… I… I just suppose it's the thought of a little Mylar and glass being the only thing separating a person from," he paused and swallowed hard again, "nothing."

Jayne smirked darkly and rose to take a step closer to the good doctor as he spoke, "Impressive what 'nothing' can do to a man. Like that fella we bumped into. He's likely stuck up under our belly about now. That's what space trash does ya know. Kinda just latches on to the first big somethin' that stops long 'nough," Jayne pumped the shot gun. "Now that'd be a bit like you and your sister. Wouldn't it?"

* * *

"She sees and no hears her." River answered.

"Listenin'." Riddick said as he pushed himself off the doorframe and stepped inside.

"They won't let you escape, steal their treasure and fly away free…none will live to tell the tale. Freedom is an illusion."

"Somebody on that ship girl?"

"He was…but he has forgotten. Like all the others he has forgotten." She answered cryptically and turned away from him to trace the patterns in the wall.

Riddick studied her. "A ghost?"

River didn't answer; instead she began to slowly hum to herself.

"Don't like to be ignored River-girl." He growled low. He didn't like walking into a trap either.

"She has given him all the knowledge she has to give; repetition is irksome."

"Didn't tell me shit, just a load of riddles that don't make no sense."

"It is not her fault he is not listenin'."

"Am too." He snapped; though came out more like a sulk than the angry retort he'd been aiming for.

"Listen harder." River pulled the blanket over her head in an attempt to signal she was finished talking.

However, Riddick had no intention of leaving until he got his answers and he leaned himself up against the wall prepared to wait. Their meeting in the hidden compartment had taught him a few things; one being, you couldn't rush the girl into anything; it confused her, confusion made her violent, as his jaw could attest to. Iffin' you waited around, for her to come out of her own head, you'd get your answers. He had no intention of being shot again anytime soon; it stung like a bitch, and River knew what was waitin' for them on the ship and he wanted to know too.

* * *

The airlock whooshed opened. Mal and Zoe fully suited and armed stepped through; the door sealed behind them, and red warning lights flashed. While the steady thunking of their grav boots was lost to them behind the shield of their helmets; the respective hammering of their individual heartbeats was not. What would they find on the other side of that door? Disease? Slaughter? The black could drive a man insane given enough time in it and though they had not voiced it earlier; Jayne's theory was quite possible, and frighteningly likely.

"Entering adjoining airlock now," Mal said as he pulled open the hatch. "Okay Wash, ask Serenity to knock for us."

*

"Just as nice as you please," he answered through the two way and flicked a few controls.

*

The red light above the derelict's hatch changed to green. His gun drawn, Mal lead the way through the airlock, it resealed automatically behind them. The ship itself was bathed in semi darkness, the only illumination provided by the emergency lights and the torches they carried.

"Emergency power's up. Dashboard light." Mal spoke through his link. Slowly, cautiously he and Zoe made their way; exchanging a look as they passed a child's tricycle. Something was wrong, very, very wrong aboard the ship and Zoe felt it as though it was a physical weight against her chest.

They made their way into a small mess; it was set up cafeteria style, several tables, a slop counter, and a few high chairs. Zoe's feeling was only reinforced as they took in the trays still on the table, still filled with moldy half eaten food, and the slop counter itself still prepped as though the meal had just begun. "Whatever happened here happened quick." Mal voiced her thoughts out loud.

Zoe swallowed hard. This wasn't disease.

"Let's keep moving." Mal ordered.

She nodded and followed him up a small stairwell which led them to the bridge. More evidence of the same; a book left opened, a half filled cup of coffee, a board game set up and abandoned mid game. No people. No blood. No sign of trouble.

"Everything was left on," Zoe said as she moved to look over the controls. "The ship powered down on its own." She looked up at him. "This is wrong Sir, ain't a sign of trouble anywhere. Everybody's just…"

"Gone." Mal finished for her as he looked over the flight console.

"Sir," Zoe called him. "Personal log, someone was in the middle of an entry."

He nodded at her to run the log back. Almost nervously she pressed down on the playback button. STATIC. A SCREAM.

* * *

River suddenly shot up and a small scream ruptured from her lips. Riddick pushed himself off the wall. Her breath came in short erratic bursts and her arms flew to cover her head as though she was shielding herself; racking sobs overtook her.

"River?" Simon called nervously as he ran into her dorm. He shot Riddick a dark and questioning look. _What the hell are you doing in here?_

"Sshh its okay, I'm here. Bad dreams again?" He asked her.

"No. I can't sleep. Too much screaming." Her voice trembled as she spoke much as her hand did as she ran it through her sweaty locks. She spoke to her brother, but her gaze focused on Riddick.

"Ghosts?" Riddick asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"They are the loudest." She whispered, but Riddick heard her clearly. "Violence echoes for eternity. He was one who remembered… they made him forget. A new generation of ghosts has been born."

"Why would you encourage her? And what are you doing in here?" Simon asked him angrily.

"Make them stop! Make them stop!" River yelled as she yanked on her hair.

Simon turned his focus back to his sister, "River, there is no screaming." He told her sadly. She looked up and her hands fell away from her hair. Her eyes cleared and when she spoke there was not even the slightest tremble to her voice. "There was." She told him evenly, lucidly, darkly.

Riddick cocked his head to the side and took a step forward; the gears in his head turning and River felt them move; each click, a step closer to her.

Simon stared at her. He too was about to speak though any reply he could had formed was cut off by Jayne's abrupt entrance.

"Grab you're med kit Doc and hoof it, you too Riddick." He jerked his head in his direction, "Mal wants us over there on the double."

"They've found survivors?" Simon asked.

"He can't be called that." River muttered under her breath, and again none save Riddick heard her.

"Didn't say." Jayne shrugged.

"Right," Simon turned his eyes to his sister and then back to the door; unsure if it was wise to leave her in this state. "I'll just ask Inara to look in on River."

"Yeah, whatever, ain't waitin'." Jayne rolled his eyes and jerked his head toward the door at Riddick, "Let's go make some money." He turned back to Simon, "We'll meet ya over there and don't take forever, still gotta get suited up."

Riddick debated trying to get in another word or two alone with River before heading over, but it would raise questions. He kept her secrets, she kept his. It was a new sensation, trust. Who had he ever trusted before? Who had ever trusted him? _Jack. _He shook the thought away as he followed Jayne out. He still hadn't gotten any real answers, but he'd gotta enough to make sure he watched his ass onboard the other ship.

"Whatcha doin'?" Jayne asked him as Riddick went for another suit.

Riddick quirked an eyebrow, "What's it look like?"

Jayne snickered, "Air's good over there."

"You're a real prick Cobb, ya know that right?" Riddick chuckled.

"Still owe Core boy for druggin' me up. Thinkin' seein' him piss his pants would be good 'nough."

Riddick checked the ammo in his gun. "What's the status?"

"Don't know, ship's deserted, life boat's gone; whoever was on that ship e-vacted and quick." Jayne shrugged.

_Fuckin' great._ Riddick thought as he followed Jayne through the air lock. He was itchin'; something fierce.


	12. Bushwhacked II

Simon's hands shook as he suited up. He wasn't exactly sure how the suit operated but if two trained apes and a ship full of Rim-borns could figure it out so could he, he thought bitterly. The suit was heavy and he struggled as he walked toward the airlock. He almost couldn't bring himself to open it, but he was a doctor, and someone needed him. He steeled himself and hit the button.

The walk to find the others was nearly debilitating. The darkness of the ship seemed to crush him. Abandoned children's toys, food left on plates, and utter silence; it was all too close to the opening of a horror vid for his liking. He took the stairwell to the bridge and rounded on the corner; abruptly he froze. The rest of the crew stood in a semi circle, all suit less and helmet less, having a conversation he couldn't hear.

Simon dropped his med kit and fumbled; near total panic as he struggled with his helmet. Kaylee took pity on the poor thing and ran over to help him disengage it. Frantically he pulled air into his lungs.

"Um, what ya doin' here and what's with the suit?" Mal asked.

Jayne and Riddick were nearly doubled over from the effort to control their laughter, but it couldn't be helped and the look on the Doc's face sent them into hysterics.

Simon felt his face burn with a combination of humiliation and fury. "You're hilarious." He spat out coldly. "Sadists."

Mal forced back his own smirk and turned on his Captainy voice. "Alright. That's enough. We ain't got time for games."

Jayne and Riddick made a slight effort to sober. Slight.

"Doc since you're her you might as well lend a hand, you can roll with Kaylee." He tossed Simon a canvas bag.

Jayne's smirk turned into a dark scowl. _Gorraam fucking doctor._

"Let's do this quick people. Coupla of loads each got no need to be greedy."

"Where are all the people?" Simon asked, still panting a bit heavily.

"Ship says life boat launched more than a week ago. We're gonna assume everybody got off here okay. Anyway we're just here to pick the bones. You two start in the engine room. Jayne, Riddick take the galley." Mal ordered.

"Um… You had this on wrong." Kaylee informed Simon gesturing to the helmet.

Simon visibly blanched; which sent Jayne and Riddick into another fit as they shouldered their way past.

Zoe waited for the others to leave before she turned to Mal, "Sir, I counted sixteen families on this ship. Lifeboat wouldn't hold a third of that."

"I know." He answered her evenly before speaking into his transmitter; he didn't want to think on that. "Wash? Any luck?"

*

Wash rolled through a set of schematics on one of his monitors. "I think I found something pretty well matches class. Looks about right anyhow. Seems to me any valuables, iffin' there's any at all, likely to be stored on C-deck, aft."

*

"Good work, keep the motor runnin' we won't be long."

* * *

Wash signed off and leaned back in his chair; his eyes fixated on the cockpit window, wary of any more bodies which mayhap decide to pop up.

"Can't say I care much for any of this," Inara remarked as she came up behind him.

Wash swiveled in his chair and looked up at her, "It's abandoned," he shrugged.

"And if that's the result of violence? What if that ship is now a crime scene?"

"Well," Wash smirked, "If it wasn't before it sure is now."

Inara frowned. "I was going to see if River wanted some tea. Can I bring you anything?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Alright then," she turned to leave but Wash's voice stopped her.

"The Alliance don't care a whip 'bout what happened to those folks Inara, even iffin' they knew, they'd let that ship rot and rust."

"You don't know that."

"And what about those people that were sick that last job we ran? Alliance squad up and left 'em to rot; they didn't seem to care 'bout those kids dyin'. Iffin' they couldn't spare the time to have the one squad that was already there investigate; what makes you think they'd divert a Cruiser to check on these folks?"

Inara didn't answer; instead she silently descended the steps and reminded herself that the ultimate goal was what she believed in. She repeated it to herself as she made a cup of green tea for River and had almost convinced herself of her loyalty to the cause as she reached River's bunk.

"River? It's Inara sweetie. I've brought you some tea." There was no answer, _she must be sleeping_, Inara thought as she quietly pushed the door open. She faltered. "Oh _gou se_ (shit)." The room was empty.

* * *

Barefoot, River padded through the air lock; the slight whoosh of air tangled her hair against her face, she paid it no mind. She had no idea of her direction or purpose. It was inconsequential. The string pulled her, tugged her, refused to be denied and she followed it. Their silence called to her. Their silence screamed to be heard.

* * *

"This'd be it." Mal said as he came to a stop in front of a storage door.

Zoe tried the release, "Locked."

"Well I'd say that's a good sign."

She handed him a blow torch. "Let's get this done."

Mal nodded as he sparked it.

__

"Aren't you the least bit curious?" Simon asked Kaylee as she inspected something he could not even begin to decipher the use of.

"'Bout what?"

"Well, what happened here. Why would anyone abandon their ship in the middle of nowhere like this?"

"Oh all sorts of reasons," she shrugged, and then frowned. "Just not mechanical." Her brow furrowed as she studied the equipment.

"What?"

"There ain't nothin' wrong with any of this," she said surprised. "Not that I can see anyhow, some of this stuff is like new."

"Well that makes it even more…"

Simon was cut off by Kaylee's sudden squeal of delight, "Here's a good one!" She grunted as she pried it loose in a flurry of sparks. "Hold the bag open, my girl's gonna be pleased as punch to have a brand spankin' new rotator drive." She said happily.

Simon quirked an eyebrow.

__

Jayne tore through the cabinets in the galley; every last one of them was stocked to the full with all manner of sundries and supplies. Almost gleefully he cracked opened a package of jerky and popped a piece into his mouth. "Hey real sugar! Kaylee can make us a cake." He handed off the jerky to Riddick as he added the packages to his already bulging bag.

Riddick chewed a piece of the jerky; his goggles were up and his eyes did not rest. "Ain't right Cobb."

"What? The jerky? You don't think it's spoilt do you? That _gou se_ (shit) never goes bad."

Riddick shot him a look and gestured his arm out. "No Jayne, this. All this shit. People don't leave ovens on and food on the stove, even iffin' it was an emergency bailout."

Jayne paused in his scavenging for a moment to take in what Riddick's words. "Slavers?"

"Ain't no struggle, ain't even a cup tipped over. What kinda fuckin' people go without a fight?" As he finished the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and his body stiffened. They were being watched. "Cobb."

Jayne was not oblivious; he had already drawn his gun.

__

River drifted through the corridors; the fingers of one hand trailed along the wall. Her eyes were glazed as she watched the echoes of figments drift past her. They did not acknowledge her. She did not acknowledge them, but gingerly she stepped over a child sprawled across the floor reading.

__

The door gave with a heavy thunk and collapsed into the room; it was considerably darker than the rest of the ship and both Mal and Zoe directed their torch beams in before entering. Clean, orderly, no sign of struggle or a last minute ditch for supplies. Zoe pushed away a heavy canvas tarp from the top of the first pile of crates she came too. A worn, weather beaten red trunk was on the top. It wasn't locked, she opened it; family photos, trinkets, a porcelain doll… _Why would they leave everything behind?_

"Over here." Mal broke her free from her trance and she aimed her flashlight in his direction. It landed directly on a stack of government stamped crates. "Gen-seed, protein, crop supplements; everything a growing family needs for a fresh start on a new world." He smirked at her.

Zoe's eyes widened dramatically, "That's hard subsidies for fourteen plus families… that's…"

"About a fortune." He finished for her. "We forget the rest and just take this stuff. Gonna need a hand haulin' it out of here." Mal said firmly, mentally spending his fortune already.

"Sir," Zoe interrupted his mental shopping spree. "Even on a life boat. You'd think those who'd escaped woulda found room for some of this."

Mal's grin faltered and his gaze drifted past her. "No one escaped."

"Sir?" Her eyes drifted in the path of his and slowly she turned.

River stood in the doorway illuminated by Mal's flashlight, but she had no attention for the Captain and his first mate. Her gaze was directed upwards. Mal and Zoe turned their torches; Zoe recoiled in disgust. Hanging above them, three distinctive distorted masses of human flesh; their pale skin nearly luminescent in the darkness. Dozens of bodies strung together to form a perverse chandelier. Zoe repressed the urge to vomit. Mal fought the images of hiding behind walls of decaying flesh as fire rained from the skies above.

"Nobody," Mal said swallowing hard.

"There's no blood." Zoe forced her lips to work. "Not a drop anywhere."

"Not here," River spoke softly as stared at the bodies; entranced by them. "Tried to hide, locked themselves away below; don't run, don't hide, the hunt makes them hungrier. They drank their essence dry to feed the madness. Madness is living you know. It is an entity to itself. One must feed the rage."

"I know what did this." Mal said tersely as he pulled out his transmitter. "Get her out of here Zoe."

"Jayne, Riddick, come back." Mal spoke into his comm.

__

Jayne and Riddick exchanged a glance and nodded. Jayne moved silently to the left, Riddick took the right.

"Jayne, Riddick, come back." Mal's voice crackled over Jayne's transmitter.

He paused in step to reach for it. "Yeah, Mal." His voice was quiet, cautious.

"Drop what you're doin' and get to the engine room. I want you and Riddick to get Kaylee and the Doc off this boat. Don't ask questions."

"Cobb!" Riddick snapped.

Instinctively Jayne ducked and spun; his transmitter clattered to the ground.

Riddick fired at their assailant, but he was fast and small, a blur of motion and a snarl. Riddick tracked his movements in the semi-darkness.

Jayne was on his feet fully alert. The door to the back kitchen clattered opened and closed. With another silent nod the men moved forward; guns drawn.

* * *

Wash had been lounging with his feet propped up on the console mid yawn when the sound of muffled gun fire broke out over the two-way. He launched himself upright and slammed down on the mic control. "Captain? Captain?" Gunfire answered. "Zoe?!"

* * *

Mal lead, his gun drawn; followed by Zoe who had one hand on River and the other wrapped tightly around her mare's leg.

"Come from upon Sir." Zoe observed.

"Galley." Mal confirmed; dread filling him. He picked up his pace and rounded the corner nearly colliding with Simon and Kaylee.

"We heard shootin'." Kaylee explained flustered.

"River, what are you doing here?" Simon pushed past the others to his sister.

"They required validation." River answered simply.

Simon ignored her explanation, "Never, never leave the ship."

"Handle her." Mal ordered.

*

"What in the _di yu_ (hell) is going on over there?" Wash demanded over the two-way.

*

"Not now dear." Zoe said with terse sweetness.

*

If that was supposed to sooth Wash it didn't. He snorted at the comm. link, _why was it the __pilot, the one in charge of escapin' was always the last to know when an escape was needed?_ He asked himself bitterly.

*

Zoe clicked off her transmitter and nodded to Mal. The others shuffled in line behind them. Rule number one, guns go first.

Mal lead the way into the mess; his body stiffened as he noticed the obvious signs of violence, an over turned table, trays of food knocked over. Zoe nudged him and pointed her gun at Jayne's fallen transmitter; cautiously they approached. He toed the back kitchen door open.

Jayne and Riddick whirled on him, guns cocked. The two mercs visibly relaxed and returned their focus on a wall grating.

Mal's eyes caught the blood trail which led to the grating his gun hands where aimed on. He stepped ahead of them and eased the grating from the wall.

"Mercy…mercy… no mercy." A broken male voice trembled from the shadows.

"Easy now, ain't nobody here to hurt you."

"No mercy."

"We got plenty of mercy." Mal told him as he eased himself closer.

Riddick clearly saw the face of a boy; he cowered in the shadows of the grate. Terror emitted from his pores; his eyes were wild and feral. The kid was cracked and it suddenly hit Riddick that he wasn't asking for mercy. '_No Mercy._' It was a statement not a request. The gears clicked into place inside Riddick's head; a low growl formed in his chest. _Reavers._ Ghosts, men who had forgotten themselves, a new generation; everything the girl had said connected in his head; tic, toc, boom. _Fuck._

"Lots and lots of mercy…" Mal's voice trailed off. The boy inched forward. Mal cracked him in the skull. He crumpled. Mal and Jayne reached in to tug the boy out. "Let's get him out of here." Mal ordered his voice grim.

River stared at the boy accusingly. "Ghost." She spoke the word like it was a curse.

* * *

The entirety of the crew waited in the common room outside of the infirmary; their eyes fixated on the glass window that divided the two rooms. Mal and Simon were inside; Simon tending to the gunshot wound and Mal tersely observing.

"I wonder how long he had been living like that?" Inara asked quietly.

"Don't know. He must be real brave to survive like that when no one else did." Kaylee said with quiet sadness.

"Yeah a real hero," Jayne snorted from his chair. "Killin' all them people."

"What? No." Kaylee said nervously as she turned toward Zoe to reassure her. "We don't believe that do we?"

"Captain wouldn't have brought him on board were that the case."She answered evenly; though she seemed to be reassuring herself of that fact.

Riddick's focus twitched from the window to Little Crazy whose gaze remained fixated on the man inside. _Tic, toc, boom._ He'd lay ever cred he'd ever made on there bein' some kinda trap they'd triggered when they'd locked onto the derelict; minute they'd disengage, boom.

River jerked her head towards Riddick; a broad smile crossed her face. "He sees."

Riddick scowled. _Woulda been easier to tell me that was a fucking Reaver attack and we'd attached to a bomb._ He thought at her; not entirely sure it worked like that.

"She did."

_Apparently it does._ He thought.

__

Simon finished up the last stitch. The boy was caught in some kind of fever induced delirium; he should have been used to incoherent rambling by now, he wasn't. It unnerved him. "Pulse is rapid, blood pressure's high side of normal, nothing unusual."

"Weak…they were weak." The boy muttered.

Simon shifted his gaze to Mal, "Other than the bullet wound, there doesn't appear to be any exterior trauma. The crack to the head you gave him didn't do him any favors."

"Cattle…cattle to the slaughter…cut them down…" The boy fought to rise, vaguely conscious.

Mal followed his focus to the faces that peered anxiously in the window. "Dope him." Mal ordered coldly.

"I don't think that's a good idea…"

"Just do it." Mal cut him off; his tone and manner left no room for argument and Simon moved to load a syringe.

"No mercy… no resistance…" Cautiously Simon approached the boy again. "Open up. See what's inside." He latched on to Simon's wrist. Without hesitation Simon pushed the needle into his arm and pulled himself free.

"Let's chat." Mal jerked his head toward the door and Simon followed.

"How's the patient?" Kaylee asked anxiously.

"Aside from borderline malnutrition, he's in remarkably good health."

"So he'll live then?" Inara asked relief evident in her tone.

"Yes."

"That's real unfortunate." Riddick spoke up, instigating an immediate shocked reaction from all but Mal and Jayne.

"Not a very charitable argument, but I would expect no less from you." Simon snapped.

"Watch it Doc."

"Or what?" He challenged.

Riddick pushed himself from the wall; Simon took a step back.

"Ain't havin' it." Mal snapped halting what seemed to be an inevitable confrontation. "Riddick's right, charity would be a bullet in his brain pan."

"Mal!" Inara admonished.

"It'll only save him the suffering." Mal closed the infirmary doors and threw the bolt across it. "Nobody goes in there, not even you Doc. Ain't a thing we can do for that boy, not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Simon asked appalled; he was a doctor, of course he could help that man.

"Ship was hit by Reavers." Riddick spoke bluntly, wasn't time to dance around the edges. This was a bait trap. The ship that attacked would come back lookin' to see iffin' they'd caught a bite.

Mal nodded and turned on his heel to head up to the mess. Riddick followed him immediately; the others too shell shocked to initiate movement.

"Reavers," the word was a terrified whisper as it rolled off Jayne's lips.

Wash turned to his wife as if to ask her to deny it. She couldn't, she knew it too. "_Tzao gao_ (crap)."

__

Riddick caught up to Mal on the stairs, "They didn't leave that boy behind for no reason."

"I know." Mal answered without looking back as they entered the mess.

"They'll be comin' back, lookin' to see what theys caught."

"I know." He poured himself a cup of coffee.

Riddick was going to press further but the sound of footsteps silenced him.

"Mal, how can you be sure?" Inara demanded as she entered with the others behind her.

"He don't, can't. No how no way." Jayne's voice was edgy.

Mal eyed him evenly and took a slow sip of his coffee.

"It was like I said before. That other fella, the one we run into. He went stir crazy, killed 'em all and took a walk. Happens out in the black, some men get an itch theys can't scratch."

"You know that ain't it Cobb," Riddick told him harshly. "One of them was just lucky 'nough to get out that's all."

"He was the lucky one?" Simon asked.

"Luckier than the rest," Mal answered.

"Couldn't be Reavers, wasn't Reavers. They don't leave none alive." Jayne challenged unwilling to admit the truth he knew.

"Strictly speakin', I wouldn't say they did." Riddick said as he took a shot from the bottle he had stashed in one of the cupboards. He needed somethin' with more than a kick than Zoe's coffee.

"What are you suggesting?" Simon asked suspiciously.

"Don't matter we took him off the boat." Mal interrupted the debate going on around him as he finished off his coffee. "It's the place he's gonna live from now on."

Inara looked horrified.

"I don't accept that." Simon said firmly. "Whatever was done to him was done by men. Reavers or not they're still men. Nothing more. That's a death sentence, to leave him there." Simon argued. "Reavers ain't men." Jayne said as he swallowed the reality that was before him.

"What are they then, boogie men? Come on you're a bit old to believe in that kind of thing." Simon snapped.

"Reavers ain't men Doc." Riddick spoke, and then remembering how River had described them, "Or they were but they forgot themselves. Now they're just nothin'. They got to that place at the end of everything; nothin' left and nowhere to go, and that's what they became. Some call it the Underverse."

"Why we still sittin' here!" Jayne suddenly demanded. "Iffin' it was Reavers why the hell we still sittin' here!"

"Have to say I was wondering that myself." Wash interjected.

Riddick and Mal exchanged a look. "Work ain't done. Substantial money value is still sittin' there." Mal only half lied.

"Ain't gettin' back on that ship, ain't no way no how. No ruttin' way." Jayne snapped.

"Jayne," Zoe said; she hadn't missed the look exchanged by her Captain and Riddick. "Stop your blubbering, you'll scare the women."

"You want your cut you'll go." Mal said firmly. "There's more than a half a million creds sittin' on that ship."

Jayne's demeanor faltered. Greed warred with self preservation. Greed won. "Fine let's get it done."

"Doc, you, Wash and Jayne will go and load the crates, Riddick, Kaylee and Zoe you're with me." Mal ordered; for a second no one moved. "You got jobs git!" He snapped.

"I'll take River to my shuttle," Inara offered to Simon, "I can keep an eye on her and the door locks."

"Thank you." He smiled half heartedly as they exited together. "It feels wrong what we're doing doesn't it?" He asked her quietly.

"Mal is only doing what he thinks will keep us safe, you and your sister included." She told him gently, though she seemed to agree with him.

"Doesn't make it feel any less wrong."

"No it doesn't." She conceded with a weak smile.

* * *

"Sir?" Zoe questioned when Mal headed toward the bridge behind Riddick instead of towards the air lock.

Mal just shook his head and motioned for her to follow.

On the bridge Riddick headed directly for one of the monitors and scrolled through the exterior cameras; he found what he was looking for and zoomed in. '_Eight coils, eight legs. Her fangs are set and drip with venom; we have been poisoned! Our sanctuary desecrated! Tic…toc…boom'. _River's words echoed in his head. "It's a real burden bein' right all the time." He said ominously as Zoe and Kaylee leaned in to see what he was showing them. A tendril like booby trap connected the ships at the airlock seam.

"Aw, hell." Zoe swore.

"What is it?" Kaylee asked squinting.

"A booby trap. Reavers leave 'em behind for the rescue ships. We triggered it when we latched on." Riddick told her.

"And when we detach?" She asked, though she knew the answer.

"It blows." Mal answered.

Kaylee studied the device. "Looks like they jerry-rigged it with a pressure catch. It's the only thing that would work with all those spare parts." Her head cocked to the side as she contemplated the device. "Pro'lly bypass that easy, iffin' we can get to the DC line."

"You tell me now Little Kaylee, you really think you can do this?" Mal asked seeing a glimpse of the way out of the woods.

"Sure, yeah. I think so." She answered nervously and shrugged, "Ain't like you'll be able to yell at me iffin' I screw it up."

Riddick laughed.

___

Simon, Jayne, and Wash worked quickly. There was no conversation, no cheap barbs were exchanged; just an unspoken truce to get the job done and get the gorraam hell out.

__

Mal and Zoe pulled open the Bombay doors; Kaylee, determination etched in the usually playful lines of her face climbed in first with Riddick following. She pulled back the access hatched and yanked her hair into a bun.

"You ready for this Sunshine?" Riddick smirked at her.

"To blow us to pieces, sure." She smiled back halfheartedly and took a deep breath before crawling inside to get a better look at the seam where the air locks met. The tendrils of the booby trap were clearly visible and flashed a bright ominous red. Kaylee forced herself to focus as she blew a strand of hair from her face. _Time for some thrilling heroics_, she thought ruefully as Riddick handed her a wrench.

__

The sole survivor of the atrocity tossed in his delirium; muttering and twitching. The drugs were wearing off.

__

River paced; muttering to herself as she chewed down her fingernails.

"River sweetheart, why don't you come and sit with me," Inara offered as she set down her calligraphy brush.

"They are coming…they are coming and she expects me to drink tea. Green tea! The tea of Serenity and ritual! There is nothing here which is serene! There is no ritual! They care nothing for your morals and values and traditions. She believes… she believes and she does not understand. The perfume and the silk make her feeble minded… they gave her everything…don't bite the hand that feeds… she doesn't listen to herself talk." She paused long enough to snort. "She sits on the pedestal they painted with lies for her. Sit pretty…pretty, pretty bird. Sit pretty and smile and it all will be well! It's not well! None of it!" River's chest heaved as she ranted and abruptly her tirade refocused itself in a myriad of languages; she went back to ignoring the companion.

Inara stared at her blankly and wished desperately the doctor had given the girl something to make her sleep. This was well beyond her realm of experience.

__

The boy became a beast; his eyes snapped open. "No mercy." A drawer of surgical tools clattered to the floor.

__

Riddick handed Kaylee a pair of cutters before she could ask for them. She smiled gratefully and ignored the tremble of her hand as she accepted it.

Mal and Zoe waited; helpless, nervous.

Kaylee made her choice. Cut. She recoiled as she drew in a breath. _Still here,_ she told herself as she released the air from her lungs. A black liquid oozed from the wiring as she cut the rest of the way through.

__

River halted.

"Sweetheart?" Inara questioned nervously.

She turned her eyes on the companion who flinched back from the intensity of the girl's stare.

"River?" Inara tried again.

She blinked and bolted from the room.

"River!" Inara ran after her but the girl had disappeared. "Not again." She groaned.

__

Jayne, Wash, and Simon stepped through the air lock door; the sound of the bolts sliding in place behind them had never been more welcoming. Jayne cocked an eyebrow at the remainder of the crew who stood before the closing Bombay doors. "What's goin' on?"

"Not a thing." Mal shrugged. "Right?" He looked to Kaylee and Riddick.

"Not a gorraam thing." Kaylee beamed.

Riddick smirked.

Jayne eyed them suspiciously. "Looks like a thing to me."

"Thought we might have a situation, but it looks to be taken care of. Let's get that merchandise put away, Wash get us in the air."

Wash just happy to avoid having to stow the crates nodded and jogged up to the bridge. Jayne was not so easily swayed and he narrowed his eyes.

"Well?" Mal asked irritated.

Riddick chuckled. "Come on Cobb," he said slapping him on the back as he went to help stow the cargo. "You ain't really wantin' to know anyway. Let's get this shit done. Don't know 'bout you but I could use a drink."

While Jayne was not entirely willing to drop the subject the prospect of a drink sounded right fine to him so he shut his mouth and moved to open one of the smuggling holds.

Mal released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding; relief washed over him as he listened to the sounds of Serenity detaching.

"Simon!" His brief respite was ruined as Inara came rushing down the stairs. "Your sister's gone!"

Simon paled. "What do you mean she's gone?" He demanded.

"She was pacing and talking to herself, all of a sudden she just ran, by the time I made it out of the shuttle behind her she was gone."

"Oh my god, Captain you don't think she went back onto that ship?" Simon asked.

"No, we woulda heard the gorraam airlock open. Don't mean she can't be curled up somewhere causing all manner of trouble." He was about to start issuing a set of orders when the proximity alarm sounded. "Son of a bitch!" Mal swore, _did it never fucking end?_

"No, No, do not say that!" Jayne yelled at the alarm, "It's the gorraam Reavers!"

"Get that stored!" Mal ordered already on the move toward the bridge; Zoe on his heels.

"Like it's gonna matter." Jayne snapped.

"Just do it!" Mal snapped back.

__

Wash couldn't tear his eyes away from the window; his mind and body refused to allow him to do anything but stare in dumbfounded bitter amusement. _Did it never fucking end?_

"Reavers?" Mal demanded as he and Zoe tore onto the bridge.

Mutely Wash shook his head. _No._

Confused, they followed his gaze as a green glow overtook the cockpit; drifting before them, blotting out the stars with its massive size was an Alliance military Cruiser.

"_Firefly class transport, you are ordered to release control of your helm. Prepare to dock and be boarded."_

"Looks like civilization's finally caught up with us," Mal said more to himself than any of his crew; a sick pitting in his stomach as he turned for the bay.


	13. Bushwhacked III

"_Sir, we've identified the transport ship they were attached to. It was licensed to a group of families out of Bernadette. They were due to touch down in new Hall three weeks ago. Never made it."_

"_Once were done securing these vultures we'll send a team over."_

"_Sir, didn't we have a flag on a Firefly class a while back?"_

"_Check."_

"_Already am Sir, and here it is. Alert issued for unidentified class Firefly, believe to be harboring fugitives. A brother and a sister."_

"_What are they wanted for?"_

"_It's classified Sir."_

"_Forty thousand of these old wrecks in the air and that's all they give us? Well, I won't have any surprises on a routine stop. We run into these two, we shoot first and let the Brass sort it out later."_

* * *

"Jayne! Riddick!" Mal barked coming back into the bay, "Haul that cargo back out, get it on deck!"

"Reavers don't deal Mal." Jayne snapped.

"Ain't Reavers get it done gorraam it!" Mal roared. "Doc!" He barked next.

Simon came running down from the catwalk, "I can't find her Mal."

"God damn it!"He snapped.

"I've searched the ship."

"I know where's she's at." Riddick growled; only place he figured she'd go iffin' she was lookin' to hide.

"Good, go get her and now. Doc get yourself suited and for fucks sake make sure your gorraam helmet is secured!"

"I don't understand…" Simon stammered.

"I'm about to have a horde of Alliance purple bellies swarm my ship and unlessin' we all wanna spend the rest of our days rotting in a god dam Slam I suggest you move your ass!"

"What's happening?" Inara asked exiting her shuttle.

"We're bein' boarded!" Kaylee yelled up as she and Jayne yanked the compartments open again.

* * *

River was huddled in the far corner of the compartment. The shiv he had given her in a white knuckled grip; her eyes bloodshot and glazed. Riddick forced himself to be still; he waited for her to register his presence. After a moment, the shiv clattered to the floor and relief flooded her eyes.

"You heard?" Riddick asked, referring as to whether or not she had read him and consequently understood what was about to happen.

River nodded.

Riddick jerked his head.

"He has saved her again." River said happily as she tried to take his hand.

He snatched it away and scowled. "Lucky you're useful."

"More than he knows." She answered sweetly.

Riddick quirked his eyebrow to await an explanation, but she did not bother to elaborate; instead she skipped on ahead of him as if they were about to go on some kind of gorraam picnic. _Fucking Crazies._

* * *

The air lock door opened to release a literal flood of armed soldiers. The crew, all save the 'verse's three most wanted were lined up in the bay. Mal stood ahead of the line, beside a stack of crates, his arms were crossed across his chest and his face set in a hard line.

"Well, quite a lot of fuss." He said simply as the soldiers swarmed him and his crew searching for weapons. "If I didn't know better I would think we were dangerous."

A priggish looking blonde man stepped forward. "Is this your vessel?" He asked without preamble.

"It is, bought and paid for. I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds." Mal said easily.

"And is this everyone, Captain?"

"By the way of crew it is; though you're like to find in our infirmary a fella we rescued offa that derelict. Saved him you could say."

The blonde gave a nod to one of his men. The man signaled his team and headed past Mal.

"Straight back, next to the common area." Mal called after them.

The blonde prig glanced down at the crates with blatant Alliance markings. "And I take it you 'rescued' those as well? Looks to me like an illegal salvage operation."

"Does it? That's discouraging."

"Alliance property too. You could lose your ship, Captain. But that's a wrist slap compared to the penalty of harboring fugitives. A brother and a sister. When I search this vessel I won't find them will I?"

"No children on this boat." Mal told him honestly.

"I didn't say 'children' I said siblings. Adult siblings."

"I misunderstood." Mal said evenly.

"No chance they could have stowed away? No one would blame you for that Captain." He said causally as he turned back to his men, "I know how these older Firefly models often have those troublesome nooks." He smirked as he turned to face Mal again.

"Do they now?" Mal answered flatly.

"Smugglers and the like tend to favor them for just that reason."

The team which had gone to the infirmary came hauling back into the bay. Mal's stomach dropped as he watched the blonde's face turn from a superior smug to a disgusted scowl. _What in the gorraam hell now?_

The blonde refocused his attention on Mal, all pretense of courtesy gone. "We'll continue this is conversation in a more official capacity." He jerked his head and the crew of Serenity found themselves being manhandled towards the air lock. "Every inch of this junker gets tossed!" He barked to his men.

"Junker?!" Kaylee yelled defiantly.

"Settle down Kaylee." Mal told her through a clenched jaw as he tried to work in his head what they could have possibly found.

"But Cap'n! You hear what that purple belly called Serenity?" Kaylee snapped indignantly; no one insulted her girl.

"Shut up!" Mal hissed.

Jayne elbowed the man off of him. "Walk my damn self," he muttered.

* * *

The Alliance soldiers tore through the ship without regard; over turning tables, tearing open cushions, nothing was left untouched, no secret stow away left undiscovered. Serenity herself bristled with anger at the blatant violation of her body.

"Get him back to the infirmary." The lead medic ordered as they strapped the lone survivor of the massacre to a gurney, his face mutilated and bloody.

"No mercy…no resistance…no mercy…" The man muttered.

"Poor bastard," one of the medics remarked, "don't see how a man could be the same after this."

"Let's just get him back to the ship. Commander will nail the bastards to the wall, you can be sure of that."

* * *

"If I may ask your name?" Inara asked politely.

"Of course, forgive me." The blonde cleared his throat as he shuffled through the papers before him. "I am Commander Harken." The blonde nodded his head in a slight bow. "You're a Registered Companion?"

"Yes." She answered as she took in the sterile grey room around her; if she felt even the slightest distress she did not show any sign of it.

"You were based for several years on Sihnon. It's only been the last year that you've been shipping out with the crew of The Serenity."

"It's just Serenity, and that's correct." Her tone remained even and musical, her posture relaxed and poised. "In a few weeks it will be a year. Why this is important?" She asked innocently.

"Just trying to put the pieces together; it's a curiosity," he said as he eyed her neckline. "A woman of stature such as yourself falling in with these… types."

Inara bit back the remark on her tongue and called to the front of her mind all of her considerable training. "Not in the least. It's a mutually beneficial business arrangement. I rent the shuttle from Captain Reynolds, which allows me to expand my client base, and the Captain finds that having a Companion aboard opens certain doors which otherwise might be closed to him."

* * *

"And do you love him?"

Zoe sat rigid and stoic in her chair, her tone was cold and clipped as she spoke. "I don't see how that's relevant."

"Well, he is your husband." Harken stated.

"Yes." She acknowledged; though Harken couldn't figure if the yes was to the first question or his following statement of fact.

"You two met through Captain Reynolds?"

"Captain was looking for a pilot, I found a husband. Seemed to work out."

"You fought with Captain Reynolds in the war?"

Zoe's face if it was possible hardened further. "Fought with a lot of people in the war."

"And your husband?"

"Fight with him sometimes too."

"Is there any particular reason you don't want to discuss your marriage?"

"Don't see that it's any of your business is all. We're very private people."

* * *

Wash leaned back in his chair and chuckled, "The legs. Oh yeah. Definitely have to say it was her legs. You can put that down."

Harkin shuffled his papers.

"Her legs and right where her legs meet her back. Actually that whole area." Wash continued. "That and above it," he rambled.

* * *

"Six Gustler's crammed right under every cooling drive so that you can strain your primary artery function and end up havin' to recycle secondary exhaust through a bypass system just so's you don't end up pumpin' it into the main atmo and asphyxiating the entire crew! Now _that's_ junk!" Kaylee snorted indignantly.

* * *

"You see what she wears?" Wash asked with an eyebrow cocked. "Forget about it. Have you ever been with a warrior woman?" He asked in all seriousness.

Commander Harkin cleared his throat.

* * *

Jayne stared.

Harkin shuffled his papers.

Jayne folded his arms across his chest.

Harkin cleared his throat.

He drummed his fingers against his arm.

More shifting.

More silence.

* * *

"She ain't junk!" Kaylee snorted.

* * *

Outside of Serenity Simon clutched onto the ship; his eyes closed against everything, he tried desperately to ignore the fact only a thin layer of Mylar separated him from the infinite abyss. River smiled broadly at the stars, for the first time nothing separated her from their shining voices; she could touch one if she tried. She marveled at the absolute freedom of it all. If there was such a thing as happiness for her, this was it.

Riddick was less enthused though in no way afraid; it wasn't the first time his ass was attached to the outside of a ship in the middle of space; he'd seen the show, wasn't impressed. "Don't get no ideas in that head of yours girl," Riddick warned over their comms. "You keep your ass attached to this ship, ain't goin' after you."

River laughed.

Simon opened his eyes long enough to stare at her with incredulity.

* * *

"I figure by now you've been over to that derelict." Mal said to Harkin as the Commander entered.

"Yes. Terrible thing." He answered coldly without looking up from a file he was perusing.

"You want my advice, you won't tow it back. Just fire the whole gorraam thing from space. Be done with it."

"That ship is evidence. I'm not in the habit of destroying evidence Captain Reynolds."

"'Course not." Mal answered as he leaned forward and licked his dry lips. "Be against the rules. I'm gonna make a leap and figure this is your first tour out here on the Rim."

Harkin's only reaction to his remark was a self righteous snort. "That's a very loyal crew you have there." Mal smirked. "But then I see by your record you tend to inspire that quality in people, Sergeant." Harkin's words dripped with a disdain which was not lost on Mal.

"It's not Sergeant. Not anymore. War's over." He said as he sat upright.

"For some the war'll never be over, I notice your ship is called 'Serenity'. You were stationed on Hera at the end of the war. Battle of Serenity took place there I recall."

"You know I believe your right." Mal retorted with calm sarcasm.

"Independents suffered a pretty crushing defeat there. Some say after Serenity Valley the brown coats were through; that the war really ended in that valley."

"Mmm." Mal stopped himself at that, not trusting his lips with any further comment on the Commander's goading.

" Seems odd to name your ship after a battle you were on the wrong side of." Harkin pushed.

"May have been the losing side, ain't convinced it was the wrong."

"Is that why you attacked that transport?" The Commander asked as he walked around the table and towards Mal.

"What?" Genuine confusion crossed his face.

"You're still fighting the same battle, Sergeant. Only these weren't soldiers you murdered. They were civilians, families, citizens of the Alliance, just trying to make a new life for themselves. And you just couldn't stand that could you?"

"So we attacked the ship and brought the only living witness back to our infirmary? That what we did?" Mal's voice was laced with sarcasm. He was being baited and he wasn't going to give this god damn purple belly the satisfaction of rising to it.

"I'd ask him, only I'm not sure he'll be able to speak with his tongue split down the middle."

Mal was visibly taken aback, "_Wuh de tyen, ah _(dear god in heaven)."

"Quite honestly Captain I haven't seen that kind of torture since the war."

"Shoulda known," Mal said quietly to himself as the full weight of what had happened hit him. "Shoulda seen this comin'."

"You and your crew will be bound by law. Formal charges will be transmitted to central authority."

"Commander, I am not what you need be concerned about now. Things go the way there are there's gonna be blood." Mal warned.

* * *

Three decks below the remnants of the boy convulsed as the medical team struggled to save his life. In the chaos of their good work no one noticed when his hand slipped from the table. The glint of metal flashed under the harsh operating lamp. Blood stained the sterile walls.

* * *

"Reavers?" Harkin scoffed at the idea.

"That is what I said."

"You can't imagine how many times men in my position hear that excuse."

"It's the truth."

"You saw it?"

"Wouldn't be sittin' here talkin' to you iffin' I did."

"No, of course not."

"But I'll tell you who did, that poor bastard you took off my ship. He looked right into the face of it and was made to stare."

"It?" Harkin asked skeptically.

"The darkness. The kind of darkness you can't even imagine." Mal's voice was even and controlled in direct contradiction to the swirling mass of panic he felt growing beneath his skin. "Blacker than the space it moves through."

"Very poetic Captain, but I am still not convinced."

Mal leaned forward; unconsciously he gripped the table."They made him watch. He probably tried to turn away, but they wouldn't let him. You call him a 'survivor'? He's not." He swallowed hard; an attempt to process his words as he spoke them. "A man comes up against that kinda of will, only way he could deal with it, I suspect…is too become it. He's following the only course that's left to him. First he'll try to look like one; cut on himself, desecrate his own flesh, and then he'll start actin' like one."

Harkin sniffed stiffly and pressed down on a button on the console in front of him; a second later the door hissed open. "Let's get two M.P.s up here to escort Sergeant Reynolds to the brig." Harkin ordered to the soldier who had entered. His stare did not leave the Captain as he spoke.

* * *

Riddick removed his helmet as he helped River down from the ladder and then disengaged hers as her brother practically threw himself down the ladder. The sudden onslaught of her scent tickled his nostrils.

"Can we go again?" She asked hopefully.

Simon looked incredulous as he tossed his helmet to the ground. "Are you kidding me?" He panted.

Riddick chuckled. His humor however was short lived as his nostrils flared and his spine stiffened. _Blood_. A growl escaped him.

"He's coming back." River said all humor and mirth gone from her face; she disregarded her brother's odd look.

"Of course he's coming back, River. They are all. I'm sure Captain Reynolds is used to these kinds of things. Come on." Simon took her by the wrist and meant to try to tug her from the room. Riddick's massive arm shot out and blocked his path.

"She ain't talkin' on crew." He rumbled.

Simon followed the merc's gaze to the bloody footprint not five feet from where they stood. He swallowed hard.

"Get your sister to the shuttle Doc and stay." Riddick growled over his shoulder.

For once Simon didn't argue; in fact for a moment he found himself unable to move or speak at all.

River placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The Furyan hunts. All will be well." Her smile returned.

* * *

Mal didn't struggle as the two M.P.s grabbed him. "You're making a mistake."

Harkin looked at him with disgust. "Your ship and all its contents will be auctioned. The proceeds of the sale will be applied to your defense…" His speech was cut off as another officer hurried into the room and furiously whispered to his Commander.

Mal judged by the look which crossed Harkin's face he had been right.

"Get him out of here!" Harkin ordered before he turned back to his Ensign. "Order a full lock down. I want a double guard on the nursery."

"It won't matter, you won't find him!" Mal yelled as he was hustled toward the door. "I know where he'll go."

* * *

Riddick knelt down next to the mutilated corpse of one of the purple bellies in the bay. Blood was still warm, his nostrils flared. A snarled curved out over his lips. He closed his eyes and pushed out his hearing; he caught the faint erratic heartbeat he was searching for, the scent of rage.

* * *

Harkin and his men froze just outside the air lock entrance to Serenity. The younger of the men blanched at the faceless corpse of one of their brethren.

"Why would he come back here?" Harkin demanded of Mal in a harsh whisper.

"Looking for familiar ground. He's on the hunt."

"Alright." He nodded to his men and then turned to the M.P. that was escorting Captain Reynolds. "Get him to the brig."

"You should let me come with you."

"Out of the question."

"How many more men you feel like losin' today Commander? Nobody knows my boat like me, I can help you." Mal pressed.

The Commander considered his words. "He'll go first."

Mal shot the man a look, "Right." Mal glared at the Commander. "Uh, wanna maybe?" he gestured with his head to his hands which were cuffed behind him.

Harkin nodded again and freed one of the Captain's hands only to recuff it this time in front of him.

"Thanks," Mal snorted bitterly, "Now I'll really have the advantage."

Harkin ignored him.

* * *

River hummed to herself inside Inara's shuttle as she built an intricate tower using the Companion's collection of incense. Simon watched her in amazement. She seemed so utterly confident in Riddick's ability to save them. How could she even believe that monster would risk himself to save them? He'd probably left them to be raped and eaten while he hid elsewhere on the ship.

"He should not be so cruel." River said absently.

"What?"

"He heard her. Repetition is irksome." She scolded him like he was a child and went back to her construction.

* * *

Harkin angrily rested his eyes on another fallen of his men inside the cargo bay; mutilated beyond recognition. "We'll split up."

"Best we stick together unlessin' you're in the mood to be picked off."

Harkin again paused to consider Mal's words; he nodded in concession. "Keene, Escobar, watch the door I don't need this thing back on my ship." The two men exchanged an uneasy glance but saluted in acceptance. "Lead the way." Harkin ordered Mal.

* * *

Riddick withdrew two elongated shivs; their blades serrated and curved around his knuckles. "Lights out." He growled low as he pushed up his goggles.

The thing snarled; his head jerked to the sound of Riddick's voice as the lights went out.

Riddick spun out from his hiding spot.

* * *

Mal 's head jerked up at the sound of a crash coming from the mess. He looked back to Harkin who nodded and raised his weapon.

* * *

Riddick snarled as he felt the Reaver's blade sink into the flesh of his arm. He swiped his left arm up and was satisfied with the ripping of cloth followed by flesh and the resistance of bone. He carried through using his momentum and felt the skin of his elbow tear open on the fuck's self inflicted facial piercings. He ignored the pain and reveled in the feel of warm blood which coated his arm. Instinctively he sidestepped to the right and felt the breeze of the blade which missed him.

Even in the midst of a fight Riddick remained hyper aware of his surroundings. Footsteps. He inhaled as he spun clear of a blow. Mal, he could smell him; he wasn't alone. _FUCK! _Riddick dropped and swept out the sick fuck's legs; he was on his feet again in less than a breath. In four steps he was in the hallway leading to the bridge. He kicked open Mal's bunk and dropped in.

* * *

"Lights on." Mal called in a whisper; followed immediately by, "Holy fuck!" He spun as he grabbed Harkin by his shirt and yanked him with him; they both slammed into the grating. The soldier behind Harkin was not so lucky and a blood curdling scream ripped from his lips as the Reaver's blade gutted him. Mal rolled away before the blood splatter hit him.

The monster swung on the other grunt that had accompanied them, releasing a feral cry as a fountain of blood spewed from the poor fuck's neck.

Harkin fumbled with his gun; never in his life had he felt such fear, not even in the war and as the beast turned on him he came to the horrifying realization he was going to die. The thing tackled him and sent his weapon flying.

Harkin fought against him not succeeding in anything more than keeping the thing from biting him.

Mal dove on its back and threw his cuffed hands around its neck; he yanked back hard and ripped the snarling creature off the Commander. The thing lunged again for Harkin; stopped only inches from his face by Mal's sheer strength. Snap. A vicious twist and the snarling beast became nothing more than a limp and mutilated corpse.

"Ya wanna tell me they ain't real now Commander?" Mal said bitterly as he toed the corpse with the tip of his boot, still on his guard.

Harkin managed to tear his gaze from the body of the Reaver to Mal's face. He did not trust himself to speak.

* * *

Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Wash stood on the bridge watching as the Cruiser blew the derelict straight back to hell.

A chorus of curses rose from their mouths and they all jumped back as Riddick dropped down from a ventilation shaft. "Surprise." He smirked.

"Christ boy, make a gorraam noise." Mal snapped. "Had 'nough god damn surprises."

Riddick shrugged and turned his focus to the Alliance Cruiser. "Saved his life and he still took the merchandise, fucker."

"Couldn't let us profit, just wouldn't be civilized." Mal said bitterly.

"That's what the god damn Alliance is good for, reapin' the coin and leavin' the rest to clean up after them." Jayne snorted.

"Uh, Riddick," Wash said, "You know there's a big piece of your arm missin'."

Riddick glanced down, "Huh."

"That's why the lights were out in the mess?" Mal asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Iffin' you woulda just minded your own business another minute woulda had 'im." Riddick scowled.

"What and miss my chance to play big damn hero?" Mal smirked.

"Least he didn't get you shot." Jayne snickered.

"Hey! Nobody got shot at all." Wash said optimistically. "That's a win."

"Baby, iffin' that's what we're callin' a win these days mayhap we should all be lookin' for another line of work." Zoe joked.

"Anyone you walk away from, right Jayne?" Mal said as he turned to leave the bridge.

"Ain't that the truth," he snorted.

* * *

"Where's your brother?" Riddick rumbled as he entered the infirmary; usually he would have just stitched himself but he was kinda thinkin' this one mighta been beyond him.

"The _ge-ge _(big brother affectionate) has had an exhausting day; she has put him to bed." River answered with a mischievous smirk as she flinted about the infirmary collecting an array of instruments.

Riddick quirked an eyebrow, "What ya do girl?" He asked with a slight hint of amusement.

"Triazolm is flavorless when crushed and added to coffee." She answered absently.

Riddick barked out a laugh. "You drugged him?"

"Passive aggressive resistance is vital."

Riddick chuckled as he eased himself onto the bed, "Gimme a needle girl."

River flinted to his side and he caught a glimpse of what she had been collecting; each item on the tray was something he needed to stitch himself back to together. His eyebrow rose on its own accord as he reached for a needle.

River swatted his hand away. "Big paws are clumsy, little quick fingers are efficient." She ignored his growl and threaded a long piece of surgical string through the eye of the needle.

"Ain't lettin' you stitch me girl." The idea of it truly unnerved him.

River glared, "He said he was not afraid."

"Of you killin' me, you jabbing me with a needle is a whole 'nother story."

She snorted.

"Ain't happenin'."

She growled.

He laughed; she was like a furious kitten.

River pinched him.

"Ow!" He snapped.

"Do not be such a child."

"Ain't doin' it girl and iffin you pinch me again I'm gonna tear off those fingers."

"He gives her a shiv, his favorite." She gave him a pointed look. "But will not allow her to stitch him. He let the girl named Jack stitch him."

"Jack wasn't a crazy fuckin' assassin psychic."

She glared at him.

"You even know how to stitch girl?"

River gave him her patented _you're-such-a-boob_ look.

"Right…" Riddick said slowly; still not completely convinced.

River rolled her eyes and grabbed a bottle of disinfectant. "This will hurt."

Riddick nodded and bite back his hiss as the liquid bubbled in his wound.

"She is sorry."

He merely grunted as he watched her clean the wound with surprisingly nimble and skilled fingers.

"They trained her in much more than combat." She answered his unspoken question as she picked up the needle and pierced his flesh.

"Seem awfully sane at the moment." Riddick observed as he leaned back on the bed which was propped mid way up.

"The sun is always brightest after the storm." She said simply as her fingers danced with the needle across his skin. "It won't last. It never does." She said sadly. "She remembers everything, to much; more than she should. It is all anger and deceit and secrets and lies. We are disgusting vile creatures; though we pretend we are moral and righteous."

"Ain't ever been but what i am."

"No, the Furyan is true. He thinks what he feels and feels what he thinks, it is uncomplicated to be in his presence there is nothing to decipher. The man named Jayne is similar but he is too uncomplicated."

Riddick snickered. "Can't all be geniuses."

"It is a shame." She sighed rather dramatically. "You are wrong you know."

Riddick waited for her to elborate; once again she didn't, girl could be cyrptic as hell when the mood struck her. "Okay I'll bite, what am I wrong about?"

"The Underverse belongs to your past; not theirs."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't ask, she can't remember." She shrugged carelessly as she began to hum.

"All sorts of fucking creepifyin' girl." Riddick shook his head.

"She is aware." She answered with another dramatic sigh.

* * *

**Endnote: And thus Bushwhacked comes to a close… To be honest I'm not sure about this one. Bushwhacked wasn't a favorite episode of mine so I found this tough to write and I'm toying with the idea of a Kaylee/Jayne pairing rather than a Simon/Kaylee... He always was such a freakin' boob. Hope you enjoyed. The next Interlude is either going to be super intense or just some fluffy goodness. I have the intense one written I'm just not sure if it's too early to progress River and Riddick, it's not a love connection thing but its a pivotal moment for them and I just have to make a choice, something that I'm terrible at.  
**

**Til After now.**


	14. Interlude 3: Confused or Crazy?

**Julian Carax: Thanks :D**

**Celticicegoddess: Hope your story is coming along well :D and that my pm helped.**

**Hotagainstawall: LOL girlie…hope this makes you happy too. Good luck with the story can't wait to read it!**

**Mononokewarrior: Thanks :D…the effort require to repress my inner fangirl and restrain the urge for vows of loyalty and devotion has been exhausting lol. Glad it's worth it **

**Sabrina1204: I know poor Simon… I've tried to be nice to him… he's just such a boob. You'll see in Shindig a shift of Kaylee's attentions. I saw the opportunity and I dove in head first, hopefully it doesn't seem weird. K/J is weird for me 'cause before R/R I was strictly a Rayne shipper. But what the hell right? I did push off the heavier interlude for now; this one focuses on moving them from a tentative understanding to an uneasy one. Hope you enjoy. Much luv momma and thanks for support :D**

**ArtLightLove: Never apologize for opinions lol. I took your criticism in the spirit in which it was given and gave it some serious thought. Giving Riddick a southern drawl wasn't the original attention, I was going for more of a Rim World slang, but as my boyfriend pointed out as well though Riddick was educated in the penal system he is generally well spoken and I made a point of mentioning he read a lot when he was alone out in the black. As for the use of the word mayhap… it's more of a my word thing than a regional word. For some odd reason I get stuck on words like mayhap and phrases like by the by, not just in my stories but in real life as well. I will attempt to tone it down a bit. :D thanks ever so much for your honest and kind review. Hope you enjoy.**

**Chibiboku: :D thanks much!**

_**On a side note, still on the hunt for a Beta.**_

_**For an author's note: I really hope you guys like this one, it took forever to write but I think it flows well from where we left off our psychotic deadly duo at the end of Bushwhacked.**_

**That being said…. Ain't anyone of the characters mine….neither is most of the dialogue, however there is creative rearrangement and hopefully a smattering of witty dialogue which is mine… for which I still ain't makin' a gorraam cred.**

Riddick sat alone in the semi darkness of the common room. Serenity was well into her night cycle and the only distinct noises were the quiet hum of her engines and the faint heartbeats of the crew. When he was young he didn't realize he was so different from the other kids in the home; he thought that his senses were the standard human package. They were instinctive, one never overly thought on their instincts. It wasn't until he got a bit older and The Company noticed his special talents that he realized he was different. They'd talked to him about evolution and modified genetics thanks to terraforming and he bought it; hell everybody had bought it.

And then a naked crazy girl pops out of a box and calls him Furyan and the nightmares he suffered from as a kid come back stronger and more vivid than ever. He'd done a bit of research on 'Furyan' in the Cortex and there wasn't much; no answers just more questions. The Cortex listed Furyans as an extinct sub human race; the docs had been right about terraforming gases affecting the DNA of settlers, but that was about it. Their home world of Fury had been destroyed and left uninhabitable after some kind of war or something; some two decades before the formation of the Alliance, and that was it. Less than two paragraphs to sum up an entire race's history and within those two paragraphs it was nothing but generic copy and paste text. No details on the actually genetic mutation, on the war, the population, the culture or even the gorraam terrain.

He hated being fucking idle; idleness left you nothing but time to think, and thinking on the shit he was, wasn't getting him anywhere; except pissed, and right quick too. What in the gorraam hell was he doing sitting in the dark anyway? He was waiting and he didn't want to admit it, but he was. He'd been up for hours and usually Crazy would have put in her appearance by now. That was kinda pissin' him off too.

It didn't make any kinda sense at all; that he was pissed because Crazy wasn't up to aggravate and annoy him. Among the myriad of other things he didn't want to admit to himself was the plain and simple fact he'd gotten used to the girl following him around, used to the way that she talked, and even worse that he was beginning to like listening to her nonsense; which really wasn't nonsense when you started to pay attention. You just had to learn to break down her sentences and decipher the separate parts, and usually the harder it was to figure out the more shit they were in. _Go fuckin' figure._

He could smell her too which wasn't helping matters; her scent was everywhere; _fucking recycled air._ In the bay, the engine room, the common areas, even in his own bunk, the faint trace of her coated everything; burnt sage and something infinitely more brittle that he could not name. The fragility of it alone should not have allowed it to linger; but there it was; more distinct to him them any other; and here he was, inhaling it like a goddamn junkie scraping his bags clean 'til he could get the fresh hit. He wasn't sure what it was that fascinated him so much about the girl; but he was undeniably so, ever since the moment she'd popped outta that box.

Then she'd started on about the secrets, wasn't anything he liked better than secrets, secrets were power; they were also a death sentence, depending on whose you held. There was that little genius brain of hers too, something was special about that girl. She'd felt the Reavers coming before they even show'd up on the scanners, felt Crow and his boys coming before he'd smelt them, knew that kid they yanked off the ship was completely fucked before they even found him, even knew about that goddamn prick Harkin on their tails, and just what the fuck was the incident right before he'd choked out her brother, where she started talking all crazy in different voices? That kind of secret could be useful; real fucking useful, if only she could get her brain straight enough to make sense of it all.

Sooner or later he'd be jumping ship again, he knew that; was only a matter of time. Be real useful to have the girl along, she'd know which rocks were safe, which jobs were solid, and who was just itchin' to be paid by trying to nab his ass. Girl already had sixteen kills under her belt to, the first with a fucking pen, yet another skill of hers he found incredibly useful; a little bit of a turn on to the more he thought about it.

He wanted to see it though; girl moved like a fighter. He'd been watching her real close as of late, and she moved just like her name implied; like liquid. Every step was fluid and graceful; every movement flowed into the next without hesitation. Well unless she was having a spell, but even then he could see it; it just wasn't a smoothly following river anymore, was more like water moving over rapids then; jagged and violent. Absently he mulled over her possible styles, probably some kind of kung fu kick boxing hybrid, something with a lot of kicks and spins. She was a tiny little thing after all; she'd need to rely on speed and momentum. They were the trickiest fucks to fight, them tiny quick ones. You'd think you got a good hold on them and they'd slip right out and drop your ass before you could blink.

Riddick had also noticed the way her eyes never missed anything, he wondered if they had been hoping to use her for recon, either that or the quiet kills; assassinations that looked like suicides and accidents, or public ones meant to make a statement but never be traced. Girl would have been ideal for that kinda shit. She was unassuming and nonthreatening; hell he woulda look right past her if even if she had been sitting in a dark alleyway with a gorraam rifle strapped to her back.

The more he thought about it the more the idea of taking her along pleased him. He was sure her brother wouldn't let her go without a fight though. That would be an issue. He wondered if he could kill him and get away with it if it came down to it. Girl prob'ly wouldn't like it much though; she'd stopped him from killing him once. Which brought up another matter entirely; why the fuck did he stop when she'd asked? Jack didn't even have that kind of effect on him. She begged him to not kill that dock worker; but he'd seen that look of recognition in his eyes. Boy had sealed his own fate. Riddick withdrew his boot shiv and the whetstone from his pocket; it didn't need to be sharpened, but the repetitive motion was familiar and soothing to his running mind; the shriek of metal comforting. Better than sitting in the fucking dark waiting on the girl like a gorraam stalker.

What was it about the fucking girl besides that smell and the secrets? Girl was cute, wasn't no denying that, he'd seen her naked; though the effect was lost a bit once she started screaming. She wasn't afraid of him either. Jack hadn't been afraid, but her trust had been blind hero worship; he wasn't an idiot, he knew that. Jack had no idea what he was really capable of, another reason he'd left her when he did; he didn't want to see her face when she found out.

River-girl on the other hand, she knew it all, and apparently more than he did. Girl had literally stared right into his darkness, felt that thing which crawled beneath his skin, and still she was not afraid. That was something he thought. She called him _shi li_ (strength), and he had to admit his ego kinda appreciated that. He'd been called a lotta things, strength was never one of them. Kinda made him like the rock to the river; sure a small enough rock would get tossed around and carried away by her, but a big enough rock; a boulder, could force the path of the River in the direction he wanted it.

He paused mid pass across the whetstone; a sudden smirk spreading across his face. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get the girl to jump ship, but was that what she meant by it? Did she really think he could control the flow of the River? And if that were the case, could he really? Did he really want to? If he could teach her to focus it there wouldn't be a power in the 'verse that could stop them, and that idea was all sorts of interesting. It couldn't be any more different then teaching himself to use his senses.

"The River is not the only variable in the equation to be affected." Riddick repressed the urge to growl; he been so caught up in his own head he'd stopped paying attention to what was going on around him and that was unacceptable. "The River smooths the Rock as time passes," she continued as she entered the common room and curled herself up on the opposite end of the couch. "He learns grace and humility as she moves around him, through him. Stone is porous, he may guide her but he is shaped by her, he absorbs her."

A part of him told him he should be pissed or at least embarrassed that she had caught his thoughts, but he wasn't; wasn't no changing the fact she was a reader; just accept it and move on, use it to your advantage.

"They all want to use her." She said sadly.

"Ain't how I was thinking it," He defended.

"Wasn't it?" She asked. There was no hurt in her voice. The question was vague and opened ended, an accusation and an acknowledgement of the truth. He _**had**_ been thinking along those lines, all the things she could do for him.

Riddick choose to ignore it. "You're late."

"He was waiting."

"So?" Wasn't any real point in lying to her, she'd see the truth in his head anyway.

"His assumption is correct; we are beyond petty concealment and half formed truths. We have discussed this already. Repetition is irksome." She yawned and rubbed her temples.

"Didn't say it aloud girl, not my fault you read it twice outta my head."

"It is sometimes difficult to decipher spoken thought from thought thought."

Riddick focused on her for the first time since she had come strolling in. Her eyes were puffy and swollen with dark purple bruises beneath them and her hands trembled as she ran them through her hair. "Nightmares?" He asked.

"It is inconsequential."

"If you say so." He shrugged as he put down the shiv he had been working on and leaned back.

They sat in silence for awhile, it was not uncomfortable; in fact it was decidedly the opposite. Riddick visibly relaxed and pushed up his goggles. He had his boots propped up on the table and rested his head against the couch; his eyes closed as he inhaled deeply through his nose. In the company of others he would never had let down his guard; having River around lessened his need to do so, girl felt trouble coming long before he could sense it anyhow. River soaked up his ease and let it wash over her; after awhile the trembling of her hands ceased and the last vestiges of her dreams dissipated. She hummed softly as she idly braided and unbraided her hair.

Neither felt compelled to speak; the quiet acceptance of one another for what they were was enough. She was a slightly psychotic reader; he did not try to conceal his thoughts nor apologize for what they were; he did not dismiss her ramblings, though his interpretation was often wrong, he validated them none the less. He was a sociopathic convict; she was not afraid, she was not suspicious; his past meant nothing to her, she knew the truth; concealment and evasiveness were not necessary. There was nothing for him to hide from her, she knew it all already.

"Five minutes, forty three seconds, aim for the man in green." River said absently as she rose and turned to her dorm.

Riddick quirked an eyebrow at her turned back, but she made no further comment. Less than a minute later a familiar thud echoed through the ship as Serenity shifted into her day cycle.

*0*

"What the hell was that for?" Mal demanded when the dust settled. "We got our coin, deal was done."

Riddick toed over the dead body of a man wearing a dusty green button up. The minute he'd seen the shirt he'd started counting. Exactly five minutes and forty three seconds later he fired. It started a hell of a shoot out that was for sure; six men were dead and Jayne was cussing up a shit storm over a graze he'd taken to his leg. He leaned down and ripped open the button up, a smug smirk spread across his face. "Deal was a set up Mal."

"What?"

Zoe was already crouching down beside Riddick. "Alliance issued body armor." She confirmed.

"What's that in his hand?" Jayne had stopped swearing long enough to ask the question.

Zoe unfurled the man's fist. "It's a tracer."

The foursome were back on their feet and on their guard once more in less than a breath.

"He get a chance to activate it?" Mal asked through gritted teeth as his eyes scanned the horizon.

"Woulda been on us by now if he did," Riddick rumbled.

"Looks like Riddick took him out right before he got the chance." Zoe said.

"Back to the ship," Mal ordered. "Zoe you get on the horn and have them fire her up, I ain't waitin' to find out."

"How in the gorraam hell did you see 'im pull that thing?" Jayne asked. "You wasn't even lookin'. Ya just spun and shot."

"Had a feeling is all." Riddick answered without elaboration.

"You get any more of them feelin's you go right on ahead and act on 'em." Mal said as they climbed aboard the mule.

*0*

Riddick followed Jayne into the Infirmary, not out of any real concern for the merc, but cause he knew that's where Crazy would be. He was disappointed. "Where's the Crazy bit at Doc?" He asked offhandedly as he feigned interested in a few instruments lying out on the counter.

"Today's a bad day, she's resting. Not that it's any concern of yours." Simon answered.

Riddick shot the doctor a look; much of its effect was lost behind the goggles, but he took the hint and went to work on Jayne's leg.

"Can't blame this one on the Captain Cobb," Riddick chuckled as he exited, "I told your ass to get down."

"The hell I can't, he's the ruttin' _ben dan_ (idiot) who made the deal." Jayne shot back.

*0*

"You always see the future?" Riddick asked without looking up from his magazine as River entered the common room. He had smelt her coming this time; though the fact he couldn't hear her steps was still a bit of a sore spot for him. Girl's heartbeat was louder than her gorraam foot step.

"No. It is inconsistent." She shook her head and puddled into a cross legged position in front of him on the small table.

He looked up from the gun magazine. "Then what was this morning about? Guess I don't have to tell you what happened."

"The Captain had made his deal previously, nothing changed the fact he made it with one of them." She spat out the last word as if it was dirty; and quite honestly Riddick agreed with the sentiment. "It was inevitable, she foresaw nothing; she calculated the probability."

"Is that what it was?" He arched his eyebrow skeptically.

"There was a possibility it would have been the man in brown." She shrugged. "However the statistical probability of a wearer of brown being a lead man is significantly less than that of a man in green."

"That so?"

"Quite."

"Huh."

"There is no need to thank her." She said with bitter sarcasm.

Riddick chuckled, but offered no verbal acknowledgment of gratitude. River scowled at him. "Face'll get stuck like that." He said causally as he went back to his magazine.

"Despite the common held belief it is a physical impossibility." She huffed.

"If you say so," he answered with poorly concealed humor.

"You are irritating this evening." She said flatly.

"And you are generally so on a daily basis, don't see why you're complaining."

River crossed her arms and stared at him petulantly.

"Need something girl?" He asked after a few moments of her staring.

"He is ungrateful."

Riddick smirked as he tossed down his magazine and leaned himself forward so their faces were less than a foot apart. "Not in the least."

"He is being combative."

"Not in the least." His smirk grew. "For once."

River tilted her head to the side and studied him. "He is waiting. He is waiting for her to tell him why it was a bad day. He thinks it means something is coming."

"Well?" He waited.

"Not what he thinks." She shook her head.

"Then?" He waited for her to elaborate.

"He tried a new medicine today," she paused and pulled at her hands, her eyes everywhere but his.

"And?"

"It was not successful."

"You need meds girl? You really crazy or are you just confused? 'Cause see I'm thinking you just might not be as crazy as everybody thinks. I think you know exactly what's going on. I think it's just too much to think about. I think it doesn't all fit so it gets all confused and when it gets confused it shorts you out. 'Cause at night, when it's just you and me there ain't no spells or gibberish. It's when everybody else's heads get in the mix that things get all muddled."

"She doesn't know."

"That's bullshit River." He said with a smile as he leaned back. "I think you're just too scared to try to control it. Being crazy is easier, it's safer, nobody pays no mind to the crazy girl in the corner, she makes them uncomfortable."

"You speak like you know truths, but you don't!" River snapped violently. The change in her personality so abrupt Riddick was actually startled by it. "He doesn't even know himself, how can he know her? Won't face his own past, how dare he make her face hers! He runs, he runs just as she runs but he looks to her to keep from looking at himself!" She scoffed at him and rose from her perch on the table. "He wants her for himself just like the rest! Wants to make her sing and dance for him." Her eyes locked cruelly onto his. "I see your sins Richard B. Riddick, shall I name them?"

"Know them just as well as you do girl, I lived them." He said easily; unfazed by her outburst. She was infuriated by his apathy. "You're the one that wanted me to see River," he said as he rose and walked past her. "Can't get pissed that I'm starting to." He paused in the doorway to the dorms, "For what's its worth I don't think you need the meds, I think you're stronger than that. How many came before you at the Academy girl? How many were left alive at the end? You're like me; a survivor, ain't meant to run."

**Endnote: Hope I didn't screw it up. The interludes are difficult to write. I honestly thought writing River in them would be easier for me than Riddick, but it turns out to be the exact opposite. I really like this version of him; this Riddick is actually making an attempt to rejoin the human race. The events of T2 had a profound effect on this man. Anyhoos Shindig is pretty much completed just need to run the final edit on it so hopefully you'll see it in the next few hours, the east coast is buried under snow so I'm trapped in doors anyhow. Much luv ya'll**

**Til After Now.**


	15. Shindig I

**A/N: Julian Carax:Thanks :D I am really really trying to nail it this time.  
**

Cheng's was windowless and dingy; the only light was provided by dim lanterns which hung from the ceiling and colored bulbs placed at random intervals along the walls. Thick cigar smoke coated every surface, several battered pools tables occupied most of the bar floor, and the house brew was strong and cheap; served in heavy wooden handled bowls. On Santo it was Jayne's favorite place to blow some hard earned coin. It hadn't taken much to convince Riddick to come along for a drink; Kaylee wantin' to join had been a surprise entirely but he suspected it had somethin' to do with the Doc's big mouth. She'd left the Infirmary in a huff that was for sure, but Jayne was only too pleased she'd decided to ditch her Core boy; even iffin' he knew she'd only come to try to make 'im jealous.

She'd perched herself at the bar and Jayne couldn't help but think Riddick had been right by callin' her Sunshine; girl lit up the whole place brighter than the sun. Jayne found his way back to the bar; walkin' away from the game of pool he and Riddick were involved in with a couple of fellas; Wright and Holden; on the premise of gettin' another drink. He stepped in between her and some _hun dan_ (bastard) he'd been watchin' makin' eyes.

"Bored yet?" He asked as he tossed a coin onto the bar and nodded to the bartender.

"I like watchin' the game." She smiled brightly as she sipped off her own bowl of beer.

Jayne smirked at her, he liked she wasn't afraid of gettin' dirty or drinkin' with the fellas. "That so?" He asked.

"Just like everythin' else seems to be best when ya give you and Riddick big sticks and just stand back and watch." She giggled.

Jayne snorted in amusement but turned his head away from her briefly to scowl at the little prick who'd been makin' eyes. "Game'll be done soon, and then me and Riddick will sit up here with ya for a spell. Any of these _fei fei pi gus_ (Baboon's asses) give ya trouble just holler." He winked at her before takin' his bowl and pushin' himself offa the bar.

Kaylee rolled her eyes and laughed again, "Ain't nobody lookin' at me Jayne."

"I am." He said lowly as he walked back toward the table, though he regretted it instantly. Little Sunshine was hands off, Captain's orders.

His remark was not missed by the mechanic who blinked once or twice and wondered to herself as she took another sip off her drink iffin' that was Jayne's version of tellin' her she was pretty.

Riddick caught the exchange between Kaylee and Jayne but said nothing. He knew the merc was hurtin' bad over Little Sunshine. Wright was lining up his next shot as Jayne made his way back to the table. Riddick knocked his bowl against his in a mini salute. "Seems these boys been makin' some serious coin lately doing a bit of dirty work for the Alliance."

"That so?" Jayne answered; not missing the look that had accompanied Riddick's statement. Despite the goggles, Jayne thought they had been gettin' pretty good at readin' each other's signals; especially when it came to a fight; hell you had to learn your crew on Serenity. The frequency at which they got shot at made it vital to survival and Jayne Cobb was damn good at survival.

"Didn't even have to hardly convert our ship none," Wright said as he leaned over the table. "Stronger locks, thicker doors, keeps everybody where their supposed to be. Six in the corner." He called his shot. "Didn't even need extra rations." The balls on the table flickered; a chorus of disgruntled shouts rang out through the hall. "_Wei_ (Hey)!" Wright shouted at the tender who merely shrugged and pointed at a sign which read: Management not responsible for ball failure. He muttered a few choice curses before the balls reformed and he took his shot. He missed. "Gorraam flicker threw me off."

"Ain't movin' convicts are ya?" Jayne asked as an angry pitting in his stomach had started to form. _Gorraam slavers._

"Nah, too much trouble. Border planets need labor. Terraforming crews got a prodigious death rate." He smirked as he sipped off his drink.

"Side pocket," Riddick called and made his shot. "Labor, and by that you mean slaves dontcha?" Riddick asked evenly. Disgust welled in his stomach and itched underneath his skin. He knew exactly what they were doing; he'd been a part of it once upon a time, before he knew better; before he started thinking for himself.

"They weren't volunteers that's for damn sure." Holden snorted in amusement.

"That why you didn't hafta lay in more rations?" Jayne asked.

"I didn't hear no complaints." Wright said with a shrug.

"'Course that coulda been cause the doors were sound proof." Holden snickered.

Riddick missed his shot and circled back around behind Wright as the man watched his partner line up his. Nothing more than a quick sleight of hand and the bankroll of paper which had been in Wright's pocket found its way into Riddick's hand. He leaned against the column Jayne had his back against and slipped the money into his waiting hand.

Jayne puffed off his cigar as his head tilted almost imperceptibly at Riddick. "Best go make sure our Little Sunshine ain't findin' no trouble." He said absently.

"Sunshine yeah?" Wright said as he followed Jayne's gaze. "Bet she is a hot one."

Jayne bit back the growl which had almost instinctively rolled off his lips and instead shoved himself off the wall and headed back towards the bar. "Take my shot Rick." He called over his shoulder. "Still havin' fun?" He asked Kaylee.

"Ya just asked me that not more than five minutes ago. Iffin' I didn't know any better I'd say you was just lookin' for an excuse to talk to me Jayne Cobb."

Jayne smirked at her, "Always willin' to talk at ya Kaylee girl, but I'm thinkin' you might wanna clear out 'fore too much longer."

Kaylee looked hurt, "I thought we was gonna have a few more together."

"I'll buy ya a thousand girl, but there's a thief about."

"A thief?" She asked confused. "You mean we're here?" She giggled.

"'Xactly and we done liberated this from them slave tradin' _hun dans_ (bastards)." He grinned at her as he palmed her the roll of bills.

"Jayne!" She admonished quietly, "Thought we was just comin' for a quiet drink."

"We was but ain't ever turned down an opportunity for a bit of honest crime."

Kaylee shook her head in annoyance but her grin belied her amusement.

"Got a bit for we gotta make our exit, won't notice it's gone 'til they go for their next drink." He winked at her.

"_Wei_ (Hey)!" Wright yelled.

Jayne smirked, "Fast drinker that one."

"Jayne duck!" Kaylee warned and he did as he was told. Wright's wild swing missed him by a mile and he answered back with his own much more accurately aimed and powerful right hook. Wright dropped like a sack of rotten potatoes.

Holden made the mistake of taking a swing at Riddick with his pool cue; Riddick ducked and planted his booted foot into his chest as he snatched away the stick.

Jayne turned back to grin at Kaylee when the prick he'd just dropped swept his legs out from underneath of him. Jayne went down, but took a stool with him. He gifted Wright with a shot to the face with it.

It did not take long for the entirety of the bar to join in the fray and Riddick took out another one by a shot to the jugular; courtesy of his pool cue. He swung around in time to catch Holden in his jaw.

Wright tried to take Jayne from behind but underestimated the thickness of his skull; something he was sorely informed of as Jayne threw his head back. Wright stumbled as he cradled his now broken nose between two hands while Jayne took down another fuck and planted his boot into someone's ribs.

Riddick caught the leg of Holden who had tried to return the blow to his chest. A brief look of panic crossed the man's face as Riddick smirked and put him down with a solid right cross.

Kaylee let out a yelp as a broken bottle smashed against the wall just an inch from her head. Jayne let out a snarl and broke every finger in the bottle thrower's hand. "Time to go Rick!" He shouted over his shoulder as he wrapped one arm protectively around Kaylee and drug her towards the door.

"Right behind ya Cobb!" Riddick called with a smirk as he dropped the cue wielding shit who had tried to make a play for him then spun to toss another into the wall behind the bar.

Kaylee was near hysterical laughter when Riddick blew through the door and into the busy street. "Ain't ever a quiet drink for the crew of Serenity." She said as she wiped away a few stray tears.

"Gotta admit Cobb," Riddick said as he slapped him on the back, "you were right."

"'Bout what?" Kaylee asked as they started back toward the ship at a decent clip.

"Told me if I signed on with Mal there'd be all manner of opportunities for a tussle. Been onboard less than six months and this is the tenth bar fight I've been in." He smirked.

"Well's they had it comin'." Jayne snorted. "I'm all for an honest day of crime, ain't nothin' honest 'bout gorraam slave tradin'."

A bullet ricocheted off the street post beside Riddick. "Best call ahead and tell them to get the engines running."

Jayne swore as they picked up the pace, "Mal's gonna be right pissed!" He yelled one hand wrapped in Kaylee's and the other reachin' for his comm.

Kaylee giggled, "Tell 'im you were defendin' my honor."

Riddick managed to raise an eyebrow at her as they ran. "And that bankroll weighing down your coveralls?"

"You don't tell I won't tell." She snickered.

"Knew I liked ya girl." Riddick smirked.

* * *

"It seem to you we cleared outta Santo in a hurry?" Wash asked his wife on the bridge as the next day cycle on Serenity saw them orbiting just outside of Persephone's atmo.

"Seems to me we do that a lot," She joked as she came to stand behind him. "Heard tell though, we're gonna stay a spell on Persephone, upwards of a week mayhap."

"Shiny." He grinned up at her.

"Yeah?" She raised an eyebrow, "Thought you'd get land crazy that long in port," Zoe said as her eyes drifted to the sunset over the planet. She didn't care what anyone said, seeing a sun rise or set over a planet in the black was the most beautiful thing in the 'verse; could make a body forget about all the bad.

"Prob'ly," he shrugged. "But I've been sane a long while now, change is good."

"That right?" She chuckled.

"Well ain't that a joyful sight." Mal said as he stepped onto the bridge.

"Gotta love a sunset." Wash remarked without turning.

"Startin' to get familiar too; like a second home almost." Zoe tore her gaze from the sunset long enough to smile at her Captain.

"Persephone's not home." Mal said firmly and Zoe's smile faltered. "Too many people we need to avoid. We resupply, look for work, move along. We sniff the air, we don't kiss the dirt."

"Wasn't plannin' on dirt-kissing Sir." Zoe said looking away from him again; her lips set in a hard line.

"I wouldn't stand for it anyways, Captain, jealous man like me." He joked unfazed by Mal's foul mood, though he did abruptly removed his foot from the console as the ship shuddered violently. Wash cleared his throat, "Closin' in."

"Planet's comin' up a mite fast." Zoe observed.

"That's just cause I'm going down too quick," Wash said a bit nervously as he began flicking switches. "Likely to crash and kill us all."

"Well, when that happens, let me know." Mal said easily as he headed off the bridge.

"Okay," Wash answered as he gripped the controls and the ship shuddered again. "Whoa… um, nope…we're good," he grimaced as he clutched at the controls tighter, "I got it."

* * *

In her shuttle Inara sat before her Cortex screen shifting through a list of potential clients. Despite what one person would assume from the sights which greeted them at the Eavesdown docks, Persephone always promised a multitude of clients. She narrowed her list of twelve to nine, and then further still down to three; a soft chime alerted her to an incoming wave before she had a chance to narrow her list further. She pressed the screen to accept it; a soft and charming smile crossed her lips as a handsome visage appeared before her; dark eyes and hair, he was in his mid thirties with an aura which exuded charm and entitlement and his smile equaled her own.

"Now there's a smile made of pure sunlight." He greeted her.

"Atherton, how wonderful to see you," her smile brightened further.

"Did you get my message? I was extra appealing."

"What a flattering invitation. I had no idea I was arriving in time for the social event of the Season." She said coyly.

"We have four or five of those a Season, you know." He joked charmingly. "So you'll accompany me? I ask, heart in my throat." Inara blushed and looked away. "There is still a certain offer I am waiting to hear about."

She was almost grateful for the knock on her shuttle door. "Yes, I imagine there is. I am delighted to say I will be there. I am sorry Atherton, but I must run."

"I understand, I'll see you soon _bao bei_ (treasured one)."

Inara smiled and disconnected, though his image remained frozen on the screen. "Come in." She called. "You knocked." Inara teased as Mal entered.

He offered her a sarcastic smile. "Morning to you too. We're downing and in case Wash don't kill us all, local time is gonna be in the a.m., 'bout ten or so."

"Yes, I saw." She replied a bit impatiently.

"Making plans?" Mal asked taking a glance at the screen. "Atherton Wing, he's a regular, ain't he?"

"I've seen him before." She answered as she rose and pulled the curtain down across the screen.

"Well, I never did. Not what I pictured. Young, must be rich too iffin he can afford your rates." He said with the trace of a bitter smirk across his face.

"I suppose. He has engaged me for several days." She responded coolly.

"Days?" Mal shifted his weight and cleared his throat. "The boy must have stamina."

"He does."

Mal cleared his throat again, as Inara moved to seat herself, "Well…fine. Is he lettin you out at all?"

"Actually we're attending a ball tomorrow night." She told him smugly.

"Tell me will all the men there have to pay for their dates or just the young, rich ones with stamina?"

"Most of the women there will not be Companions, if that's what you're asking. Perhaps the other men couldn't attract one."

"Huh," he replied with equal smugness and a dose of self righteousness. "Sounds like the finest party I can imagine getting paid to go to."

"I don't suppose you'll find it up to standards of your kind of outings; more conversation and somewhat less petty theft and gunfire." She retorted condescendingly.

"Iffin' you remember actually I didn't have not a thing to do with the last one and Riddick and Jayne we're only defending Kaylee; petty theivin' didn't have a hand in it at all." He snapped defensively.

She moved toward the door and gestured for him to go. "I understand if you need to go and prepare for that, ten in the morning issue."

"Yeah, better do that 'cause I think this is more of an evenin' look, ain't it?" He tugged on his suspenders as he passed her; mentally cursing both himself and her.

____________

A few hours after Wash's semi-smooth landing the crew of Serenity found themselves pushing their way through the bustling crowd in the Eavesdown Markets. They had abandoned the ATV near the red archway which marked its beginning and chosen instead to lug their supplies rather than fight the crowd. Kaylee loved markets and it wasn't just for the shopping; there were hundreds of smells and sights and voices assaulting her from every angle; it was every reason she had ever wanted to leave home and fly in the black. She found herself happily between Jayne and Riddick as they walked; both lugging along the engine equipment she had needed. They listened to her fuss over every little thing with half their attention; the other half restlessly scanned the crowds searching out possible threats. It was unconsciously done, just a habit as in grained in both their minds as breathing was.

"Ohh, look at the pretties!" Kaylee exclaimed as they unloaded the equipment onto the ATV.

Zoe and Wash joined her and looked up at the window; a display of living mannequins, all dressed in frilly ball gowns, holding dainty fans and shimmering shawls.

"What am I looking at the girls or the clothes?" Wash asked.

"Girls?" Jayne immediately looked up.

"Jayne," Kaylee teased and clucked her tongue at him. "Say, look at the fluffy one." She pointed in awe of an ankle length hoop skirt, layered in pastel ruffles and bows.

"Too much foofarw, if I'm gonna wear a dress I want something with some slink." Zoe said with a playful smile.

"You want a slinky dress?" Wash asked her in all seriousness with an eyebrow raised. "I can buy you a slinky dress. Captain!" He yelled over his shoulder. "Can I have some money for a slinky dress?"

"I'll chip in." Riddick smirked.

"I can hurt you." Zoe said causally.

He barked out a laugh as he took her bags and hefted them onto the ATV trailer.

"Only place I've ever seen somethin' so nice is some of the things Inara has." Kaylee said dreamily.

"We'd best be movin' on." Mal said firmly; having no desire at all to think on Inara or who she would be wearin' the nice things for, or rather taking them off for.

"Guess she needs the stuff, life she leads." Zoe said as she and the rest of the crew ignored Mal, whose foul mood was beginning to grate on them all.

"Well sure, and sometimes the customers buy her things. She knows some real rich men."

"Come on," Mal snapped. "Ain't got all day to stand gawkin' at windows."

"I like the ruffles, Inara gets to wear whatever she…"

Kaylee didn't have the chance to finish as Mal cut her off cruelly. "What would you do in that rig? Flounce about the engine room? Be like a sheep walkin' on its hind legs."

Kaylee's face broke and Zoe shot Mal a hard, cold look, even Riddick stopped what he was doing to glare. It was Jayne however that spoke, "Now what in the hell was that for?" He snapped and everyone's head jerked towards him. Riddick was the least surprised and a little bit proud of Cobb.

"Come on Sunshine," Jayne scowled and grabbed her hand.

"Where we goin'?" She asked surprised.

"Big scary man discount doesn't just work on engine parts and I still got me that bank roll we lifted on Santo." He told her as he led her towards the shop.

"Did Jayne just do something incredible generous and kind?" Wash blinked a few times as he watched them head into the shop.

"See ya back at the ship Captain." Zoe told Mal coldly as she led her still shocked husband towards the ATV and fired it up.

"Ain't her your mad at Mal." Riddick rumbled behind him as the others headed off in their respective directions.

"_Gou neong yung de_ (son of a bitch)." Mal swore and after a brief pause added, "Did Jayne just make me look like a complete ass?"

"Nope, did that yourself Mal." Riddick smirked; immediately it faltered and he spun. His hands latched on the assault rifle which had been pointed at him; he yanked and twisted hard; a boot went into the kneecap of its owner and Riddick had the gun jammed up against the jugular of the fuck before Mal had time to blink. "Don't fuckin' like it when people come creeping up behind me." Riddick snarled into the man's ear and he jerked the weapon tighter against his throat.

Mal couldn't help but smirk; hirin' on Riddick was one of the better ideas he'd had in quite awhile. "Badger." Mal greeted the cockney criminal with a curt nod.

"Friend of yours Mal?" Riddick growled.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that."

"See you got yourself some new crew Captain Reynolds, thought me and you might have us a bit of a sit down."

"I'd prefer a bit of a piss-off."

Badger smiled a smile which looked as though it honestly pained him. "I'm sorry did I give you the impression I was askin'?" He said as another four men withdrew their weapons.

"Do I give you the impression I give a shit?" Riddick snapped. "Gimme the word Mal."

"In case you forgot how to count I got more guns than you, this could get bloody right quick or yous could come and we could have us a nice civil like sit down."

"I'm sure it'd be bloody Badger but my man Rick here, well he's right quick himself as you've seen. I'd wager he could get to you 'fore you're men got to him."

"Bloody hell Reynolds, I got a job for you, if you want it you best bloody well come along then. No tricks, just a civil sit down you and me."

Mal's smirked broadened and he nodded to Riddick who released his man and punted him back in Badger's direction.

* * *

_Aboard Serenity…._

"His idiocy has cost him his Sunshine." River suddenly snorted from her drawing pad.

Simon looked up, confusion evident in his features. "River?"

She didn't bother to look up. "Perhaps it is not too late."

"Too late for what?"

She looked up at him, "Redemption."

"River you have nothing to redeem yourself for, anything you did, it wasn't your fault. They made you do it." Simon assured her as he sat down beside her at the table.

"She wasn't talking about me."

Simon looked at her uneasily; the medications should have been helping to treat the schizophrenia, but they weren't. He began to wonder now whether or not he should begin looking into treatments for Dissociative Identity Disorder, that perhaps he had been wrong; it was possible; he was a trauma surgeon not a psychiatrist. He was blind regarding his sister's treatment, and it unnerved him, not having the answers was a new concept. What good was being top three percent if he couldn't cure the one person who meant most to him in this 'verse?

"You must expand your social scope; some things are broken beyond repair." She told him as she went back to her drawing.

Simon ignored the first part of what she had said, "River, you're not broken, just sick, there is a cure for every sickness, I can make it right I swear."

"She cannot go back, too many things have happened; to repair her he would have to take away all she has seen, all she has committed; to wipe away every act of blood and violence and pain which has been committed since the beginning of time: time travel exists only within the realm of science fiction. This is not a story." She said very seriously as she set down her pencil; she needed to make him understand her. "There is no happy ending. The girl was broken and she may not be repaired, pieces are missing… All the king's horses and all the king's men poked and prodded and violated and sliced her apart to never be whole again. He must accept this or she will consume him and his madness will swallow her and it will go on, each feeding into the other until the end of time and existence... She is broken."  
"I don't believe that." He told her firmly as he rose from his chair.

River released a dramatic sigh and went back to her drawing.

* * *

Riddick shifted his weight uncomfortably on the small stool. Badger's den smelt like stale piss and desperation; it was irritating, just as he was finding this sniveling little prick to be. He'd been on Persephone for awhile before signing on with Serenity and he'd never even heard of the little cockney _hun dan_ (bastard); he realized why. Man was a bottom feeder made his money of the poor and desperate, little fish in a big stinking pond that thought he was somethin' more.

He sniffed cautiously at the tea Badger had poured him; a little snort escaped him, it was laced with booze, his kinda tea. "Ain't bad."

"Trick to it is wood alcohol."

"Seems to me," Mal started suspiciously, "last time there was a chance for a little palaver we were all manner of unwelcome." Riddick reached across him to grab a handful of sandwiches unapologetically. Mal shot him a look which he ignored and then continued. "Now we're favored guests, treated to the finest of beverages that make ya blind. So what is it ya need Badger? 'Cause as I remember it, we wasn't worth the time to keep up your end of a deal."

Badger took his seat across from Mal and leaned in. "All under the bridge ya see, there's this man, a local, bloke by the name of Warrick Harrow. He's got some property he wants to sell off-planet to fetch a higher price."

"But local powers won't let him sell off-world." Mal finished for him.

"It's a conundrum. What my man Harrow needs is a smuggler. 'M willing to cut you in on it."

"Why me? You've got access to ships. You could do it yourself."

Badger looked a little reluctant to part with his next bit of information, but seeing no way around it he told Mal. "He won't deal with me direct. Man's taken an irrational dislike." He said bitterly.

"What he see your face?" Riddick asked as he poured himself more tea.

Mal couldn't repress his smirk.

"He's a quality gent. Nose in the air like he never _wun gwo pee_ (smelled a fart). Don't find me respectable. You, I figure, you got a chance."

"You backed out of a deal the last time left us hanging."

"Got me fucking shot at," Riddick snorted.

"You recall why that took place?"Mal asked.

"I had a problem with your attitude, is why. Felt you was, what's the word?"

"Pretentious." Riddick offered and Mal shot him another look; which was also duly ignored.

"Exactly, you think you're better than other people."

"Just the ones I'm better then." Mal said coldly as he leaned across the table. "Now I'm thinkin' that very quality is one you're placin' value on today." He finished with a smirk.

"I place value on the fact that the stick up your _pig gu_ (ass) is 'bout as large as the one Harrow's got."

Riddick barked out a laugh, and this time Mal didn't bother with the look. What was the point? "How would you even set up a meet? Man won't deal with you."

"I know a place he'll be. Safe place usin' some kind of new-tech gun scans. High class too, won't let me in there, but you, you might slip by. 'Course you couldn't buy an invite with a diamond the size of a testicle." He smiled darkly, "But I got my hands on a couple."

Mal and Riddick exchanged a look before chuckling out loud.

"Really now?" Riddick asked his eyebrow quirked.

"Of invites you arseholes. You want the meetin' or not?" He demanded.

* * *

Kaylee was practically bouncing with happiness as she and Jayne walked up the air lock ramp. "Jayne this is the nicest thing I think anybody's ever done for me, hands down." She smiled as she clutched the large package to her chest.

He basked in the joy which radiated off of her, more than pleased with himself at being the source of it. "Ain't a thing girl, seems I owed ya for not lettin' us drop outta the black all them times." He chuckled.

"I think there just might be a big old teddy bear behind all that gun oil and cigar stink Jayne." She teased him.

"Don't you go tellin' nobody, got a rep to keep up." He said with mock sternness as he puffed out his chest.

Kaylee giggled. "Promise." She said and then for some reason she wasn't entirely sure of herself she stood on her tip toes and pecked him on his cheek. "Thanks Jayne." She said hurriedly and turned to make a break for an engine room before she could embarrass herself further.

Jayne was left shocked into stillness standing alone in the bay. It took several seconds for him to realize and then a few more to process what had just happened. When he did a broad shit eating grin spread across his face and he whistled to himself as he headed down to his bunk. _Best gorraam eight hundred creds I ever spent._ He thought.

* * *

"Guess Zoe's gettin' that slinky dress." Riddick smirked as he and Mal pushed their way through the streets and back towards Serenity.

Mal looked at him blankly.

"Can't be me to go to that party with you, prob'ly got face scanners in there if they got gun scans. Minute I walk through that door all sorts of Alliance alarms are gonna start goin' off and I don't think Cobb will blend in any better. Liable to take a shiv to the first one of them Core breds that look wrong in his direction."

"And waste good coin?" Mal snorted. "Jayne's already gone and done it on Kaylee, might as well take her along, mayhap be the only way I get my mechanic talkin' to me again anyhow." Mal answered.

Riddick chuckled. "What's the worst that could happen at some fancy shindig?"

"'Sides getting' found out we don't belong ain't a thing. Don't suppose any of them Cores got it in them to put up any kind of decent trouble anyhow; should be safe enough to bring her along."

* * *

Kaylee hummed to herself as she tweaked the rotator cuff. Her good mood was spoilt completely however when the Captain called her name. "I'm not speaking to you Captain." She said coldly without looking back at him.

"Got no need to speak. Come on." He ordered, matching her coldness. "Got a job for you."

"Ain't nothin' outside this engine room that concerns me right now Cap. Anything else 'sides this rotator cuff can wait."

"Gorraam it girl, you wanna wear that dress Jayne got ya or not?"

"What?" Kaylee finally looked at him.

"Get a fire under that ass, let's go, party's already started."

"Really?" Her face brightened.

Mal couldn't resist smiling back at her. "Yeah, let's go get all fancy-ified and prettied."

"Oh I love my Captain!" She squealed as she threw her arms around his neck.

* * *

"Do you know," Atherton whispered into Inara's ear as he wrapped one around possessively around her, "half the men in this room wish you were on their arm."

"Only half?" She asked coyly. "I must be losing my indefinable allure." She teased.

"Oh it's not that indefinable. All of them wish you were in their bed." He whispered to her as he leaned in close.

Inara turned her face away in attempt to mask her embarrassment. "I'm looking for the boy with the shimmer wine."

"She blushes," he teased her. "Not many in your line of work do. You are a singular woman." He paused, and despite the mocking tone of his earlier words; she felt the sincerity of his next, "I find I am attracted to you more and more." He took up her hand and led her onto the dance floor. "I'm trying to offer you something, you know. A life; if you want it."

"Atherton…" She smiled graciously.

"You can live here on Persephone, as my personal Companion."

"You're a generous man," she dodged the offer.

"That's not a yes." His face hardened.

"It's not a no either."

"You belong here Inara," he insisted as he swiped a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. "Not on that flying piece of _gou shi_ (crap). You see that don't you?"

"Atherton, language." She admonished him as she nodded politely to an elegant couple that passed, swallowing down her offense.

"What _gou shi _(crap)? But it is."

"Miss Kaywinnet Lee Frye and escort." The Steward's voice broken through their conversation.

Inara jerked her head around sharply as the familiar name hit her ears; she prayed there was another girl in the 'verse with such a name with all off her being; she was sorely disappointed. Kaylee was crossing beneath the flowered archway looking for all the 'verse like the poor country cousin brought to the big city ball and to make her night even worse; Malcolm Reynolds was on her arm. "Oh, _gou shi_ (crap)." She groaned, ignoring Atherton's look of surprise.


	16. Shindig II

Kaylee was all wide eyed awe as she crossed beneath the great flowering archway and took in all the splendor which accompanied a social event on Persephone. It was all polished marble and glittering lights; she'd never dreamed a place could be so fancy. The ballroom was bathed in a golden glow provided by a magnificent multi tiered floating chandelier; a small orchestra performed in the far corner and dancers circled the floor like bits of colored paper caught in the breeze.

Mal cleared his throat uncomfortably and tugged at his collar, "Does this seem kinda tight?"

Kaylee rolled her eyes at him, "It shows off your backside. Didja see the chandelier? It's hovering." She hit his chest.

"What's the point of that I wonder?" He asked looking up, seemed a bit of a waste iffin' you were to ask him.

"Oh mangos!" Kaylee half squealed as her eyes followed a waiter to a large buffet table which over flowed with fresh fruit and cheese. She eyed it dreamily.

"I mean I see the how they did it. I'm just not getting' the why." Mal added, still staring at the chandelier. He was perhaps a bit in awe himself, though he did his best not to show it.

"These girls have the most beautiful dresses." Kaylee said ignoring him. A bright smile broke out across her face, "And so do I, how 'bout that?"

"Why is it Jayne bought you that thing anyway?"

"Why shouldn't I get nice things as gifts?" She demanded.

Mal swallowed hard and changed the subject, "Looking for our guy Harrow," he said quickly.

"Yes Sir, Captain Tight Pants." Kaylee snorted. "What's he look like anyway?"

"Older, kinda stocky, wearing a red sash cross ways, and don't snort you're supposed to be makin' me look respectable."

Kaylee snorted out of spite. "Whys he doin' that?"

"I don't know, maybe he won the Miss Persephone pageant. Help me look."

"We should look for Inara too, just to say hello, would be rude if we didn't." Kaylee's voice trailed off as her eyes landed on a server carrying a tray of fresh strawberries over to the buffet table.

"If we see her, I think she's wearing gold." He said in what he hoped was an off handed manner.

It didn't really matter however overly much the way he said it; Kaylee had not heard, "I think he's over there." She pointed.

"That's the buffet table."

"How can we be sure? Ya know, unless we question it?" She asked hopefully.

Mal broke, "Fine. Don't make yourself sick."

"_Sheh-sheh_ (Thank you) Cap'n." She smiled at him and wasted no more time. _Fresh strawberries! Oh, Jayne'll be so jealous when I tell him!_

* * *

Simon, Jayne, and Riddick sat around the table in the mess; each one with a pile of small slips of paper in front of him. Simon having the least and Riddick by far having accumulated the most; each slip contained the name of a chore written across it.

"Ante up gentleman," Simon said as he shuffled the deck, and tossed a small slip of paper into the center, "Dishes."

"Dishes," Riddick grunted, as he added his slip, "could always do with less of them,"

"Garbage." Jayne tossed his in.

Simon finished the deal and flipped the next card in the deck face up. "Tall card Plum. Plums are tall."

The three men each took a moment to study their cards; Riddick however found himself slightly distracted as River edged her way into the mess. Something about the way she walked and looked around, unnerved him; her motions were jerky and hesitant. "I'll take two." He said to Simon as he kept one eye on the boy's sister; one of the perks to wearing dark goggles was nobody ever really knew which direction you were looking in.

"Two, no tall card claimed." Simon announced as he dealt Riddick his new cards.

"Speakin' of garbage," Jayne groused, "Gimme three."

Riddick watched the girl edge her way towards a crate of food supplies left out on the counter.

"Three," Simon dealt out Jayne's cards, "Dealer forced to take the tall and one card for the dealer."

"What do you suppose the Captain and Kaylee are doing now?" Riddick asked as he tossed another slip into the pile, "Septic flush."

"Eatin' steaks offa plates made of solid money, like as anything. I fold." Jayne grunted as he tossed his cards in.

"Me too." Simon groaned.

"Take it Riddick." Jayne said disgustedly as he leaned back.

Riddick collected his winnings but his attention drifted again back to the girl, who while he had turned his attention away had started to rip away the labels from the cans in the crate; his smirk fell.

"There it is, there it is. It's always there if you look for it. Everybody sees and nobody sees it…" River began to mutter as she tore off the label from a can of peaches.

"Doc, might want to look to that sister of yours, 'bout to do something crazy." He rumbled.

Simon jerked his head up, "River!" He jumped up to grab her as she began to smash a box of crackers. "What are you doing?" He demanded as he tried to grab at her arms but she fought against him and slammed the box of crackers into the bridge of his nose.

"_Ai ya _(Damn)!" He swore as he dodged an unlabelled can River chucked at his head.

Riddick grabbed her from behind and pinned her arms to her sides. "Bad habit for a fugie girl," he growled low into her ear, "going all crazy like this. Do it in public and sure as shit they'll haul you off."

"These are the ones that take you! Little ones in the corner that you almost don't see. But they're the ones that reach in and do it. They're the ones with teeth and you have to smash them!"

Jayne took the opportunity of Riddick's and Simon's distraction to snake a few chore exemptions from their piles. "Better see to that sister of yours doc." He grunted absently. "Riddick's right ain't a habit a fugie can afford to have."

Simon ignored the merc, "River just calm down." She tried to break from Riddick's grasp as she swore in Mandarin. "Hold her; I need to get something to calm her down." He asked Riddick but didn't wait for an answer before heading off to the infirmary.

"You want that girl?" Riddick whispered low into her ear, "You want them needles and drugs?"

River viciously shook her head.

"Need to stop this shit then, need to focus and push all them voices outta your head."

Slowly she turned her head up to face him, and caught his gaze squarely, but the fight had left her and she slumped back into his arms. "A million things…" she began softly, her voice close to breaking. "A million voices and the little ends of the roots that go everywhere and all the little blue things that hide behind false smiles and promises and they see it but no one says it because sometimes they're afraid… And then they come…" Simon came jogging back into the mess brandishing a needle and River cringed against Riddick. "Do not let him!" She whispered furiously against his chest.

Riddick pulled her behind him instinctively. "She's calm now Doc, no need to stick her."

Simon glared at Riddick, "I hardly think you can be the judge of that." He snapped as he took a step closer, immediately regretting the action as Riddick growled at him.

"Said it ain't needed Doc, sister's fine now." He snapped and jerked his head back to the table, "Cobb you take one more slip from my god damn pile and I will break your fucking fingers." He snapped.

Jayne froze in mid reach and sheepishly retreated, he cleared his throat. "We gonna play cards or what?"

"Yeah Cobb, Doc's gonna put down that needle and we're gonna go back to playing cards, right Doc?"

Simon eyed his sister critically, it did seem as the worst had passed alright, though she looked terrified. "River?"

"Do not make her sleep, please, don't make her sleep and dream dreams she cannot escape." She pleaded meekly from behind the bulk of the murderer.

Simon capped the syringe and put it in his pocket; he held up both hands palms out to show her he had nothing else, "Play without me. Come on River, let's get you settled." He noted with annoyance the way his sister looked to the convicted felon first before taking his hand.

Riddick glanced down at the pile of shredded labels as they left the mess. A sick pitting formed in his stomach as he fingered the tattered Blue Sun logo; the gears in his head clicked into place. _Two by two hands of blue…_ Her words ricocheted through his mind as he went to sit back down at the table. Blue hands… The mercs of the Blue Sun Corporation, they worn chest armor which covered their entire upper torso in a skin like blue latex; it wasn't Alliance owned but it owned the Alliance and its largest division was military contracted. He knew. He'd been one of the contracted.

"We playin' or what?" Jayne grunted and broke him from his thoughts.

"Yeah," he grunted back picking up his cards but by no means did he abandon the thought process. If it had been Blue Sun which was responsible for the girl the crew of Serenity were in for a shit storm unlike anything they'd ever seen.

* * *

Zoe and Wash were more happily occupied as they lay exhausted in a tangle of sheets and post-coital bliss. "Thought you wanted to spend more time off ship this visit," Zoe laughed as she stretched languidly.

"Out there seems like its all fancy parties. I like our parties better. The dress code's easier and I know all the steps." He teased as he propped himself up on his elbow.

"I'd say you do, at that." She smiled sleepily.

"Don't fall asleep now. Sleepiness is weakness of character, ask anyone."

"It is not!" Zoe protested with a laugh, her eyes closing.

"You're acting Captain. Know what happens if you fall asleep?"

"Riddick slits my throat and takes over the ship?" She joked rolling over to her side and burrowing into her pillow.

"That's right, or Jayne." Wash confirmed.

"And we can't stop it?"

"I wash my hands of it." Wash said easily as he rolled over onto his back. "Hopeless case. I'll read a nice poem at the funeral, something with imagery."

"You could lock the door and keep the power hungry maniacs at bay."

"I don't know. I'm starting to like this poetry idea now. Here lies my beloved Zoe, my autumn flower, somewhat less attractive now that she's all corpse-ified and gross…"

Zoe cut him off with a laugh and a pillow to his face as she rolled on top of him once more.

* * *

Kaylee broke away from the buffet table to watch the dancers some more and came to a stop next to a handsome boy. "Aren't they something?" She asked him in hopes of earning a request for a dance herself. "Like butterflies or little pieces of wrapping paper blowing around." She smiled. If she was disappointed he merely turned and bowed before walking away she showed no sign; there was quite simply too much else going on around her for her to recognize his dismissal as the sting it was. She continued to circle the dance floor as she drank in the beauty of everything around her.

"Hello," she said with a smile as she came to a stop in front of a group of four girls; to her they looked like beautiful porcelain dolls.

"I'm sorry have we been introduced?" The tallest and blondest of the girls asked.

Kaylee reached out to shake the girl's hand heartily, not noticing the look of distaste which crossed her face, "I'm Kaylee."

"Banning," she returned the introduction with a poorly concealed superior smirk, "this is Destra, Cabott, and Zelle."

"Don't you love this party? Everything is so fancy and there's some kind of hot cheese over there." Kaylee gushed anxious to gossip with such fine ladies.

"It's not as good as last year," Cabott replied coldly.

"Really? What'd they have last year?" Kaylee asked, unsure anything such as this could ever be topped.

"Standards." She answered cruelly. Kaylee's face immediately fell as Destra and Zelle giggled.

"Who made your dress Kaylee?" Banning asked not to be out done by a chit such as Cabott.

"Oh, do you like it?" Kaylee brightened again. "When I saw the ruffles, I just couldn't…"

"You ought to see to your girl," Banning cut her off with mock sympathy.

"_Shah muh_ (what)?" Kaylee asked distraught, this evening wasn't playing out right at all.

Banning leaned in to whisper confidentially, a slight grimace to her face. "Your girl. She's not very good. She made your dress look like it was brought in a store." The group giggled again almost in perfect unison.

"Oh…I didn't…" Kaylee's face flushed bright red with embarrassment and she wished desperately for a rock to crawl underneath. Captain had been right; she wasn't nothin' more than a sheep tryin' to walk upright.

"Why Banning Miller, what a vision you are in that fine dress." Kaylee looked up to see an older and very distinguished looking gentleman come to stand beside her. "Must have taken a dozen slaves a dozen days just to get you into that get up. 'Course your daddy tells me it takes the space of a schoolboy's wink to get you out of it again." Kaylee beamed up at her savior as the foursome stuck their noses in the air and stormed off. "You must forgive my rudeness," he said to her, "I cannot abide useless people."

**

Some distance away and across the ballroom Mal was having just as much difficulty blending in as Kaylee was as he approached the man he assumed to be Harrow. "Beg your pardon Sir, but would you be Mr. Warrick Harrow?" He asked with as much humility as a former Brown Coat Sergeant was able to muster. He could tell immediately it was a poor start by the look of distaste which crossed the man's face.

"Sir Warrick Harrow. The sash." He said coldly.

"The sash." Mal repeated a bit flustered and confused.

"It indicates lordship."

"And it's doing a great job." Mal smiled nervously.

Harrow however dismissed him and began to walk away.

Mal took a quick step to catch up, not willingly to let the job slip through his fingers so easily. "Sir, my name is Malcolm Reynolds. I captain a ship, name of Serenity. I mention this because I have been led to understand you want to move some property off world…" Mal's words trailed off as Inara and Atherton fluttered past in the midst of a dance. There was no eye contact, nor nod of acknowledgement, though there was no denying they were not hyper aware of each other's presence. It was not lost on Harrow, whom had actually worked for his title rather than inherit it and rest on the laurels of a family name.

"…some property off world, discreetly." Mal finished his sentence.

Harrow took another opportunity to study the captain before him and he was still not impressed. "You're mistaken, Sir. I am an honest man."

"Seems to me, there's nothing dishonest about getting your goods to people who need them." Mal reassured him.

"Whom is it you represent?" He eyed him, looking over the rented suit.

"Represent, isn't exactly…"

"Don't waste my time." Harrow cut him off sharply.

"Fellow called Badger." Mal conceded.

"I know him, and I think he's a psychotic lowlife."

"And I think calling him that is an offense to the psychotic lowlife community." Mal said honestly. "But the deal is solid."

"Sorry to interrupt." Mal jerked his head around to see Inara and Atherton standing behind him. "Sir Harrow, I know you from the club I believe."

Harrow nodded in acknowledgement but his distaste didn't go unnoticed by any one save the one man it truly concerned.

"Captain," Inara said with a bit of resignation in her voice, the introduction was now unavoidable. "This is Atherton Wing. Atherton, Captain Malcolm Reynolds."

Mal accepted his hand and shook it with a bit more of a grip then was required as they sized each other up. "Pleased to meet'cha. Inara, I didn't realize you were going to this party." He said pleasantly.

"It's the only party." She replied icily.

"And I can see why. How 'bout that floating chandelier? Almost outshines our girl here." Mal watched with a barely restrained fury as Atherton's fingers shifted on Inara's arm, the small white circles of pressure left against her skin nearly undid him. "Ath. Can I call you Ath? Inara has spoken of you to me. She made a point of your generosity in fact, given that, I'm sure you won't kick if I ask Inara the favor of a dance."

The man paused for a moment, polite society so ingrained into his being he could find no way of refusing. "Of course." He conceded bitterly; he watched, silently fuming as Inara was led away by the rim trash captain.

"You're a brave man." Harrow told him.

"I know what's mine." He answered in a clipped tone as his eyes followed the couple. He did not register the scowl on the face of the man standing beside him; though it would have mattered little to him even if it had.

Mal smirked at Inara as they took their places on the dance floor. "This dance I think I actually know." He said with a bit of relief as the music began; dredging up somewhere from some forgotten part of his mind the hours of torture his mother had put him through.

"Why are you here?" She demanded with a false smile.

"Business, same as you, I was talking to the contact, you came over to me, remember?" He said smugly.

"You were staring at me." She hissed.

"I saw you is all, you stand out."

The dance split them up for a few beats, coming back together palm to palm.

"In this company Captain, I believe you are the one that stands out."

"Maybe I just like watching a professional at work, then. Is this the hardest part, would you say or does that come later?"

"You have no right to try to make me ashamed of my job. What I do is legal, and how is that smuggling coming along?" She asked archly.

"My work's illegal, but it's honest." Inara snorted a very unladylike snort. "While this… the lie of it… that man parading you around on his arm as if he actually won you, as if he loves you and everyone going along with it." Mal whispered harshly.

"These people like me, and I like them. I like Atherton too by the way." She defended.

"Well sure, what's not to like? I'm liable to sleep with him myself."

"And he likes me, whether you see it or not."

"Of course." He answered dismissively.

"He's made me an offer." She told him, though for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. Mal looked visibly startled, he hadn't expected that. "You may think he doesn't honor me, but he wants me to live here. I would be his personal Companion. It would be a good life, Mal. I could belong here. Call me pretentious but there is some appeal to that."

Mal hesitated a moment at the use of that particular word. "You're right. I got no call to stop you. You got the right to a decent life."

Inara was just as startled by his confession as he was to give it. "I see Kaylee's here." She tried sweetly, hoping for a change of direction with the conversation.

"Strangely enough it was Jayne that bought her that dress, made me look like a right ass too. Only way I could fix it was by givin' her a place to where it at."

"I think she looks adorable." Inara smiled, only half lying because the mechanic really did look absolutely adorable. It was only too bad the other debutants would tear her to shreds should she risk a conversation with them. The world Inara moved in may have sparkled and glittered like gold and diamonds but it was really conniving and cruel. It was why she had left it behind for the black and Serenity. Was she really so willing to go back to it all for Atherton and the sake of comfort and ease?

"Well yeah, but I never said it." Mal answered her.

**

Kaylee found herself surrounded by company she would not have guessed but was enjoying more than she ever thought she would. The older gentlemen had introduced himself to be a plantation owner and now surrounded her with a group of other gentlemen, some older, some younger but all focused solely on what she had to say. "I'm not saying that the eighty-oh-four's hard to repair, it just ain't worth it." She said matter of factly as she popped a chocolate into her mouth.

"It's a fine machine if you keep it tuned." One of the older gentlemen responded.

"_Tsai boo shr_ (no way)," she dismissed him with a knowing smile; "The extenders ain't even braced."

"We've been telling him to buy an eighty-ten for years." Her savior exclaimed with a laugh. "Maybe now he'll listen that's its come from a prettier mouth." He teased and Kaylee blushed.

"Those 'tenders snap off, it don't matter how good the engine's cyclin'…"

She was cut off mid sentence by an eager and handsome looking young man, "Miss Kaylee, I wonder if I could request the honor of…"

He in turn was cut off by his father, "Now, now, she's talking, let the girl talk."  
He dismissed his boy who looked slightly crestfallen.

Kaylee did reward him with a bright smile and he brightened in turn considerably. "By the way,' she started, as she nudged one of the men conspiringly, "The eighty-ten's the same machine. They just changed the plating and hoped no one noticed." She finished to a riot of laughter. It might not have been the ton of admirers she had been hoping for, but this bunch suited her just fine.

**

Mal stumbled the last few steps of the dance but caught himself as he wrapped his hands around Inara's waist, "Possible you were right," he grinned down at her, "This really ain't my kind of party."

Inara couldn't resist returning his smile; though it faltered quickly as Atherton appeared by her side and grabbed her arm roughly.

"Whoa now. Watch yourself there," Mal snapped, "Ain't no need for hands-on."

A small crowd, including Sir Warrick began to gravitate towards the display.

"Excuse me," Atherton said angrily, "she's not here with you, Captain. She is mine."

"Yours?" Mal asked as his face hardened. "She don't belong to nobody."

"Money changed hands. That makes her mine tonight. No matter how you dress her up she's still a…"

His words were cut off instantly as Mal hauled back and knocked the man squarely in his jaw. Atherton was thrown to the ground by the force of it.

"Turns out this is my kind of party." Mal smirked at Inara.

"Oh Mal," Inara shook her head.

"What man was out of line?"

"I accept!" Atherton announced to the room as he pulled himself up off the ground.

"That's great." Mal said as he stepped forward, before asking, "What?"

She didn't have a chance to answer him, the house Steward did the job for her, "There has been a challenge!"

"I hope you're prepared Captain." Atherton said smugly.

"Ya'll talkin' 'bout a fight?" Mal asked eagerly as he loosened his neck tie, "Well alright then, let's get out of here."

"It's not a fist fight Mal," Inara whispered to him as she touched his shoulder.

"The duel will be met tomorrow morning, on Cadrie Hill."

"Why wait?" Mal asked, still undeterred. "Where's that guard, he collected a whole mess of pistols…" Mal looked around but was corrected by the Steward.

"Should you require it, any gentleman here can give you use of a sword."

"Use of a s'what?!"

* * *

Riddick waited for the Doc to lose himself in some kind of something inside the Infirmary before he went in search of Crazy. Silently he slipped inside her bunk and threw the lock on her door before turning to face her. Her back was to him but he could tell by her breathing she was awake. "Tell me something girl," he mused quietly. "You weren't just tearing labels in a fit of crazy were you?"

"They taint the substance with their mark." She confessed without turning to face him.

"They're the ones who ran the Academy, ain't they?"

"His masters were her tormentors." She acknowledged.

"You know 'bout that?" he asked as his body tensed.

"Nothing escapes the flow…"

"Of the River, yeah we've been through this I get it." He snorted.

"Then why does he ask questions he already knows the answers to?"

"Why does she speak in riddles and fucking nonsense when she knows what she is trying to say?" He snapped back defensively.

River rolled over to face him; her eyes were swollen and red, dried tears stained her pale face and for some reason Riddick couldn't name it pissed him off beyond measure. "Her mind cannot control her words, they spill and stumble, she doesn't know what she says…she never knows what she is saying…" Her words broke off into quiet sobs.

Riddick huffed and crossed the room to crouch in front of her bed. "Tell me girl, tell me what they did." It was not a request.

"She does not know herself." She lied and tried to turn away.

Riddick grabbed her arm and forced her to face him, "That's a lie girl. I know when people are lying. Their heart rate picks up, their scent shifts, breathing changes; even the good liars can't mask the signs their body and face give off. You know damn well what they did to you, what they wanted from you."

River viciously yanked herself away, and Riddick surprised by her reaction let her pull free from him. She curled herself upright and tucked her knees beneath her chin. "You cannot stick needles in her eyes and demand to know what she sees!" She snapped harshly. "You cannot cut and slice and poke and shock and bleed and demand she put herself on display for all to see!" Her eyes took on a feral quality and Riddick slowly backed himself away, unsure as to whether the girl was still seeing him or someone else in front of her. "You take! You take and you take until nothing is left! And you watch and you wait and you give her missions and orders and when she disobeys you bring her PAIN. And she sees you. She sees your pleasure in her torment, the walls you hide your humanity behind. She is not she, she is it… and it will serve the greater good or you will jab needles into her eyes and her brain and make her stay awake for days and take away her clothes and her bed and stick her in THE ROOM! THE ROOM with the cold walls and cold floor and fake mirrors which you use as eyes to study and stare and when she is hungry when she is so hungry it hurts you hold what she craves before her and make her dance to deserve it!" Her tirade ended with a laugh which was both broken and manic.

"River…" Riddick tried gently.

"No! She is not yours! You cannot have her! You cannot demand what she knows and take it as your own to rain fire and blood and death down on the people you try to control. LIES! It's all LIES AND DECEPTION AND FALSE SMILES AND TRUTH! Pretty, pretty girl, come and dance for us, pretty, pretty girl come and kill for us, the blood lies on your soul, not ours, it's your hand that takes so we don't have to wash away the blood on ours! Tell us… tell us what you hear…" Her words broke down into violent sobs.

"Alright girl, they're your secrets, I won't ask anymore." Riddick said cautiously as he stepped closer once again. "Ain't gotta tell me shit, just what you want. I gotta know though, I gotta know if I'm gonna keep them away."

River's head immediately jerked up and her eyes cleared. "He can't. They'll come and nothing will stop them until they get back what he took."

"Yeah?" Riddick smirked as he crouched down in front of the bed. "They haven't got me yet."

"Liar."

Riddick snorted, "Okay so they've gotten me before but I always get back out."

"If they take her will he come for her?" River asked hopefully as she uncurled herself.

"Ain't nothin' in the 'verse." Riddick answered automatically, not realizing the words were spoken until they left his lips.

"He makes a promise he does not understand." River accused coldly.

"Don't matter, still making it."

"Why?"

He didn't know.

"He is a liar and he will leave her to rot to save himself." River snapped at him and pulled her blankets up around her. "Leave her." She ordered. Riddick took a step back, anger welling up in his chest. "Leave or she will scream and he will be forced to answer questions which would break his promise to keep her secrets and in turn she will release all she knows on him."

"Won't believe a Crazy." Riddick snapped angrily.

"Won't have to." She said as she leveled her gaze on him, it was cold and unforgiving. "Suspicion of guilt is enough."

Riddick snarled at the truth of her words and turned his back on her. The echo of her door slamming burned into her ears and her sobs began anew.

* * *

"What's going on?" Kaylee demanded as she pushed her way past the crowd which had gathered around her Captain.

"Not rightly sure," he answered honestly and turned to Harrow to ask, "What's going on?"

"Well, first off you'll be put up in lodgings for the night, so you don't disappear. I wouldn't blame you if you did incidentally. Wing may be a spoiled dandy, but he's an expert swordsman. He's killed a dozen men with a long blade and you're the first to give him a reason."

"This is a joke." Mal said as he paled slightly.

"He'll need a second." Inara pointed out worriedly.

"What's that?" Mal asked even more confused.

"I'll take the job." Harrow said jovially.

"He fights if you refuse." Inara explained and was about to say more but Atherton's voice shouting from across the room silenced her.

"Inara!" He demanded and at her visible hesitation, "Come with me please."

"You takin' this on, being my second and all, does this mean we're in business?" Mal asked his mind never far from the job.

Harrow chuckled, a slightly ominous sign if there ever was one. "It means you're in mortal danger, but you mussed up Atherton's face and that has endeared me to you somewhat. You might even give him a bit of a fight before he guts you."

"Inara!" Atherton yelled again.

She graced Mal with one last look, "I'm sorry." She said before tearing herself away to join her Captain's potential murderer.

"Well up until the punching it was a real nice party," Kaylee offered.


	17. Shindig III

Jayne cracked out another set of pull-ups alone in the bay, his mind somewhat thoroughly occupied by picturing Kaylee in that damn ridiculous dress. Of course he woulda never told her it was ridiculous; the smile she had been strutin' as the Captain had led her offa Serenity had been entirely for him and for that he woulda brought her a thousand of them damn frilly things. Just as his mind had begun tilting off the innocent path and along the lines of what takin' off said dress would be like someone pounded on the closed hatch of Serenity's airlock. Begrudgingly and grabbing his shot gun he dropped down from the hand grips and went to answer.

He scowled slightly as he saw Badger standing on the other side of the hatch; with a grunt Jayne heaved the door open. "What? They ain't due back for a few hours still."

"Your Captain's gone and got hisself into a bit of trouble." Badger sneered as he stepped aboard with two of his armed goons."Best get your crew together only reliving this piss pot of a fuck up once."

**

"A duel?" Riddick nearly choked on the words he found them so amusing.

"Like with swords?" Wash asked in disbelief.

"The Captain's a good fighter. He must know how to handle a sword." Simon pointed out, hell even he'd taken fencing lessons at some point.

"I think he knows which end to hold." Zoe answered uneasily.

"All right so we need to figure a way to get him out." Jayne said. "Can't have the Captain bein' stuck full of holes, liable to fire us all then." He ended with a snort. "Where's Kaylee?" The thought occurred to him and his voice lost the confident cockiness of a moment ago.

"Oh this is embarrassing. Some of you seem to be misapprehending my purpose in bein' here."

Zoe rose from the crate she had been sitting on and drew herself to her full height. "You're here to make sure we don't do what these men are keen on doing." She stated understanding clearly.

"Penny for the smart lady." Badger grinned at her, revealing a disgusting set of teeth. "Persephone's my home. I gotta do business with the people here. I don't want it known I brought someone in caused this kinda ruckus. We'll just settle ourselves here 'til this blows over one way or t'other."

Riddick's gun was pressed against Badger's forehead before the man could draw in a breath after his words. "Don't much appreciate bein' told what to do." He growled.

"Riddick…" Jayne warned and his tone caused him to pause and follow the direction of the merc's gaze.

"Hi." Kaylee waved nervously with a gun pressed against her temple.

Riddick swore a stream of quite colorful and inventive Mandarin as he tossed his gun to the grating.

**

In her bunk, River shot up, completely alert and more lucid then she had ever been aboard Serenity. The clang of Riddick's gun hitting the grating ricocheted off the walls of her mind.

* * *

Inara slipped quietly down the hallway and into the room she knew they were holding the Captain. Mal startled by the sound of the door spun and wildly swung the sword he had been practicing with; it stuck itself into a pillar and hung there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he pulled the embedded sword free.

"Atherton's a heavy sleeper," Mal shuddered inwardly at the thought, Inara did not notice and continued. "Night before a big day, you know, he's got killing you first thing in the morning, then a haircut later." She attempted to joke.

"It's such a comfort having friends to visit at a time like this." He retorted sarcastically; he wasn't much a fan of jokes that revolved around him getting dead.

"I knew the accommodations would be nice," Inara said nervously as she glanced around the room. "Atherton doesn't skimp."

"Don't s'pose I like being kept as much as others do." He answered bitterly as he took a swipe at the air with his sword. "How come you're still attached to him?" He didn't add, '_Cause ya know, he's plannin' on killin' me and all.'_

"Because it's my decision. Not yours." She said firmly.

"Thought he made it pretty clear he's got no regard for you."

"You did manage to push him into saying something, yes." She admitted, "Made a nice justification for the punch."

"He insulted you. I hit him. Seemed like the thing to do. Why'd this get so complicated?"

"Well it's about to get simpler. There's a back door, I have the desk clerk on alert. He'll let us out."

"I'm not gonna run off." Mal snapped indignantly and Inara looked at him surprised. "No matter what you've got into your head, I didn't do this to prove some kinda point to you. I actually thought I was defending your honor, and," his face broke off into a smirk. "I never back down from a fight."

"Yes you do! All the time!" She yelled at him exasperated.

"Yeah okay," Mal shrugged and conceded. "But I'm not backing down from this one."

"He's an expert swordsman Mal. You had trouble with the pillar. How will your death help my honor?" She asked bitterly.

"But see, I'm looking to have it be his death. 'S why I need lessons." He grinned at her as he picked up another sword and tossed it to her. She caught it expertly. "Figured you'd know how bein' an educated lady as you are."

* * *

Wash sat down on the bay floor and rested his back against a beam and his head between his crossed arms as he stifled a yawn; while his wife, Jayne, Riddick and Simon huddled around a crate feigning a game of cards. Kaylee hovered nervously close to Jayne, her eyes darting between the pretend game of cards and the gang of armed guards just a short distance across the bay.  
"But he said not to do anything." She whispered as she bent down over Jayne's shoulder and pretended to evaluate his cards. "He'll join us after the duel."

"And what if he don't win?" Jayne asked just as quietly while trying to not be distracted by Kaylee's close proximity. She had ditched the frills and was back in her coveralls; a look he appreciated even more than the foofaraw.

"It doesn't hurt to have a contingency plan, Kaylee." Zoe added looking up from her cards.

"Since we're unarmed we should take them all at once by surprise." Simon said quietly.

Riddick snorted contemptuously at the Doc's ignorance. "Ain't happening Doc. We only beat their number by one man and no offense Doc, but you ain't much of a fighter, neither is Kaylee girl. Those are rapid fire assault weapons they have, you wanna bum rush 'em be my guest."

"Better we try to lure them away, one or two towards the Infirmary, take 'em out and we could be on Badger 'fore he even realizes it." Zoe offered the obvious alternative.

"Only if his attention is elsewhere," Jayne added, "What we need is a diversion. I say one of the girls gets nekkid."

"Nope." Wash answered without raising his head.

"I could get nekkid." Jayne offered.

"No." Was the resounding reply from the group.

"Just offerin' don't see anybody else comin' up with nothin' useful." He muttered.

Out of the corner of his eyes Riddick caught movement and he slowly turned his head. Internally he flinched as Crazy choose this particular moment to make her appearance. "Doc," he warned quietly.

"What?"

"Sister's about to do something crazy." He gave a nearly imperceptible nod of his head toward the doorway which led to the Infirmary and the common room.

Immediately Simon tensed, and rose trying to move as inconspicuously as possible towards the door his sister had come wandering out of it. "River," he said in a harsh whisper, "you can't be here."

"There are things in the air in there… tiny things." She answered absently.

"Who's that then?" Simon cringed as Badger's shrill voice echoed through the bay. "Look at me," he told River as she dismissed him with a causal glance. "What's your story, luv?"

River surveyed the room, her eyes rested briefly on Riddick's as she tried to communicate something to him. Though he'd be damned if he knew what it was the girl was trying to say.

"She's just a passenger." Simon said hurriedly.

River stepped idly past both men luring them farther away from the door and getting them to turn their backs to it.

"Yeah well why ain't she talkin'? She got a secret?" Badger asked as his eyes followed her taking in the pale skin of her legs.

"No," Simon feigned a chuckled, "I'm…"

River cut him off, in a perfect mimicry of Badger's accent. "Sure, I got a secret. More'n one." She answered and raised her head to level her gaze on Badger.

_Fuck._ Riddick thought to himself as he waited for the inevitable spew of insanity which came after mentioning a secret to the girl, but as he watched her he realized she was one hundred percent 'there' at the moment; so much so he almost couldn't believe their argument in her bunk had occurred at all.

"Don't seem likely I'd tell 'em to you now, do it?" She shot back at Badger saucily. "Anyone off Dyton Colony know's better'n to talk to strangers." She took a step closer to the man and picked something off his lapel. She studied the cruddy substance for a moment before wiping it back onto his jacket; her gaze once more landing solidly on Riddick; this time he got the hint and without a sound he slid away.

"You're talking loud enough for the both of us, though, ain'tcha?" River continued. "I've met a dozen like you," she said in dismissal as the rest of the crew stared at her in opened mouthed wonder. It was quite possibly more words then any of them other than Simon and Riddick had ever heard the girl speak at once, and to do it in a cockney accent was even more unnerving. "Skipped off home early, minor graft jobs here and there. Spent some time in the lock-down I warrant; but less than you claim. Now you're what? A petty thief with delusions of standin'?" She scoffed at him. "Sad lit'tle king of a sad lit'tle hill," she shook her head and turned away.

"Nice to see someone from the old homestead." Badger grinned.

River glanced back over her shoulder, "Not really." She turned to Simon, "Call me f'anyone interestin' shows up." She exited the bay from the same door she entered; as she turned the first corner she paused to smirk at Riddick and absently she reached into the pocket of her dress. "Killing is unnecessary." She told him as she held out two syringes full of a clear yellowish liquid.

"Pretty sane of you." He chuckled quietly as he took the syringes.

"They have violated the mother, it cannot be allowed."

Riddick's eyebrow twitched. "That there though, what you just said, really wasn't."

River glared at him.

**

In the bay as River exited Badger turned to Simon, "I like her." He said with a grin as he went back to his sandwich.

Jayne shook himself free, "That there," he said quietly, still trying to digest what had just happened, "'Xactly the kinda diversion we coulda used."

"'Ey!" Badger shouted all of a sudden. "Where'd the big guy go?"

The crew exchanged glances and Zoe lost the ability to repress the smirk which broke out across her face as she realized Riddick had vanished.

Jayne chuckled. "Beats me to hell," he called across the bay to Badger. "Iffin' I was you I'd be a bit nervous 'bout now. Man takes powerful dislike to bein' held hostage."

"You and you," Badger pointed angrily at two of the four that had accompanied him. "Find 'im."

* * *

"Attack." Inara ordered. Mal lunged and swung his sword, baffled as Inara sidestepped him and avoided the strike with ease, hitting him lightly on his rear. "How did I avoid that?" She asked with an eyebrow arched.

"By being fast like a freak." It was his best guess.

"No," Inara sighed. "Because you always attack the same way, swinging from the shoulder like you're chopping wood. You have to thrust with the point sometimes or swing from the elbow." She demonstrated. "Now try again."

* * *

The two men walked cautiously down the corridor; there was a blind turn up ahead and both had been present for the initial meeting with Riddick. One in particular had been the man that found himself with his own gun jammed against his throat; they were sufficiently and rightly so on edge.

Riddick inhaled deeply from behind the bend; fear, he savored it. Next to him River shook her head. "He is being indulgent." She whispered.

He smirked at her for a moment and spun out from behind the protection of the wall. There was a yell of surprise as his boot planted itself into the chest of the man closest to him; as he carried out the spin to jab the first needle into the neck of the second man. Before the first had a chance to register the kick Riddick was on him again and the second needle buried itself into flesh. Two bodies thudded to the grating.

"Do not be prideful it is the fall of man." River scolded as she flounced away; confident she was no longer required.

Riddick made a face.

"Faces are childish!" She yelled without turning back.

Riddick scowled at her.

* * *

Mal lunged; once more swinging from his shoulder and once more Inara neatly avoided his attack. He was dripping sweat and exhausted; the Companion was not even flustered. "Gorraam it!" He snapped.

"Again, you rely too much on swinging from the shoulder, it's a rookie mistake Mal, and you'll die for it!" She snapped right back.

"It feels stronger." He defended.

Inara stomped towards him and adjusted his swing, guiding him through the motion. "It's also slower Mal. You don't need strength as much as speed. We're fragile creatures. It takes less than a pound of pressure to cut skin."

Mal looked at her a bit surprised and unnerved by her touch. "You know that? They teach you that at the Whore Academy?"

Inara dropped his arm and backed away.

* * *

"You hear that?" Badger demanded from his other men, who nervously shifted their position.

Jayne silently rose gripping a length of pipe in his hand.

"You!" Badger jabbed a finger at one of his goons. "You go find out what that is!" The burly man shifted his weight; he had also been there this morning. "I said now!" Badger barked. "And you go with 'im," he order to the other as he withdrew a pistol from inside his jacket. "I can watch this sorry lot 'ere." The two men turned towards the doorway as Badger began to mutter a stream of insults under his breath. His rant was short lived and his gun clattered to the ground; a gagging cut of his profanity as Jayne tightened his grip on both ends of the pipe; practically lifting the smaller man off the ground as he choked him.

"Call your boys off Badger, one snap and I can end your miserable _gou shi_ (crap) life." Jayne growled as Zoe stepped forward and grabbed the discarded pistol.

Badger unable to speak made a frantic gesture and his men both tossed down their weapons. A chuckle rose up behind them accompanied by the clicking and whirring of two rifles charging up. They raised their hands.

Jayne dropped a sniveling Badger to the ground and planted a boot into the man's ribs.

"Jayne!" Zoe snapped.

"What? He held a fuckin' gun to Kaylee's head." Jayne snorted before stomping off towards Riddick to pat down the other two men.

"Wouldn't say nothing if we killed 'em." Riddick said pointedly to Jayne, though low enough to be out of Zoe's ear shot.

"Then we wouldn't be gettin' paid." He snorted.

"Whose saying we'd be getting paid anyway? Nobody said that Mal was able to get the job or not."

Jayne paused for a moment and rose from his kneeling position to get right close to one of the goon's faces. "You better hope to gorraam hell our boss gets this gorraam job after all this shit. Iffin' he don't that means that's twice we been fucked by your boss and I ain't a man to get crossed three times _dong ma_ (understand me)?" He snarled.

* * *

"You have a strange sense of nobility Captain," Inara said quietly. "You'll lay a man out for implying that I'm a whore but you'll call me one to my face."

"I might not show respect to your job, but he didn't respect you. That's the difference. Inara, he doesn't even see you."

"Well, I guess death will settle the issue to everyone's satisfaction." She replied coldly.

"This _yu bun duh_ (stupid) duel is the result of rules of your society not mine." Mal defended.

She stalked forward; more angry than hurt. "Mal you always break the rules!" She shouted at him as she brandished her sword. "It doesn't matter which society you're in! You don't get along with ordinary criminals either! That's why you're in trouble." Much to Mal's chagrin each sentence was punctuated by a jab of her sword.

"And you think following the rules will buy you a nice life?" He asked as he backed out of her sword's reach. "Even if the rules make you a slave?" Inara turned her back on him completely; frustrated to the point of tears and unwilling to cry over him. She was Inara Serra; she did not cry over a man, they cried over her. "Don't take the offer." Mal continued quietly after a beat.

"What?"

"Don't do it, 'cause in the case it comes up, that means he's the fella that killed me. Don't much like fellas that killed me. Not in general." He turned away this time under the guise of practicing. "I said before I had no call to stop you. And that's true, but anyways… don't."

"I need to get back," she said quickly gathering up her robe, "he'll be up early."

"Right he's got that big day." Mal said evenly as she exited; frustrated he blindly swung his sword, nearly screaming when he turned to see Riddick smirking at him from the window sill. "Gorraam it! How long you been there? Holy Christ, ain't got 'nough _gou shi_ (crap) going on I think I'm gonna have a ruttin' heart attack!" He snapped. "God damn folk need to learn how to make some gorraam noise when they move."

"Just thought you want to know," he said as he stepped down and then reached back through to give Zoe a hand in, "ship was overrun by a filthy man with a stupid looking hat."

"What?"

"Ain't a thing Sir," Zoe smirked, "thought it might be but our resident crazy seems to have a knack for impersonation."

Mal looked at her confused, "Say that again?" He asked rubbing his face with his hand.

"Point is," Riddick changed topic, "We've mounted this complicated escape and rescue plan in order to keep you from getting yourself dead."

"Ain't runnin'." Mal said firmly.

"Excuse me Sir?" Zoe asked with a little disbelief. "'Cause I thought I knew you pretty well and I've never heard you speak on your good old sword fightin' days. You do realize he will kill you, right?"

"I've been told that several times over the last couple hours. Good for me though I ain't the best of listeners." He smirked as he tested his swing. "I think I'm gettin' it."

"Mal, you're holding it wrong." Riddick corrected.

"Can I say it again for you Sir?" Zoe asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Ain't runnin' Zoe, do you need me to say it again?" Mal snapped. "Now just go on back to the ship, I'll be on my way in a few hours."

"You really wanna do this Mal?" Riddick asked skeptically.

"I'm standin' here with a sword ain't I?"

Riddick grunted and pushed himself off the wall. "Gimme a god damn sword then."

"Why?" Mal asked suspiciously.

"'Cause I'm gonna roast fucking marshmallows Mal, why do you think?" He shot back.

"You know how to use a sword?" He asked incredulously.

"Why is that such a fucking surprise?"

"Man does have a fondness for pointy objects Sir." Zoe said resigned. "You're really going to do this?"

* * *

The morning came chilly with a vague mist left clinging to the grass. Riddick and Zoe kept their distance: semi hidden by a small cropping of trees. "Think he's got a chance?" Zoe asked Riddick.

"You want my honest answer?" He rumbled without taking his eyes off the dueling grounds.

"No." She said with utter honesty. "Lie to me Riddick."

"Can't do that Zoe, but I won't count him out yet, Captain's a pretty hard man to kill."

"That he is." Zoe said hardening herself.

**

A small gathering of about ten or so had made their way to Cadrie Hill; why it was the rich were so eager to see blood was a subject of great musing for Mal. He set his jaw and leveled his gaze on Inara, who although she stood besides Atherton never took her eyes off Mal. The Steward from the ball stepped forward and motioned for the two men to take their places. Atherton strode confidently to the center; a smug grin on his face, in his mind he had already won. Mal moved a little less confidently but his stubborn determination prevented him from showing any anxiety; on the exterior he was stone, stone with a smirk.

Sir Warrick Harrow moved to Inara's side and they exchanged a grim look as the men faced off. _Here it is Inara Serra,_ she thought bitterly to herself, _two men battling to the death for you. Is it everything you hope it would be?_

Atherton was the first to strike; an easy swing Mal was able to parry. He was the only one who did not notice the deliberate slowness in Atherton's movements. Mal followed his parry with a quick thrust of his sword and a melody of clanging metal rang out in the otherwise silent park.

_Ain't so bad,_ Mal thought to himself as he parried another thrust and followed through with a quick flick of his wrist like Riddick had shown him; the point of his blade nicked Atherton's vest.

"Best be careful Ath," Mal said cockily. "I hear these things are sharp."

**

"He thinks he's doin' well, don't he?" Zoe asked.

"He's being toyed with." Riddick half growled.

**

Mal ducked narrowly avoiding losing his head but spun and was able to counter the next. Atherton went on the attack and it was all Mal could do but attempt to block. The beginning traces of fear crept up his spine as he felt the sting of Atherton's blade against his arm. The man smiled at the Captain and tucked his blade behind his back as if to challenge him.

**

"What's he doing?" Zoe asked as she unconsciously gripped Riddick's arm.

"Don't fall for that Mal." Riddick hissed.

**

Inara cringed as she watched Mal lunge. Atherton easily sidestepped and attacked sideways; his blade pierced the flesh of Mal's torso.

"Well this isn't going to take long is it?" Harrow stated more than asked grimly. Inara couldn't bring herself to answer him.

Mal looked at his blood coated fingers in utter shock. _So this is it? Captain Malcolm Reynolds goes down not in a hail of gun fire and glory but stabbed to death in a duel with priggish hun dan (bastard) with a fucking gorraam sword. Who duels with swords anyway? It's 2517 goddamn it._

Mal lunged again, iffin' he was going to go down he wasn't going to do it without a hell of a fight. His left hand was pressed firmly against the wound on his side and he swung wildly with the right. Atherton lunged; Mal valiantly parried and attempted to attack, an attempt was all it was. He felt the icy sting of the blade's kiss once more against his defensive arm.

**

"Zoe…" Riddick warned, "He ain't gonna make it much longer, gimme the word." He told her unclipping his holster.

"Captain said…"

"Fuck it Zoe, you wanna watch him die? 'Cause if we just stand here you best look away." He snapped.

Zoe looked at him and made her decision as she unsnapped her holster. "He goes for the kill we take him, after he goes down I'll fire into the crowd, won't kill nobody but it'll make 'em scatter you make a run and grab 'em. Ain't lettin' his fool self go down right in front of my eyes." She said as she withdrew her gun.

Riddick nodded and braced himself to make the sprint.

**

Inara could not tear her eyes away from the scene before her. Mal was going to die and it would be her fault.

"We're coming to the end now miss," Harrow said gently. "You might want to look away."

_No!_ She screamed inside her head as Mal stumbled and went down; his sword broken by Atherton's foot whose blade was poised to deliver the final blow. She couldn't let it end like this, "Atherton wait!" She yelled. He hesitated and looked up at her. "I'll stay here, exclusive to you. Just let him live." Inara begged.

Mal did not hesitate to use the man's distraction to his advantage and came up to strike him in his face with his fist. Atherton stumbled and Mal kicked up the broken half of his sword; he launched it at him, the blade sunk itself into his shoulder and he stumbled in a combination of shock and pain. Mal gave him the courtesy of waiting until he yanked the blade free before punching him solidly with what remained of the handle of his sword. Atherton went down, dropping his sword as he hit the ground. The captain made a play for it and succeeded; Atherton looked up in shock from his back.

**

Zoe relaxed and holstered her gun.

"Told ya he was hard to kill." Riddick chuckled, "Best phone ahead to the Doc, man'll earn his keep."

Zoe grinned broadly as she raised her comm. to her lips and started forward; feelin' like she might stick the Captain once herself for puttin' her through this.

**

"He's down." The Steward announced.

Mal hesitated to make the kill; enjoying seeing the man on the ground.

"You have to finish it lad." Harrow said approaching, his tone almost reproachful. Mal made no move to do so. "For a man to lie beaten and yet breathing, it makes him a coward."

"It's a humiliation." Inara added stepping forward.

Mal pulled his sword back slightly. "Sure it would be humiliating, having to lie there while the better man refuses to spill your blood. Mercy is the mark of a great man." Mal said with a smirk and then jabbed Atherton with the blade. "Guess I'm just a good man." He strike again, more deeply this time. "Well I'm alright." He shrugged as he grinned and tossed the sword aside and well out of Atherton's reach. He stumbled, but Inara was there to help him and she wrapped one of his arms around her neck to steady him.

"Whoa, there Mal." Riddick chuckled as he grabbed Mal's other side to support him.

"Told ya I wouldn't get dead." He grimaced.

"I will say Captain; you got 'bout the biggest pair I've ever seen." Riddick chuckled harder.

"Zoe," he called.

"Yes Sir." She said appearing on his other side.

"New rule, sword fightin' lessons for the entire crew. Gotta start preparing for the unlikely and completely ruttin' impossible, this way we're prepared next time we go to some fancy Core bred party. This is why we lost the war you know, underestimated their ability for ridiculousness."

"You're babbling Sir," Zoe said barely repressing her laughter.

"Yup, most likely the blood loss." He agreed. "We call ahead to the Doc yet?"

"He's prepping the Infirmary now Sir." Zoe assured him.

"Good. Tell 'em not to be shy with them smoothers neither Captain's in a whole world of pain right now."

"Inara!" Atherton's voice broke through their small party, Inara ignored him.

"Mal, we really should get you back to the ship." She focused her attention on the Captain.

"Inara!" Atherton shouted again; he was not to be ignored, he was Atherton Wing.

"You've lost her lad, be gracious." Harrow said as he shook his head disgustedly.

He ignored the elder man's advice and struggled to his feet. "You set this up, whore!" He sneered at her. "After I bought and paid for you too. I should have uglied you up so no one else would want you!" He spat out. "Get ready to starve! I'll see that you never work again."

"Okay," Mal groaned as he attempted to turn, "Now I'm gonna have to kill him, gun this time please."

Riddick smirked and handed over his weapon.

"Mal!" Inara admonished. "I can handle this thank you." When she turned on Atherton not a trace of the gracious and beautiful Companion remained on her face; it had been replaced with a hardness, a steel the crew of Serenity was rather impressed by. "Actually, that not how it works. You see, you've earned yourself a black mark in the client registry. No Companion is going to contract with you again. You'll have to work on that winning personality to get women. Good luck with that." She favored him one last cold glance before turning her back on him.

Next to Atherton Harrow smirked, "Hell hath no fury does it lad?" He turned to catch up with Captain Reynolds, "You didn't have to wound that man." He pointed out.

"Yeah, well I know," Mal grimaced again as they started to walk, "it was just funny."

"You willing to fight that hard to protect my property, I'll have it in your hold before midnight."

Mal looked up and the men shared a handshake and a nod. "See? I lived and got us a job, ya'll need to have a little faith in your Captain. He is a brilliant and handsome man." Mal said smugly after Harrow had walked off.

"All hail our fearless leader." Zoe rolled your eyes and shared a smirk with Riddick as she took over Inara's side.

"Damn straight." Mal flinched as he threw his arm around his first mate. "Mighty fine shindig."

* * *

Aboard Serenity Jayne sat across from Badger and his four goons, two semi conscious and two fully conscious. He glared at them while Vera rested across his lap, Kaylee held a large wrench behind him and tried her very best to look intimidating. Jayne thought it was adorable.

"Infirmary's prepped," Simon said coming through the hatchway just as the air lock hatch opened and an extremely pale and wounded Mal was half carried in by Zoe and Riddick.

"Well looky here, a welcome party for me." Mal joked.

"Captain!" Kaylee squealed and her wrench clattered to the ground.

"You got us a deal then?" Badger asked as he rose and straightened his lapels.

"I got a deal. Now get the gorraam hell offa my ship." He retorted.

Badger glared at both Jayne and Riddick for a half of a beat before he straightened his hat. "So very much for a lovely night then." He whistled and his goons rose and followed him.

"I really do hate that man." Mal said as the hatchway closed.

* * *

_Later that night..._

In the engine room Kaylee and Jayne sat together on the hammock she rigged. "…And they had a hovering chandelier Jayne, ain't never seen nothing like it at all." She handed him a piece of chocolate she had swiped from the party.

"A hovering chandelier? What's the point of that?" He asked confused as he popped the chocolate in his mouth. "I mean I see the how but not the why."

Kaylee giggled, "You boys don't understand nuthin'. Ain't gotta be a point to it, just pretty is all."

"Couldn't been prettier than you in that dress." He smirked at her as he stole another chocolate from her hand.

"Aww, Jayne Cobb you stop that right now, teasin' ain't nice. The other girls were just like bits of shiny paper blowing in the wind, Cap'n was right, ain't got no use for a dress like that." She said with just a trace of sadness in her voice.

"Well what good is a piece of paper?" Jayne snorted. "Bet you ain't one of them gals can rewire an auxiliary cuff while in the black with a bum compression coil; or pull a crazy Ivan with a bullet wound in her gut."

"Prob'ly faint right dead iffin' they was to get a bit of grease on their dainty little hands." She managed a small giggle.

"Shoot, sure would, girls like that ain't got no use but to be decoration."

"Thanks Jayne, you know you're real sweet when no one's lookin'." She beamed at him and offered him another piece of chocolate.

"Nah I'm a mean _hun dan_ (bastard) merc." He winked at her as he popped the chocolate into his mouth.

"Oh yeah a _wei xian _(really dangerous) big scary man." She giggled.

"Damn straight girl."

* * *

Inara made a face as she sipped her wine as she sat beside Mal on the catwalk, both their legs dangling into the air above the bay. "Thank you for the wine, it's very…fresh."

"To Kaylee and her inter-engine fermentation system." He raised his hand to toast and immediately regretted the action as a whole new level of pain exploded in his side.

"Are you in pain?" Inara asked concerned.

"Absolutely. I got stabbed you know, right here." He lifted up his shirt to show off his bandaged wound.

"Yes I saw." Inara laughed looking away.

"Don't care too much for fancy parties, too rough."

"It wasn't entirely a disaster." She offered.

"I got stabbed. Right here." He said indignantly.

"You also lined up exciting new crime." She pointed out with an arch look.

"Yes… cows… how terribly exciting. Ya know come to think of it, had I known ahead of time that it was cows we'd be haulin' might have just stayed home and played cards with the boys." He groaned and a chorus of moos echoed his sentiment.

"Oh Mal," Inara laughed, content for the moment.

"It is good to have cargo though. Makes us a target for every other scavenger out there o'course but that can be fun too."

"I am grateful, you know, for the ill conceived and high handed attempt to defend my honor although I didn't want you too."

"Gracious as that is, as I look back, I probably should have stayed out of your world."

"My world." She mused with bitter humor. "If it is even that. I wasn't going to stay you know."

"Yeah why's that?"

"Oh someone has to keep Kaylee out of trouble, and" she shrugged, "all my things are here… besides, why would anybody ever want to leave Serenity?"

"Can't think of a reason."

* * *

"You wouldn't be hiding another one of those syringes in your pocket would you?" Riddick asked as he pushed out a set on the weight bench which had been temporarily removed to one of the empty dorms.

"Killing them was not necessary. The success of a battle is not gauged by the number of causalities."

Riddick rested the weights on the bar and sat up. "You can think that all you want but the Alliance still calls The Battle of Serenity a win."

"The mother does not need to witness the brutality of her namesake. Violence offends her."

"She tell ya that herself?"

"She doesn't need to."

"Gonna be questions 'bout that stunt you pulled." He said absently as he toweled the sweat off his face.

"No there won't." She said definitely. "She is the crazy girl; she was having a crazy moment. She was deluded and play acted in a role."

"That what your brother said?"

"Yes."

Riddick smirked as he rose and stretched out his muscles.

"He was right." River said quietly.

Riddick turned his back to readjust the weights. "Usually am. What in particular was it this time?"

"Insanity is safer."

Riddick turned to look at her but she had already vanished. _Fucking crazies._

**Endnote: And thus concludes Shindig… hope you enjoyed and onto Safe which is going to have some interesting twists in the absence of Book. I know I jumped perhaps a bit too eagerly onboard the Kaylee/Jayne train but I saw the opportunity and I went for it, but this isn't the end of a possible Simon /Kaylee pairing either… let's see happens…Much luv.**

'**Til After Now.**


	18. Interlude 4: Sing a Song

**Chibiboku: Thanks, your review got this written down and published today :D**

**ArtLightLove: Thanks; like I said they can be hell to write, luckily this one just kind of wrote itself.**

**A/N: The translations in this one might be a bit rough… forgive me… I tried as hard as a person who only speaks English (and poor English at that) can.**

**That being said…not making a dime, none of its mine, just stealin' other people's friend's, as a mean to my own ends…**

* * *

Riddick shot upright. His shiv violently attacked the air. He retracted it swearing and forced his breathing to steady. With every inhale he smelt her. _Fuck._ She was under his skin in a bad way. Five days. _Five fucking days_. Girl had made herself scarce again after the incident on Persephone. He smelt her, heard her, felt her eyes on him, but he had not caught even a flash of hair this time when he went looking. He needed a fucking drink. He didn't bother with his boots; instead he just tugged on a shirt and stepped out of his bunk.

Immediately he was assaulted by the fresh wave of her scent; the trail passed her dorm and wound its way up the stairs to the mess. An inkling of something he refused to acknowledge and instead repressed swelled in the back of his head as he savored the smell. Girl was awake. Girl was in the mess. He wasn't going to let her get away easily.

"_Yi shan, yi shan, liang jing jing, man tian dou shi xiao xing xing, gua zai tian shang fang guang ming, hao xiang xu duo xiao yan jing, yi shan I shan, liand jing jing, man tian dou shi xiao xing xing." _(The Chinese version of Twinkle, Twinkle, translation as follows: Twinkle, twinkle, shining bright, all the sky is little stars, hanging up in the sky giving off light, like many little eyes, twinkle, twinkle, shining bright, the sky is full of stars.) River sang softly to herself as she lay on her back on the table in the mess, looking up through the small window in the paneling above. "She knows you are there."

"Wasn't attempting to hide it." Riddick said causally from the doorway where he leaned. "You've been avoiding me."

"She has not. It is possible that she just has not had purpose to be where he was."

"Not on a ship this size in the middle of the fucking black for the last five days." River didn't answer; she didn't so much as even turn her head, but he wasn't going to be ignored either. Riddick crossed the room and sat himself on the chair in front of where her head was positioned. "We need to have words, you and me."

"He wants to speak on the tiny little roots which burrow into your brain, which hide themselves in the very fabric of our existence from the mundane and inconsequential to the essential and integral. He wants to speak on the Blue which infects and pollutes as it takes root and makes itself indispensible. All the things they all see…everyone…some do not recognize…others dismiss…and some are afraid…they say nothing, and then _**they**_ come. They come and snatch away all that is precious to us because it is not them… And they must be all we need."

"Blue Sun." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know… I can't remember. Sometimes things come," she said as she straightened herself into an upright position and swiveled her body to face his. "Sometimes they come and I don't know where they come from, and they do not stay. They drift through the River and the current carries it away. Don't ask questions. She doesn't have any answers." She said as she rose in her fluid way; she didn't look at him again as she leapt off the table and fluttered out of the mess.

Riddick was not going to be dismissed; he followed her. She was standing on the catwalk staring down at the herd of pissed off cattle in the bay. "They gotta be confused as hell right now." He remarked absently as he leaned on the rail next to her.

"What is it he wants?" She demanded a bit impatiently.

"You're in my head you know the answer to that." He answered absently.

"She has no answers, only secrets."

"Seems to me they're one in the same," he smirked at her.

"No. They are not." She answered evenly.

He decided to try another tactic. Truth was he really didn't give a shit what the girl told him, as long as she stopped fuckin' running. The first night she didn't show he had been pissed, but he figured she was too; hell, he'd be pissed as fuck if somebody had blown his cover. The second night was a replay of the first and by day three he'd gone looking for her; which wasn't an easy thing to do while trying to dodged the crew's annoying ass questions about what it was in the gorraam hell he was doing. That night he didn't even bother to leave his dorm, but he didn't sleep either. Night four, and he realized he was infuriated by her continued avoidance of him and rather than try to figure out why, he spent the night beating the shit out of the punching bag that dangled in the corner of his dorm.

Now as he stood next to her on the walk way he was forced to admit to himself that he just wanted to listen to her talk. Richard B. fucking Riddick had missed the company of a crazy ass psychic assassin. _Go fuckin' figure._ "Can you hear what them cows are thinking?"

"They aren't cows, not up here. They do not know metal and grating; the air is strange to them, they do not like it. The sounds are foreign, it makes them afraid. The mothers were separated from their young; they search, but they will not find them. It is the way of their world. They know they were taken to slaughter…but they do not know the name for it or the cause…all they know is their babes are gone and so is the sun and the sky and the grass…it hurts to be near them." She turned abruptly and walked off towards the direction of the common room.

Riddick followed.

"_Liang zhi lao hu, liang zhi lao hu, pao de kuai, pao de kuai, yi zhi mei you yan jing, yi zhi mei you wei ba, zhen qi guai, zhen qi guai._ (Chinese nursery song can be sung to the melody of Brother John. Translation: Two tigers, two tigers, one has no eyes, one has no tail, how strange, how strange.)" She sang as he followed her past the dorms. "He is chasing her."

"There's a difference between chasing and not letting someone run away." He said casually as he flopped down on to the couch in the common room. "I take it I'm the blind one and you're the one without the tail?"

"His company is not desired." She said coldly.

"Careful girl, you'll hurt my feelings." He chuckled as he watched her.

"That was her intention."

"Won't make me stop following you, and I know all your hiding spots."

"Couldn't find her before."

Riddick raised an eyebrow. "So you're going to admit you were avoiding me than?" He asked. River snorted in reply. "And the only reason I couldn't find you is 'cause all the goddamn recycled air in this place, now you're right in front of me, you get up and leave and I'll just follow you." He finished with a satisfied smirk.

"She could scream. Then the others would come."

"And your brother would shoot you up full of drugs." Riddick shrugged, "Your call really."

River scowled at him. "What does he require than that will purchase her freedom from his incessant stalking?"

Riddick shrugged again, "Why'd you follow me around?"

"She was learning, deciphering…she was curious."

"There's your answer."

"There are no answers, only…"

"Secrets, yeah I got it. Repetition is irksome girl." He smirked.

River continued to scowl at him but huffed in resignation and took her usual seat on the opposite end of the couch from him.

"We done playing hide and seek now girl?" He asked with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

"It is counterproductive." She admitted. "The mother is simply too small." She released a sigh.

Riddick actually chuckled as he picked up one of Kaylee's engine catalogs that was left out on the table and began to flip through it.

River's scowl dissipated and within a few moments she was humming to herself as she ran through a listing of possible weapons within her arm's reach without realizing she was doing so until Riddick asked. "What's in your head girl?"

"There are six objects directly within the girl's reach which can be used as weapons should the need arise." She answered automatically.

Riddick quirked an eyebrow,"Well now," he said as a slow smile twisted at his lips. "That's my favorite game."

"Whose the better killer?" She finished for him.

"I am." He smirked.

"Name them." River challenged.

"The loose arm rest on your side, the hookah on the table, the table itself, the shiv I gave you that's strapped to your thigh… I can see the outline against your skirt." He paused to answer her raised eyebrow. "That pipe to your left, but it'd take a few seconds to pull loose; the arm rest would be easier for you, and the screw driver we both know which is rolling around underneath the couch."

"He's left it there for that reason." River observed.

"You missed one though girl." Riddick smirked smugly.

She arched her eyebrow.

"You." His smirk broadened at her confusion. "Don't tell me that you even need a weapon girl."

"She does not."

"That makes seven then." He picked the catalog back up and leaned back against the couch. His smugness at being able to name the weapons blinded him to the way her face broke.

"She is not a weapon." She said in a barely audible whisper before she leapt up and fled the common room.

"A_i ya, huai le_ (Shit on my head)." Riddick rumbled to the empty room as he tossed down the catalog and headed after her. Girl was a little fast freak, but from the direction she had run off he knew where she was headed. She was attempting to pull the panel closed just as he rounded the corner. Riddick closed the distance in three quick steps and blocked her from doing so. He stepped inside and pulled off his goggles as he sealed them in.

"Leave her." A small voice pleaded. "She is broken; just leave her to be broken. She is of no use to anyone broken."

A low growl rolled out from his lips as he crouched down and watched her in the darkness; which to him was clearer than daylight. "Can't be any use to yourself either if you're broken; or are you planning on clinging to your brother's skirts the rest of your life."

"Bullet to the brain pan… it would be a mercy." She quoted her Captain.

Riddick snarled. "Don't you fucking talk like that girl! You're a goddamn survivor River –girl you fucking hear me?" He roared at her and his fist slammed against the wall. _That's fucking bullshit River! Ain't fucking happening!_ He continued to rant in his head at her, not trusting his voice.

"Please. Stop." She sobbed softly as she crouched into the corner covering both ears with her hands. "Make them stop. Make it all stop. But you can't. You can't. She can't. They can't. She hears it all and nothing at the same time! He cannot begin to understand such contradiction! They scream and they are never silent, except they are, and she can't tell which are real and which are lies, which are alive and which are ghosts!"

"Stop." Riddick ordered as he yanked her hands away from her head. "Look. At. Me." River tried to jerk her head away but he forced her to look up at him. Now that she was looking at him however, he had no fucking idea what to say; she'd stopped crying at least, that was something. There was silence, silence and the soft electrical hum of Serenity.

"They made them…they made them like they remade the girl and the hands of blue and like they will remake all of everything and nothing of nothing! They spit at the divine and would reshape the darkness and the diamonds and the orbiting rocks with mold and pollution and metal spikes and pain and blood and tears and SLAVES! Slavery is not physical slavery it is an incapacitation of one's free will and they do it with a false smile and the glint of friendship! But the GLINT is not friendship! The glint is the metal of a blade before they send the girl to slit your throat in the darkness!" She whispered violently at him.

"You wanna try that again?" Riddick asked he'd lost her about a sentence or two in.

A single tear rolled down River's cheek and she locked her eyes on his again. "She does not know what she is saying…Leave her."

"River…"

"Go!" She shrieked.

Riddick transferred both her small fragile wrists into one hand. His free arm snaked beneath the skirt of her dress and yanked his shiv off her thigh. "You can have it back when you get that _gou pi_ (bullshit/nonsense) outta your fucking head girl." He half snarled as he released her fully. He stood as best he could in the small space and felt for the panel's release. "There is no freedom in death River, just the echo of God laughing at your ass for letting him win." He left her then; in the darkness of the compartment; alone and sobbing, to the mercy of her own mind.

River screamed. She shrieked. She beat her fists against the walls of the soundproofed compartment and tore at her hair. Her fingernails clawed at her face as she ranted into the darkness half formed sentences which changed language, tone, and accent faster and more erratically then one would have thought possible; until even her voice abandoned her. She was not in the compartment. She was in the training room, the operating room, the interrogation room, THE ROOM. She was everywhere and nowhere, the River bled out into the darkness.

**

In his bunk Riddick swore and drove the shiv he had taken from the gorraam girl into the punching bag; he beat on it furiously. _She's just a fucking girl. Just a fucking crazy ass girl. Fuck her. Fuck her. Fuck her._ With every slam at the bag the scent which was now embedded onto his shiv hit his nostrils with an intensity which was usually only reserved for that of blood. He snarled and ripped it free. Had he been another man he would have tossed it completely, but he wasn't, and it was still his favorite shiv. _It's her shiv._ His head corrected and he snarled at his own traitorous thoughts. It was time to jump ship; without the girl. She had gotten to him, she was a liability, they were looking for her, not him; staying put himself in jeopardy. He'd forgotten the cardinal rule; _look to thine own ass first. _Fuck everybody else. First decent rock they touched dirt on he was gone.

**

"_Ge-ge zhi yang yang wa wa, zou dao hua yuan lai kan hua, wa wa ku le jiao ma ma, shu shang de xiao niao xiao ha ha._ (Chinese rhyme entitled little sister, mei mei was changed to ge-ge for the purpose of this story, translation reads: Older Brother carries his foreign doll, to the garden to see some flowers, the doll cries for its mother, a bird up in a tree laughs)" River rasped out in a broken voice as she traced the circles in the grating on the floor of the compartment. _**Please God make me a **__**stone…**_

_

* * *

_

**Endnote: It's a bit shorter than I had wanted originally but I think it works; we're about to start seeing some major plot changes from this point on. **

**Til After Now…**


	19. Author's Note Please Read

**Author's Note:**

**Okay so I'm not usually a fan of this but I wanted to make a few points before you guys hit the next episodes because things are about to change drastically between our beloved killers.**

"River displays some ill-defined telepathic perception; she "sees" and foretells the future (though she often conveys her visions in a twisted, nursery-rhyme manner), she can "feel" people's emotions and sense their thoughts. At the end of "Trash", she threatens Jayne by very casually remarking "I can kill you with my brain", but it is unknown whether this was an empty threat or not (however, given River's psychological ability and her not having the habit of making empty threats, this is most likely true). She claims (at the end of the movie Serenity) to know what Mal is about to say and apparently reads the mind of Jubal Early (in "Objects in Space"). She exhibits a heightened ability to detect her surroundings, locating the bodies of the slaughtered crew in "Bushwhacked", finding her way around an otherwise unknown hospital without guidance in "Ariel", and detecting injuries or other physical problems, such as Shepherd Book being shot in "Safe" and a dying patient in "Ariel." **The full extent of her psychic/intellectual powers are unknown, **as are the intentions of the shadowy organization who experimented on her, or even the true relationship that organization has to the Alliance."

_*excerpt from the River Tam profile at http: // firefly . wikia . com / wiki / River_Tam_

**Okay so with that in mind I wanted to bring to your attention few points from the Riddick wiki as well.**

"When Riddick was mentally probed by the Quasi-Dead of the Necromongers, he not only resisted them, but also retaliated, the Quasi-Dead's containers actually exploding from the strain of trying to process Riddick. Given the Necromongers' apparent faith in and respect for the power of the Quasi-Dead, this is a very impressive feat. Perhaps even greater was his ability to resist the Lord Marshall's attempt to steal his soul….

…he periodically received visions and messages from a Furyan woman which he believed to be signs of mental instability. The mysterious voice belongs to a character named "Shirah", who serves as a sort-of "spiritual" guide to Riddick, helping him awaken the Furyan abilities that lie dormant within him. It is shown in the director's cut of _The Chronicles of Riddick_ after she lays her hand on Riddick's chest, leaving a glowing blue hand print, and says, "this mark carries the anger of an entire race... but it's going to hurt". After either receiving a shot from Vaako's energy handgun or a fraction of a second before the discharge of said weapon, he immediately emits a large blast of blue energy from Riddick, leaving the group of surrounding Necromongers knocked down.

His only weakness (other than light sensitivity, leaving him in pain when in daylight without his goggles), as stated in the _Pitch Black_ DVD, is his soft spot for children and anyone who really grows on him (those people become his friends), which resulted in his capture by the bounty hunter Johns. While he may be a ruthless killer when necessary, Riddick has been known to help people in need only if they don't slow him down or make him vulnerable. The only exception to this was when, in _Pitch Black_, he returned with Carolyn to help the others, after she pleaded with him.

Riddick was born on Furya. He was an Alpha Furyan, giving him an advantage in strength and endurance over normal Furyan… (in my story he was not born on Furya but we'll get into that more later.)…

Aside from his more supernatural skills, Riddick is in excellent physical condition and is an exceptional fighter with or without the use of his eyes. Whether as a result of his Furyan heritage or simple training, Riddick is portrayed in both films as being stronger, faster, tougher, more resistant to damage and injury, possessing more acute senses, immense stamina, and recovering more quickly than most humans from injuries; he is shown on more than one occasion dislocating his limbs for brief moments with only slight signs of discomfort. In general, Riddick possesses an abnormally high pain threshold and psychologically channels what pain he does feel into anger.

_*excerpts from Riddick wiki __http : // wapedia . mobi / en / Riddick__ #1._

**Hmmmm…. Where is she going with this all? I wonder…. Enjoy !**


	20. Safe I

**A/N: I usually try to respond to all my reviews in the following update. Unfortunately since my brain went on a vacation and my imaginary friends went on strike there were too many for me to reply to without making this A/N ridiculously long. I would like to say thank you all so much for all of your support and patience; as well as all of the reviews both good and a bit harsh. I try to take criticism in the spirit it was given and look at my work objectively but sometimes it's hard. What can I say, sometimes you can't help being defensive over your baby.**

**Much luv to you all and I sincerely hope this was worth the wait. So without further ado…. Here it is "Safe". **

**Oh and I don't own any of it….**

* * *

"Noooo!" River screeched as she wretched her arm free from her brother's grip. "Noo! I don't want to go in there! You can't make me go in there!" She yelled at him as she frantically backed away and curled herself into a ball on the common room couch.

"Okay, okay, it's okay…" Simon tried to sound soothing and reassuring but the frustration in his tone was hard to conceal.

"It's not okay! You can't just dig into me; shove pointed needles into my eyes and ask me what I see!" She spat out at him; eyes wild. She had not slept in days; the voices and whispers and screams had become incessant. Her head throbbed violently and her hands shook as she fought valiantly to keep reality in focus. Too many voices, too many trapped voices. No sky, no grass, no air, just metal, metal and the smell of oil and gunpowder.

"Alright, okay." Simon gave in as he pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply. "We don't have to go in then," he said and closed the infirmary doors to illustrate his point and hopefully pacify his sister. "See no tests today, it can wait."

"No rutting tests." She sobbed softly. "Stupid son of a bitch dressed me up like a gorraam doll." She muttered bitterly as she tugged at the ends of the hot pink sweater she was wearing.

"No tests, no shots," Simon reassured her, "Just let me just give you a smoother…"

"No! No! No!" She shrieked as she ripped the bag from his grip and hurled it violently in the direction of another thread of consciousness. "_Liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi_ (Stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey)!" She spat out as the bag collided with the doorframe, its contents scattering just as Mal stepped through.

"So she's added cussing and the hurling about of things to her repertoire. She really is a prodigy." Mal said sarcastically.

"Not you," she said in a bitter whisper as she realized who it was she had sworn at. It wasn't him she looking for, it wasn't him who she had wanted to throw things at. It was the deserter, the _shi ruo _(weakness), the Riddick.

"It's just a bad day," Simon said a bit dejectedly as he bent down to pick up the scattered contents of his kit.

"No," Mal said angrily. "A bad day is when someone's yellin' spooks the cattle. Understand? Ever seen cattle stampede when they got no place to go? It kinda looks like a meat grinder and we'll lose half the herd."

"She hasn't gone anywhere near the cattle." Simon defended.

"She hasn't," Mal agreed. "But in case you hadn't noticed her voice kinda carries. We're two miles above ground and they can probably hear her down there. As soon as we unload she can holler until our ears bleed." He paused to give River a pointed look. "I would take it as a kindness if she didn't."

River snorted at him as she tugged at her hair. The girl was there, she had ears, they could pretend her away all they wanted, but she existed and she resented being told otherwise. "The human body can be drained of blood in eight point six seconds given adequate vacuuming systems." She was not a child; she would not be lectured so. Let him fear her. _**Cut him down!**_ A voice screamed in her head and her body twitched with the shift in her reality.

"See morbid and creepifying I got no problem with long as she does it quiet like." Mal said easily; unaware that in that moment River had calculated twenty seven ways to kill him before he left her line of sight. Twelve of which would be silent and quick, the other fifteen, were not.

"This is paranoid schizophrenia Captain," Simon shot back; bitterness and anger heavy in his tone. "Handcrafted by government scientists who thought my sister's brain was a rutting playground. I have no idea what will set her off. If you have some expertise…"

Mal stopped him. "I ain't the doctor and I'm not your gorraam babysitter either. Gag her if you have to; I got trade to be done." He snapped harshly.

River rose fluidly from the couch; her mind unaware of her body's motion as the Captain turned to leave the way he had entered. The ship shuddered from the exertion of landing and he grabbed the railing to steady himself. In his pause River had cleared half the space between them.

"This is you pilot speaking," Wash's voice came over the comm, "There is a ninety seven percent chance of fiery death this morning, as our fearless leader has yet to replace the compression coil."

River had been intent on closing the rest of the distance between herself and the Captain when the gross miscalculation of fact distracted her. "Wrong." She frowned as she backed up toward the couch once more. "He grossly over estimates, the true probability is only twenty three point five seven four."

Mal smirked, "Kaylee! Ain't no amount of whining gonna get us parts we ain't got coin for!" He yelled into the bay; forgetting his own rule on the volume of one's voice around the cattle.

Simon looked at his sister blankly.

"It should be known the probability increases drastically as time passes. Blow out the candles and make a wish." She ended on a giggle before she skipped away; leaving her brother as usual staring open mouthed in her wake.

* * *

Despite Wash's assertations Serenity made a clean and somewhat smooth landing on a flat piece of grassland edged by an overgrown forest on Jiangyin; far enough outside of town to give themselves a bit of privacy for their less than legit dealings yet still close enough to not draw suspicion. Unfortunately and unbeknownst to the crew despite their carefully chosen landing spot their presence did not go unnoticed.

"See that boys?" Stark nodded his head up at the landing cargo ship. "Fancy vessels such as that," he continued as he turned his back on his two companions to finish skinning the rabbit they had caught. "Don't land here unless they got somethin' to sell. If they happen to have something we need." He paused to rip the hide from the carcass. "We take it."

* * *

"_Niou fun_ (cow crap)." Simon swore and aptly so as his foot squished into a big steaming pile of it.

"'Bout time you broke in those pretty shoes." Jayne chuckled as he and Riddick herded the last of the stragglers down the airlock ramp. Simon ignored the merc as scraped his foot along the metal.

Riddick gave the remark a brief smirk before going back to his scowling. He'd planned on jumping ship as soon as they hit dirt side; he'd planned on it, 'til he found out it was Jiangyin. As much as he didn't really want to be stuck on the ship with Crazy for another week it was still slightly more appealing than being stuck on this hell hole of a rock for however gorraam long it took for a decent ship to pass through; which judging by the look of the few settlements they'd flown over, wasn't often. He was stuck; 'til they got back to Persephone at the least to pay out Badger, and the irony of winding up back on Persephone wasn't lost on him either. God really was one sadistic prick.

"Ha! Git along!" Jayne whistled as he slapped the rump of a particularly lazy steer.

"They walk just fine if you lead 'em." Riddick snapped at him as they headed down the ramp.

"I like smackin' 'em. What died in your _pig gu_ (Ass)?" Jayne retorted. Riddick had been absolutely fucking hell to be around the last week; he was sick of it, and had an inkling of the cause.

"Come again Cobb?" Riddick asked him with just the slightest hint of a threat in his tone.

"You been all sorts of tetchy this past week, its gettin' right annoyin'." He grumbled.

"Remember who you're talking to." Riddick warned.

"Oh go to hell," Jayne snapped right back. "You and Crazy been glarin' each other down for days, don't think I ain't noticed."

"Fuck off." Riddick barked.

Jayne snickered but didn't push the issue as they reached the bottom of the ramp and got within Zoe and Wash's earshot.

"Next time we smuggle stock let's make it somethin' smaller." Zoe laughed from her perch on the rail of the makeshift corral as Jayne and Riddick approached.

"Yeah we need to start dealing in those black market beagles." Wash voted. "Much cuter, smaller poop."

"Think the Captain would let me keep one instead of a piece of the cut iffin' we did?" Kaylee asked hopefully.

"Not a chance in hell." Zoe told her with a smirk.

"Will ya just look at the right lazy bunch I got for crew." Mal snapped as he headed down the ramp. "Let's get a fire under our asses people, got money to be made."

Jayne and Riddick snorted in near perfect unison while Zoe and Wash exchanged an eye roll. "Let's go boys," she grunted as she hopped down from her perch. "Our fearless leader has spoken."

Riddick and Jayne got the obstinate herd moving again down the line as Zoe and Kaylee went to check the ropes which held together their makeshift corral and Wash headed back up to the ship; giving the Captain a mock salute as he passed.

"What the hell is Crazy doin'?" Jayne asked.

Riddick followed his gaze down the line of fencing to see River on the ground eye level with a cow that was holding up the rest of the line. "Hell if I know." Riddick shrugged.

"Many souls…" River continued her conversation with the young heifer. "Very straight, so very straight and simple," she said in wonderment. "Born anew beneath the sun; go, grow, and be slaughtered but that is the way of the world little one. My heart cries for you, but I can carry your pain no longer."

"Cattle on the ship two weeks, and she don't go near 'em." Mal said as he came up behind Jayne and Riddick. "Suddenly, we're on Jiangyin and she's got a driving need to commune with the beasts?"

River looked up from the cow and though she spoke to Mal her eyes were on Riddick. "They weren't cows inside. They were waiting to be." She rose and held onto the railing as she leaned back to feel the cool wind against her face. "They forgot. Now they see sky and they remember what they are. The wind may carry the burden of their souls and the River may flow unhindered." She smiled serenely.

"Is it bad that what she just said made almost perfect sense to me?" Mal asked squinting against the harsh prairie light.

"You ain't the only one." Riddick snorted as he studied her carefully.

"Come on now," Mal said to River as he reached for her. "Let's move you clear of the work." River cringed away from his touch.

"What are you doing to her?" Simon demanded.

"I was fixin' to do some business." Mal informed him. "I can't be herding these steers and your sister too."

"I'll keep her out of the way." Simon said. "But you don't need to say things like that in front of her." His eyes darted to his sister who was idly playing with a few strands of her hair and humming to herself.

"Yes." Mal deadpanned. "I've clearly upset her."

Simon bristled at his remark and Jayne snorted while Riddick continued to mull and watch. Girl seemed to be a different the second she stepped off the ship. She had said the cows were painful to be around, was that what pushed her off the edge? Being stuck with the herd on board? If she heard animals like she heard people he could see it; maybe, if he squinted. He slammed the door shut on his thought process. _What the hell was he doing?_ Girl wasn't his issue, she was the Doc's. He was kicking on anyway, what did it matter to him? Except he couldn't escape the fact that it did; it mattered greatly and the more he tried to tell himself it didn't, the more it did.

"It matters to him because he understands. Can't look away once you've finally started to see." River said suddenly looking up from her hair; all save Riddick looked at her blankly before returning to their business as though she hadn't spoken. She released a sigh and tried to not be hurt by it.

"She didn't mean any harm and understands more than you think." Simon said quietly to the Captain.

_And more than you do._ Riddick thought to himself; River jerked her head up in his direction.

"More than you do." She snorted. "_Shi ruo_ (weakness)." She spat out bitterly and Riddick glared at her from behind his goggles. Vaguely she mused over why they all seemed to talk around her, like she wasn't truly there. She supposed in a way she wasn't, but in another way she was more there than anyone of them. She was more a part of the sky and the wind and the trees then they could ever hope to be. The River flowed through all and everything; she could feel the new buds on the trees, the whisper of the dry stalks, the flutter of the butterfly; she frowned. She felt blood on the wind.

Mal bristled thinking the snort and the insult had been directed at him. "Never figured she did Doc, but when a man's engaging in clandestine dealings he has this preference for things going smooth. You're sister; she makes things not be smooth." He said through a clenched jaw.

"The Captain succeeds on foiling his own dealings well enough without the girl." River said absently, more to herself than anyone.

Jayne chuckled and Mal shot him a dark look which as usual had no effect. Briefly he mused over the fact he was going to have to work on his glares; he wasn't getting the kind of Captainy respect which was owed to him.

"Right…I'm very sorry if she tipped off anyone about your cunningly concealed herd of cows." Simon retorted.

Both Riddick and Jayne chuckled this time but Mal didn't bother with the look; he kept his gaze hard on the boy. "I'm starting to think you got a little too much time on your hands Doc, and I think I got a notion regarding that. How about you take your sister for a little walk?"

"A walk?" Simon asked skeptically.

"Yeah someplace… away." Mal said pointedly.

"Probably best if we stay close. The Alliance has us marked as fugitives."

"It's not the Alliance you should be worried about." River said easily as she plucked a leaf off a nearby bush; though the others continued to ignore her Riddick did not.

"You stop actin' like a fugitive and nobody will notice, not in these parts anyways. Alliance don't much care for folks in these parts and they don't much care for them. How do you think our boy Riddick managed to stay on the lamb all these years?"

"Skill Mal." Riddick pointed out absently, his attention was still focused on the girl's ominous rambling. "Something they ain't got."

"Well now's the chance to learn. Riddick, why don't ya take the Doc and his sister to town, show 'em the fine art of blendin' in."

"Ain't a gorraam babysitter Mal." Riddick snapped, River's words momentarily forgotten.

"I'm not sure it's such a wise suggestion." Simon said uneasily; discretion wasn't River's strong suit and he'd already had one near death experience with the convicted murderer.

"Might not want to mistake it for a suggestion." Mal said evenly. "Riddick you take a walkie and get the supply list from Kaylee. We'll give ya a holler when the jobs done."

"Ain't a fucking babysitter Mal." Riddick growled again clearly pissed his earlier protest had been ignored. He was Richard B. Fucking Riddick, 'verse's most wanted; he did not play fucking wet nurse to a couple of Core bred fugies.

River had seemingly stopped paying attention to the debate swirling around her as she struggled to pull a large stone from beneath the bush she had been plucking leaves from.

"I wouldn't think of it so much as a babysitter as I would an opportunity to share your particular skill set with those less fortunate." Mal smirked.

River stepped back to analyze the position of her rock; frowning she adjusted it an eighth of an inch to the right. She tilted her head to the side and after a moment she placed a large branch fourteen and a quarter inches behind it. "Rudimentary." She mumbled to herself. "It will do." She sighed dramatically. "You are all now safe." She announced loudly. "Gratitude may be displayed with gifts of chocolate or apples."

The assembled crew took a moment and raised a collective eyebrow. Simon exhaled deeply, "Come on River, let's leave the criminals to their clever scheming." Riddick eyed the odd placemat for a moment longer than the others. Experience had taught him she didn't do anything at random but he would be gorraamed if he could figure just how the hell a stick and a rock would save the day.

* * *

* * *

"What is it?" Simon frowned as he held up a small, dusty, rudimentary wood carving.

"A duck," Riddick grunted looking up from a case of hunting knives.

"A swan," River corrected them both.

"River, how can you even tell?" Simon asked looking at the thing from another angle. He honestly didn't know how Riddick had even come to the conclusion of a duck.

River ran her hand across the rough wooden sculpture; her fingers picking up every stroke of the carving knife. "It was made with longing." She said wistfully.

"What like they really longed to see a swan? Whose never seen a swan?" Simon asked missing the point entirely.

"Explains why it looks like a duck." Riddick snorted. "Guess they only ever heard of it by rough description."

"River don't touch that…" Simon quickly stuffed the wooden whatever it was back on the shelf and plucked River's fingers of a dirty piece of used farming equipment. "That's a …" He looked to Riddick for an answer. "What is it?"

"A post holer Doc."

"A post holer?"

"Yeah for digging holes, for posts."

"Isn't that what a shovel's for?" Simon asked skeptically.

"You really ain't ever done a days work in your life have you boy?"

"It doesn't matter, it's dirty and sharp." Simon ignored Riddick's remark and led his sister back over to the crafts section. "See less sharp things here." He spoke to her like she was a two year old and quite honestly River was offended. Offended and bored.

"Sister's not dumb Doc." Riddick mused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Simon asked heatedly.

"You're the one that said she was some kind of genius but you don't seem to think the girl can touch a glorified shovel without cutting off a finger. Hell, no wonder the girl spends half the time cussing and throwing shit at you, I would too." He snorted.

"She has a name." Simon responded coldly.

"What?"

"She has a name; you keep calling her the girl. Her name is River." Simon snapped.

"Here's a hint for you Doc." Riddick leaned in close and lowered his voice. "Rule fucking one of laying low is NOT to go yelling your names out in crowded places."

"Crowded?" Simon looked around the deserted shop; besides the three of them the only other person was the teller who was half asleep over his newspaper. "Nobody heard me, besides it's not like I called her River Tam."

Riddick growled at him. "Are you fucking kidding me? This ain't a ruttin' game Doc. This is your life. Your sister's life. And right now my goddamn life too."

"Do you really think I don't know that?" Simon snapped right back. "That I consider this whole thing a game? Does it look like I'm having fun? Sure it's fun being forced to the ass-end of the galaxy, to get to live on a piece of _luh suh_ (garbage) wreck and eat molded protein and be bullied around by our _pyen juh duh jiou cha wen _(stubborn martinet) of a Captain."

"That piece of _luh suh_ (garbage) and that _pyen juh duh jiou cha wen _(stubborn martinet) of a Captain are the only two things keeping you outta the Alliance's grip you spoiled piece of _gou shi_ (shit)." Riddick growled at him as he backed him into a corner. "I'd pull my head outta my ass if I was you. Top three percent don't mean shit out here on the Rim, sooner you figure that out Doc, the better off you'll be." He grabbed the Doctor by his arm. "I'm done with this shit. Get your sister and let's get what we came for." He turned back to look for River; the only problem being, the girl was gone. "Oh son of a bitch, where in the gorraam hell did she go?"

"What do you mean she was right…" _Oh hell._ _Could today get any worse?_ Simon asked himself.

"You hear that?" Riddick asked Simon.

"No what?"

"Music."

* * *

* * *

Mal surveyed the damage a few weeks of having the herd aboard Serenity had done to the hold; which was littered with big steaming piles of _gou shi_. "This is the last ruttin' time." He muttered to himself and turned as he heard footsteps coming up behind him. "I heard there was some idea regarding beagles. They got smallish droppings right?"

"I believe so Sir, but I have to warn you, your mechanic wouldn't be liable to part with them once we got them on ship." Zoe chuckled.

"The hell she wouldn't already got stabbed 'cause she wanted to go to some fancy shindig."

"Sir, you forget I was there." Zoe laughed. "Little Kaylee didn't have nothin' to do with the stabbin', you handled that fine yourself."

"Sometimes I question your loyalty Zoe." Mal grumbled.

"Me too Sir, everyday." She smirked. "Also the disreputable men are here."

Mal turned around fully to see the Grange brothers, or rather who he assumed to be the Grange brothers talking to Jayne and Kaylee in the corral. "Well, we better go and take their money." He said with a smirk as they turned and headed down to make the deal.

**

"Good morning, Gents." Mal greeted with the smooth slickness of a street salesman as he took in the two scruffy looking men; _Yup definitively disreputable, _he thought to himself. "You must be the Grange brothers. Hope you're hungry for beefsteak."

"Attractive looking animals, ain't they?" Jayne asked from inside the corral as he leaned against the post.

"They ain't well fed. Scrawny." The older brother replied with a disinterested glance.

"_Fei hua_ (nosense)." Mal argued unworriedly but sensing a bit of negotiating was to be done he added, "Hay and milk three times a day; fed to 'em by beautiful women."

"It was something to see." Kaylee giggled from her perch on the fence as she stole Jayne's hat who chuckled along with her.

"They's branded." The younger Grange brother pointed out with a jerk of his head.

"You boy's are hittin' all the sellin' points. Fresh brand's a dead giveaway. Claim 'em as your own." Mal said with a causal wave of his hand.

The Granges didn't look convinced; or rather they feigned indifference. "Twenty a head." The older offered.

"That's an amusing figure in the light of you already agreed on thirty with Badger." Mal replied his hand unconsciously resting on his holster.

"That's afore we seen 'em. They're atrophied, standin' around on a ship for near a month." The older continued to argue.

"My comprehension is, less muscle, more tender the meat. Thirty." Mal said pointedly and the brothers stepped away to talk amongst themselves. It didn't go unnoticed by any of the crew the way their eyes darted around constantly and they started at the slightest sound.

"Problem Sir?" Zoe asked quietly.

"Nope, minute from now we'll agree on twenty five." Mal said confidently. A strong breeze stirred a nearby clump of trees. The Grange brothers went for their guns, but did not draw.

"They seem a mite jumpy to you?" She pressed.

"That they do." Mal admitted, his eyes never leaving the brothers.

"You feeling real sanguine about this deal?" She asked.

"Absolutely." Mal told her assuredly. "What's 'sanguine'?"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Means 'hopeful', interestingly enough it also means 'bloody'."

"Well that pretty much covers the options don't it?" He smirked at her.

"Long as we get paid in the end I don't mind the bloody." Jayne said as he leaned against the post.

"Deal's nearly done, we get our coin and we'll be on our way." Mal said easily. "All the same, Kaylee girl you keep close to Jayne."

"Won't let her outta my shadow." Jayne answered for her as he pulled her down from the post and shifted her into position behind him. "Hat looks better on you girl. Keep it." He grinned at her.

* * *

Riddick skidded to a halt abruptly; causing Simon to nearly collide into his back. Riddick turned on his heel and pretended to be deeply engrossed in the news postings as five very determined looking lawmen strode past.

Simon opened his mouth to fling an insult at the convict before his eyes registered the presence of the law. "Morning officers!" He held his hand up in greeting and spoke perhaps a bit too loudly. They ignored him and the breath he hadn't realized he was holding whooshed past his lips.

Riddick glared at him, a look which was unsettlingly close to his sister's patented _your-such- a-boob_ look, even with the goggles on. "Least you didn't go for the formal introduction."

Simon ignored him as he scanned the street for any sign of his sister; he caught a flash of bright pink as River turned a corner. "There!" He pointed out to Riddick and they both launched themselves off the porch after her.

* * *

"See the problem with twenty three boys is it ain't thirty." Mal explained patiently.

"I'm thinking maybe we just walk away entirely." The older brother said, though the emptiness of the threat was obvious.

"I'm thinking you do that and we got ourselves serious trouble." Mal responded coolly.

"Yeah of the _you-owe-us _variety." Jayne added as he climbed through the fence and positioned himself behind Mal. He reached over and helped Kaylee through keeping her close to his side.

The elder brother considered. "We can go to twenty five."

"Well," Mal said with a bit of an exaggerated sigh. "We'd be takin' a loss but you look like clean and virtuous boys. We can deal." The older brother snorted a bit but reached into the bag the other had handed him.

"Marcus and Nathanial Grange!" A voice snapped and in the next second five lawmen removed themselves from the brush; weapons drawn and all business. "You are both wanted in connection to the murder of Rance Durban. You are bound by law to stand down!"

"Son of a bitch." Mal swore under his breath as he raised his hands above his head.

"We got a Plan B Sir?" Zoe asked.

"Nope."

"Just gonna wing it then Sir?"

"Yup."

"Aww ruttin' hell." Came Jayne's answer from behind them.


	21. Safe II

Simon and Riddick wound their way through a sheltered alleyway. "River?" Simon called out.

"You know there's a reason crew calls me Rick while we're dirt side." Riddick rumbled.

"You'll have to excuse me; Fugitive Survival wasn't exactly covered in Med school." Simon snorted bitterly.

Riddick refrained from punching the Core boy in his gorraam jaw. "Let's just find your sister Doc." He growled out instead and shoved him forward.

The alleyway opened up to a large airy grassy yard; a drastic contradiction to the dusty and weather beaten town on the other side. There was some kind of celebration going on; a small band played beneath a large flowered tent and nearby several tables were littered with food and barrels of ale; those gathered were dressed in what Simon assumed was their best. "Must be some kind of wedding." He said absently to Riddick.

"Whatever." The con growled, "Sister's up there." He jerked his head towards the large flowered tent which River stood just off to the side of; her eyes tracking the movements of the dancers. "What's she doing?"

"Learning." Simon said unable to keep the slight awe out of his voice.

"Come again Doc?"

"I told the crew, there isn't anything in this world that doesn't come to River as easily as breathing does to any of us. Just watch." Simon beamed with pride.

Riddick watched as River's eyes followed the movement of the dancers; he wasn't all together sure if the girl was planning on dancing or taking out the whole gorraam wedding party. He remained silent, either way it could be amusing. Riddick snatched a mug of beer from a passing waiter as he watched a slow smile spread across the girl's lips.

"And now…" Simon said quietly as River spun into the thick of the dancers; her booted feet stomping in perfect unison as if she had danced it all her life. A fountain of giggles poured from her lips as she was swept into the arms of a boy her age. Several couples immediately cleared room for her and a small crowd gathered to cheer her on as she spun and stomped, kicking her legs in time; never once stumbling or faltering.

Riddick unconsciously stiffened when the little piece of shit partnered up with River; his eyes restlessly tracked her across the make shift dance floor. He wanted to see her fight. He was sure it was a thing of beauty. The dance was rough and stompy; some kind of jig turned waltz by the locals but it didn't matter; there was no hiding the girl's trademark fluidity in even the most jerky of movements. He pushed the thoughts out of his head. It didn't fucking matter, he was supposed to be kicking on.

Simon watched her dance; he knew she had completely forgotten about him, it didn't matter. She was smiling, genuinely smiling; he could almost feel her radiance. A small part of his mind worried over River calling attention to herself; but the part of him that was not Dr. Tam and was instead Simon, River's devoted _Ge-ge_ (big brother affectionate), silenced the other. _Let her have this_, he thought to himself with a smile. The rest of the 'verse could wait; she was owed this.

"Here Doc." Riddick rumbled as he shoved the short supply list at him. "Get what needs to be gotten I'll keep an eye on your sister."

Simon snorted. "You're joking right?"

Riddick slowly turned his head to look at Simon, "Do I look like a fucking comedian to you?"

"No." He swallowed hard.

"Then go fetch, unlessin' you want me to go tear your sister off that floor by force so we can get what we need and get gone."

"Can't you just leave her be?" Simon snapped. "She's not screaming, she's not cursing, she's actually smiling."

"Which is why I told your ass to go get the supplies so she stays that way. Ain't gonna run off with your sister Doc, just try not to get yourself pinched." Riddick smirked as he took a sip off his beer.

"I think I'm much more capable of dealing with my sister than you are." Simon retorted.

"You got a pop of something to give her if she decides to go all _feng le_ (crazy) 'cause one of them boys touched her wrong?"

"No." Simon admitted.

"Didn't think so. Sister ain't strong enough to fight me off. Worse comes to worse I toss her scrawny _pig gu_ (ass) over my shoulder and make a break for it." He shrugged as he leaned against a post. He hadn't taken his eyes off the girl since she'd started dancing.

"I'll admit there's some logic to that but I'm still not comfortable with leaving her."

"Remember when Mal mentioned the difference between a suggestion and not a suggestion; this would be one of the latter." Simon opened his mouth to protest but Riddick stopped him. "Choose your words real carefully before you speak 'em Doc." Riddick chuckled. "Never know when they'll be your last." He held out the slip of paper.

Simon snatched it away from him, "I have to stop in at whatever passes for a pharmacy on this god forsaken planet anyway. Just keep her safe."

"Good choice Doc." Riddick said and didn't bother to repress his chuckle as the Core boy stalked off muttering a string of Mandarin.

* * *

"It appears we have ourselves a situation here…" Mal started nervously as his holster was removed by the one of the law.

"Who are you?" The sheriff demanded.

"Just a bystander is all." He said peaceably.

"This your beef?" The man asked as he eyed the makeshift corral.

"No Sir. You're lookin' at the proper owners right there." Mal answered with a jerk of his head toward the Granges who were being frisked.

"Like to see some paper on that cattle." The lawman yelled as he turned back towards the Granges.

Mal released the breath he had been holding but his relief was short lived. Nathaniel Grange made a lunge at the man who was frisking him and yanked free a gun that had yet to be confiscated. He stepped forward as he aimed and fired; however as he stepped forward and a moment before he pulled the trigger, the younger Grange stumbled over a branch on the ground. He fired as he fell and when he landed his knee cracked against a large rock causing him to drop his weapon and let out a howl of pain. Gun fire erupted in all directions and the crew ate dirt.

Jayne had Kaylee on the ground, his body shielding hers before she'd even registered a gun had been fired; it however did not cross the mind of the crew that had the man not tripped his bullet would have torn a hole directly through Kaylee's lung. As it was the shot went wide and harmlessly kissed the metal fence.

"Here we go." Jayne grumbled as rolled with Kaylee behind the semi shelter of the cows. He pulled a gun the law had missed from his boot clicked the safety off.

"Jayne you stay with her!" Mal ordered as he and Zoe crept forward on their stomachs towards the pile of weapons the law had confiscated. "It never goes smooth how come it never goes smooth." Mal muttered to Zoe as the shots continued to ring out above their heads; the lawmen on one side, the Granges on the other, and his crew stuck right in the ruttin' middle of it all.

"Ever recall any of our plans going smooth?" Zoe grunted as she reached forward for her gun.

"Could have something to do with the fact it's always your rutting plan!" Jayne snapped from behind them as he fired off a quick couple of shots in the direction of the Granges; trying to provide what little cover fire he could while Zoe and Mal inched forward towards their weapons.

"Not now Jayne!" Mal snapped back as he nearly lost his hand going to reclaim the bag of coin which had been forgotten by everyone else in the midst of the shoot out.

"Jayne!" Kaylee cried out as a bullet ricocheted of the railing near her head, missing her by less than an inch.

"Ain't nothing to think on Sunshine." He said with a quick wink. "That there's my lucky hat, never been shot in that hat 'fore."

"Catch!" Zoe yelled as she swung Jayne's holster blindly behind her.

It hadn't quite reached him but she'd gotten it close enough for him to grab it. "Ain't never fired a gun before have ya girl?" Jayne asked Kaylee quickly.

"N…no." Kaylee stammered.

Jayne handed her the small hand gun he'd been firing and took his LeMat. "Real simple like, just aim and pull the trigger, but don't unlessin' ya need to hear me?"

She nodded though her hand trembled slightly. "Jayne we get done with this ya gonna have to show me how to do this proper."

"On my word as a Cobb." He smirked at her.

The crew kept low to the ground as shots rang out all around them. Mal and Zoe were able to inch their way back towards Jayne and Kaylee and the crew used the cattle for cover as they returned fire.

"Have to say Mal, thought it'd be a cold day in hell 'fore I'd be aiming at the same folks the law was." Jayne grumbled.

"Mite uncomfortable with it myself." Mal gritted out as he popped off another two quick shots.

"Boys could fire all day from their cover." Zoe noted. "Gonna have to get around it."

"That we are, let the law take their fire, we'll circle around and see iffin' we can't sneak up and say boo." Mal ordered.

* * *

River danced; losing herself in the music, falling into one set of waiting arms only to spin off to the next. There was no form or meter to this dance; it was liberating. She absorbed the happiness of those around her like a sponge allowing it to pool in her mind and shine through her eyes. The melody wrapped around her, carried her and her body obeyed.

Riddick found himself moving closer to the tent; though he didn't know why. His eyes never left her body and he drank in the sight of her. Her skin was flushed from exertion, he couldn't see the color of her blush; his vision didn't allow for it, but it saw the slight details no other would. Under his ultra violet gaze her skin pulsated in varying hues. She danced beneath the shade of the tent but every so often a ray of sunlight would catch her and reflect a violent white light off her sweat shined skin. She was glorious. He could hear the beating of the hearts of the other dancers, smell their sweat and pheromones; but his awareness narrowed until she was the only thing in existence.

River let his fascination wash over her, move through her. His mind called out to hers; demanded validation and recognition. She felt the arms of the next boy sweep her off and away but his presence was inconsequential; his existence meaningless. Her eyes found Riddick's and did not leave. She paid no attention to the movement of her limbs; they knew the dance; muscle memory would take over where her attention faltered.

* * *

The younger boy went down, not dead but wounded. Mal lunged for Marcus and they slammed him into the ground; a cloud of dust kicking up in their struggle. Zoe ripped Marcus from on top of Mal and he spun swinging wildly. Zoe ducked and cold clocked him with the butt of her mare's leg. Jayne threw himself at the younger man and they went sprawling; fighting it out bare knuckled on the ground. When the literal dust cloud settled Jayne had Nathanial pinned to the ground; his knee pressed against his throat and Zoe had knocked Marcus into oblivion. The lawmen took it as their cue to come rushing in. "No need to hurry boys," Mal said with just a bit of contempt as he dusted himself off. "Hard works been done."

* * *

Simon continued to mutter to himself as he went about collecting the supplies. It was a short list, he was just sick to rutting hell of life on the Rim. He didn't regret what he had done. His sister was his entire world and he'd do it again in a heartbeat even knowing all he knew now; especially knowing all he knew now, but at the end of the day he was still human. He couldn't help missing just a bit his comfortable life back on Osiris. If he was to be honest it wasn't so much the luxury he missed but the respect; in Capital City he was somebody, he was Dr. Simon Tam, soon to be the youngest Medical Elect ever; out here, out here he was nothing.

Simon let his mind wander down avenues he wouldn't have dared around his sister. He wasn't all together sure of the extent of her capabilities and quite frankly she scared him at times. There was no denying however that she understood, that she felt, and he didn't want her feeling what he felt right now. Right now he was angry and frustrated; he felt himself suffocating under the crushing weight of responsibility he had undertaken and guilt ridden over the fact they were reduced to cowering behind and before petty thieves and murders. They were Tams for the love of Buddha. What was the worst though and what he wanted to keep from her at all costs was the terrible gnawing around the edges of his brain that he would never be able to cure her. That whatever those _tian sha de e mo_ (god damn monsters) had done to her was beyond his power to heal.

The young doctor was so caught up in his own thoughts he failed to notice the two men who had fallen into step behind him; though even if he hadn't been the chances were slim he would have paid any mind to it at all. When they struck, he never saw it coming and by the time he realized what had happened the calm, controlled, trauma surgeon was on the verge of hysterics.

* * *

River stumbled. Immediately Riddick's body tensed as he watched the clarity in the girl's eyes glaze over into frightened confusion. The dancing couples bumped into her, tripped over her and she did not react. Her eyes scanned the crowd as though she was searching but she saw nothing that was in front of her. Riddick crossed the dance floor in three large steps and was at her side.

"Keep it together girl, ain't the time." He hissed into her ear as he tried to drag her from the dance floor.

"No!" She shrieked and ripped her arm free. Riddick growled low in his chest and made to grab her again but she side stepped and landed a solid jab to his throat which he never saw coming and dropped him to his knees. Without another thought she sprinted off into the surrounding forest.

"_Qing wa kao de liu mang_ (frog humping son of a bitch)!" Riddick half rasped and half snarled; ignoring the startled reaction of the crowd he took off into the woods behind her.

* * *

"We'll be needin' you and yours to come down to the station house and make a statement." The sheriff informed Mal as the deputies secured the Grange brothers.

"More than happy to Sheriff, say sometime in the morning?" Mal agreed easily having no real intention of still being planet side come night fall.

The Sheriff grinned, "Ain't a request or a suggestion Captain, there's still the matter of this here beef to settle."

"Told you it ain't ours." Mal said trying to ignore the sudden lurch of his stomach into his throat.

"The lack of handcuffs at this point in time Captain is a mere courtesy for your assistance in bringing in the Grange boys. Whether your wrists remain undecorated is a matter entirely up to you."

"You'll be needin' all of us then?" Mal swallowed.

"Yer pilot too."

"'Course." Mal answered nervously.

* * *

"Gorraam it girl!" Riddick barked when he'd finally gotten close enough to catch a flash of pink through the trees. "Slow the fuck down! Just where in the rutting hell do you think you're going anyway?" He yelled from behind her as he struggled to catch up. Girl was fast like a freak and had chosen a particularly thick patch of woods to decide to play tag in.

Suddenly River halted and whirled around, "STOP!" She shrieked.

It was too late; Riddick was mid vault over a fallen trunk and as his feet hit the ground he let out a roar of pain as a claw trap snapped closed around his right ankle. "Son of a fucking _gao yang zhong de gu yang_ (motherless goat of all motherless goats), God damn l_iu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi _(stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey)!" He swore incoherently as pain shot through his leg.

"She warned him." River glared at him from above; her hands fisted on her hips. "Now he will only slow her down."

Riddick snarled at her. "Are you fucking kidding me?! This is your fucking fault! You had to go off chasin' god damn fairies or whatever the fuck you think is whispering to you now." He snapped as he yanked the pin free and forced open the trap open.

"Do. Not. Mock. Her." River continued to glare at him.

"Make. Some. Fucking. Sense." Riddick retorted back just as angrily.

River shrieked and stomped her foot. "They're takers and they took. Needed a doctor so they took. He wasn't theirs to take but they stole him anyway. He does not belong to them he belongs to her."

"What?" Riddick asked trying to push past the pain in his ankle and decipher the girl's riddles at the same.

"The scavengers stole him." She said slowly.

Riddick growled low in his chest and rubbed his face viciously. He took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself and focus past the pain. He let it ripple through his body turning it into resolve. Pain was good. Pain meant you weren't dead. Pain would push you forward. "Okay so the scavengers took your brother. Are you sure?"

River shot him a look.

"Don't give me any shit right now River or I swear to fucking god I'll put you through one of those fucking trees." He growled out as he inspected the damage to his ankle. The thick leather of his boot had kept the teeth from slicing clear through to the bone but it hadn't stopped them from tearing through the muscle. He cut off a strip of fabric from his shirt and tied it off tightly around the gouges; repressing the urge to hiss as he did so. "You know if you would have just said, 'Hey Riddick I think some stupid _hun dans_ (bastards) snatched my brother', I woulda listened. Didn't have to punch me in my throat and go running off shrieking like a gorraam banshee."

River frowned. He had a point but she wasn't about to concede to it. "He should have been watching where he was running. She warned him. It is irrelevant he would not have let her pursue."

"You're a real pain in the ass girl." Riddick pushed himself up the best he could bracing against a tree.

"She has been told." She rolled her eyes. "Can he bare weight?"

Riddick stepped down and repressed the urge to punch something as pain laced up his leg. "Fuck." River frowned. "I'll live." He scowled at her. "Sos these scavengers? What else you know?"

"That way." River pointed off into the east and towards the foothills.

"Gotta be within walking distance. Can you fire a gun girl?"

River paled and immediately stepped backwards. "No. Don't make her. Don't make her touch. Can't touch."

"Focus!" He barked at her harshly but it succeeded in shutting her up. "Fine. No guns for you. What kind of gorraam government assassin are you anyway?"

"Not a killer, they made me, she wasn't supposed to be." She shook her head furiously.

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry I fucking asked. Holy fucking hell." He snapped as he yanked one of his shivs off his belt. "I want it back when this is over."

River took the blade without hesitation and answered Riddick's thoughts before he had a chance to ask them out loud. "Guns are mindless instruments of death. Cold. Final. The blade requires skill, control. The blade is art in motion; the blade is dance and beauty. The gun empowers fools. It is remorseless and reckless. It is impersonal. Death is not impersonal."

Riddick studied her in shock for a moment in the fading sunlight and after a few moments of silence he said simply, "I understand."

"She knows you do." She replied just as simply as she slid the weapon into her boot. "A plan of attack is imperative."

"Awfully sane right now girl." Riddick rumbled appreciatively.

"They took what does not belong to them. He belongs to her. He gave up everything to come for her. She understands this, he thinks she doesn't but she does. She knows the weight of his sacrifice. It is her turn now to come for him. She will collect what belongs to her."

Riddick absorbed her words and the look in her eyes as she spoke about her brother. He wondered if her brother actually understood the depth of River's love for him. He could honestly say he'd never seen her saner or more focused than she was at that moment and it reinforced his belief that the girl wasn't really crazy at all. If she was crazy there'd be no way in hell she'd be able to switch it off like that just 'cause her brother needed her. Girl was just confused as hell, but give her a goal, a mission, a purpose and she became aware, focused, deadly. He liked this version of her, it was sexy as hell.

"He assumes too much." River said flatly. "Clarity is not so easily obtained. The girl requires an anchor, a rock, and she is able to stand strong against the current of the River."

"That why you ran at first?" Riddick asked curiously.

River nodded her head. "Instinct. Simon was in danger, she did not think, thought was not a part of the equation. The River said run and she ran."

"What's different now?"

"You followed." She shrugged; to be honest she really hadn't quite figured it all out just yet herself but she wasn't about to concede that she did not understand fully. "The girl felt the pull of his mind. You are a king among you're kind."

Riddick barked out a laugh as he adjusted his stance against the tree. "A king of my kind?"

"Furyans were divided into social classes based on bloodlines; some were born to be kings, the Alphas."

Riddick pulled off his goggles now that it was dark enough to do so and really looked at the girl. "How do you know that?" There was no anger or accusation in his voice just simple curiosity.

Again River shrugged. "She told you, sometimes the River carries things to her, they do not stay, she does not know where they come from, only that it flows through her." She approached him slowly and ran a steady hand down his face; her fingers trailing gently over his eyelids, down the line of his nose and past his lips. Riddick inhaled deeply; instantly soothed by her close proximity and her scent; the pain in his leg forgotten. "Close your eyes, look deeply, feel deeply, the call of the kings is in your blood."

For some reason he didn't know he followed her direction. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply; allowing his mind to go blank and drift. A moment passed, and then two, and then suddenly he knew. There were no thoughts or images, no River carried him knowledge; it was simply there; bred into bone and muscle and blood. Every word she said was the truth and he knew it as he knew to breathe, as he knew instinctively where his targets were the weakest. He opened his eyes to speak. He had questions, hundreds and thousands of questions but River stilled him.

"Don't ask questions. She doesn't have answers. She will tell you as the River brings it to her but he must promise her something in return. He must not leave her. She needs the Riddick; she needs a Rock until she can learn to be her own. _**I will be better.**_ The bargain is this: Knowledge for protection."

Riddick didn't need a moment to think it over; he didn't need an excuse to stay near her. He slid a small shiv out of his back pocket and closed his fist tightly around the small blade. He didn't stop to think about his actions, but passed the knife to River and she mimicked them. He held his bleeding hand out palm up and she placed hers over top of it.

"It is a blood oath." River informed him. "A Furyan contract."

Riddick wanted to ask her how she knew it but he figured she didn't know either and didn't bother. He just accepted it marveling at their mingled blood on his hand.

* * *

"Faster, we gotta go faster, gotta get there 'fore dark." Stark snapped at the two men who drug a struggling Simon between them.

"Get where?" Simon demanded, though a part of him realized the futility of it. "Where are we going?"

"Shut up!" Stark snapped back at him.

"If its ransom you want I can arrange something." He tried desperately.

"No talking!" Stark snapped with a quick look back.

"Look you don't understand!" Simon yelled as he planted his feet and refused to be budged. "My sister…" He was cut off by one of his captors who punched him solidly in the jaw. Simon was thrown to the ground by the force of the blow.

* * *

The entirety of the crew of Serenity minus Inara found themselves sitting together in a cramped jail cell. The sheriff strode up and rested an arm over the bars. "Official seal on your ship's papers is outta date Captain."

"Haven't passed through any check points as of late," Mal shrugged easily though his outer confidence was merely a façade for the panic he felt began to brew beneath his skin. "It's no more than a misdemeanor and a fine if I'm not mistaken."

"And you wouldn't be," The sheriff agreed. "'Xcept for the fact these papers have you listed as Captain Harbatkin. Out of date papers is one thing Captain, forgery and fraud are entirely another." The tension in the room skyrocketed and the crew members froze, not even Jayne dared to breath. "I'll let you mull on that a bit." The sheriff chuckled as he walked out.

Mal swore. A tirade of such epic proportions the crew decided it was best to let him finish before they interrupted.

Jayne wrapped an arm around Kaylee's shoulders as the Captain ranted. "Ain't a thing to worry on Sunshine. Captain will come up with something."

"That's good right?" She asked him quietly.

"Possible you ain't remembering some of the Captain's previous plans." Wash interjected into the conversation. "Like the one that got us here in the first place."

Jayne scowled at him. "Ain't helpin' flyboy."

"Don't you worry Kaylee," Zoe told her, shooting a glare at her husband. "Once the Captain's had his fill of cussin' we'll figure a way out. You're forgetting we still got Riddick and the Tams on the outside. They'll make it back to the ship sooner or later and Inara will fill them in."

"You're really trusting the fact that Riddick will swoop in and save us instead of just taking the ship and being on his merry?" Wash asked.

"Said it yourself he's the one that came up with the plan to get me and the Captain out of that mess of a job for Niska."

"True," Wash conceded. "And he was the one that took out Badger's guys to go after Mal."

"Ain't got a reason not to trust the man." Zoe said. "But I'm not plannin' on just sittin' around and waiting. That sheriff's got somethin' up his sleeve, iffin' he didn't he woulda called in the Feds already."

"Thinkin' we can buy our way out?" Jayne asked not entirely liking the fact they would be giving up good coin, but liking ten years in a Federal Slam a lot less.

"Mayhap." Mal suddenly interjected. "They got the bag of coin when they got our guns, he knows what we're sitting on and he knows those cattle weren't ours to sell."

"So that's our best bet?" Kaylee asked. "Wait to see if the law on this rock is dirty or clean?"

"Yup." Mal answered as he threw himself down on the bench.

"And iffin' they're clean?" Kaylee asked though she really didn't want to know the answer.

"Hope like hell Riddick's got a plan, ain't much else we can do on this side of the bars." Mal shrugged.

"Think they'll let me keep my dinosaurs in the Slam?" Wash asked hopefully.

* * *

Aboard Serenity Inara paced nervously on the bridge; she eyed the ship's comm as if she were willing it to bing. She would have already tried to contact Riddick except she had no idea what frequency his comm was on or if he was even in a position to answer it. It was already full dark outside; they should have been back by now. A part of her clung to the belief that Mal was able to talk his way out of anything and so she kept one eye on the comm and another on the tree line half expecting Mal and the others to come strolling out of it; a cocky smug grin on the Captain's face.


	22. Safe III

"Look what we got! It's a doctor! We got ourselves a doctor!" Stark cheered as they entered the center of a small dilapidated settlement. Simon wasn't sure what was more shocking; the abrupt change from threatening and angry to friendly and welcoming which overtook Stark; or the decrepit condition of the so called town. Gaunt faced women chased after dirty children in sack dresses, a few thin men were skinning even thinner game; it was a frontier town that had lost the battle, but the survivors had never left the field. The Captain had been right; the Alliance had forgotten about these people.

Though Stark's manner had changed his hold on Simon's shirt collar did not and he half led and half dragged the boy towards one of the larger wooden shacks towards the end of the row. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the inside the shack. Oil lamps lit the room faintly, the sounds of pain and suffering bore into his ears; was he a prisoner? "Is this a prison?" He asked Stark.

"Ain't a prison, it's a sick house." He snorted rudely before turning to address someone Simon had missed when they entered. "Brought ya a doctor Doralee." He said proudly.

"Praise the Lord!" The dark skinned woman said with absolute relief.

"Doralee will show you what's what Doc." Stark said with a clap on the boys back which almost sent him stumbling.

"Has there been…is there a sickness here?" Simon asked the woman after Stark left.

"Nothing especial. Just sometimes people get sick or injured." She shrugged sadly, "Mostly people heal on their own but sometimes…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes scanned the room.

Simon got her point. "Sometimes you just need a doctor." A hundred different thoughts ran through Simon's mind at once; the vast majority of them circling around his sister and what had happened to her and Riddick after he'd been taken. Did anyone even realize he was gone? And if they did, did any of them care? River would, he knew that with all of his being, but what could she possible do? Would the Captain just turn around and dump her now that he wasn't around to act as medic? God, his stupidity had lost him his sister.

A sudden clearing of a throat brought him out of his mind and back into the moment. The dark skinned woman looked at him expectantly. He had to focus, keep the crazies happy and make his escape when they trusted him. He had to get back to his sister.

"Bring me light." He ordered to Doralee. "Whatever light you have and clean water and towels," he rolled up his shirt sleeves and unbuttoned his vest. "What kinds of supplies do you have available?"

* * *

Riddick tested his weight on his injured ankle. His brain had redirected the pain elsewhere and while it wasn't completely gone it was reduced to nothing but an irritating throbbing sensation in his ankle. Would he be running, fuck no; but he would be able to walk with little to no trouble. "Need to radio the ship." He rumbled as he dug through his cargo pockets for the walkie.

"No one's home." River said dejectedly.

Riddick raised an eyebrow at her and flipped the unit on anyway, girl could be wrong.

"Never wrong." River mumbled absently as she tied off the cut on her hand with a piece of fabric from her dress.

"Come back Wash." Riddick spoke into the comm anyway.

"_Oh god Riddick, thank Buddha!" Inara's voice came back frantically._

"Where's Wash? We got ourselves a bit of a problem."

"_Um, well…The Captain is having a few issues of his own right now. I was actually hoping you could help me with that. The deal went bad and Mal and the crew got taken in for questioning."_

"You're fucking kidding me right?" Riddick growled back over the link.

"_Yes Riddick." Inara deadpanned. "Because I do so love the idea of toying with convicted felons and petty criminals."_

"Watch it woman." He growled back. "Bring the ship in closer to town, I'll need you to do a flyby over the foothills, Doc got snatched by a couple of hill folk."

"_What? Kidnapped?"_

Riddick closed his eyes and swore under his breath before speaking back into the comm. "Yes kidnapped now fire up the ship and get your ass moving. I can't take down a whole fucking town of inbred pig fuckers with a busted ankle and a little crazy girl who won't touch a gun."

River glared at him. He smirked back at her.

"_What happened to your ankle?"_

"That ain't important, just get the ship moving."

"_Just because I can pilot a one man shuttle doesn't mean I can fly a ta ma (fucking)_ _cargo ship!" She snapped back angrily."I don't even have a clue as to how to get the engines started, you're just going to have to wait it out until they get back. Besides it's not like I can leave a note under a rock saying be back in a few went to rescue the doctor from a bunch of kidnappers!"_

"She's correct." River interjected. "Probability of her crashing the ship in flight is too great. Daddy would not be pleased."

"Daddy?" Riddick quirked an eyebrow at her, she shrugged in response. Riddick growled before picking the comm back up. "Fine. I'll track Core boy to the settlement and radio you back the location, when the others get back send them after us."

"_If they get back." Inara said miserably._

Riddick didn't bother to respond to that last remark; instead he looked at River. "I could track them, but I got a feeling your way's faster and easier."

"He is correct." River said smugly.

Riddick tested his ankle by taking a few steps. He bit on his lip to bite back the snarl. "Well?" He gestured off to the east. "Lead the way."

* * *

Simon knelt in front of a small child with raggedly blonde hair and a dead look in her eyes. He snapped his fingers in front of her face and receiving no response he went to touch her to check her reflexes. Instantly the girl recoiled and pushed herself into the corner of the bed against the wall. She made no sound; just stared at him silently terrified.

"That's Ruby." Doralee informed him. "You won't get any kind of good conversation out of her. Girl's a mute."

"Do you know the cause? Was she born deaf?" He asked as he stood.

"No, she was fine up until two years ago when she just stopped talking." She told him sadly. "I know the circumstances are not the best, but I am grateful you are here. We've needed a Doctor for a good long time now, have a house set up for you already and everything. You can be happy here, I am now."

"Yes it's a lovely little community of kidnappers." He snorted bitterly.

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge. The Lord says 'judge not'." She scolded him.

"They took me off the street." Simon said incredulously.

"Sometimes life takes you places you weren't expecting to go." She replied easily.

_Was this woman insane?_ Simon thought to himself. "Life didn't bring me here. Those men did." He informed her.

"So where were you headed then? In my experience most don't come to Jiangyin unless they're passin' through onto someplace else. So where were you headed? Home?" She asked.

Simon didn't have an answer, he hardly knew himself.

* * *

Riddick and River crouched on the outskirts of the small settlement. "Where's he at?" Riddick asked her quietly.

"There." River pointed towards the far end of the town; a small white building and like most of the other buildings in town in sore need of repair.

Riddick didn't bother to question her but he did notice the small shudder which escaped her. "What's wrong?" He asked half afraid she was about to tell him the town had some kind of small arsenal hidden somewhere.

River swallowed hard before answering, willing herself to remain focused. "This place is dying. It has died. They refuse to surrender it. They are less than they should be. It reeks of desperation and sorrow; it seeps from the ground and infects them from their first breath. They are a poison. This place is a poison. They think the doctor can cure it. The rotting of the soul cannot be cured."

"Stay with me girl." Riddick rumbled low close to her ear. "We'll circle around wide; make our way to the other side of town. Might just be able to slip him out right from underneath their noses."

River blinked a few times and forced herself to push away the sorrow which seemed to seep out from the roots of the trees in this place. "She agrees. Stealth and secrecy are our best options. They have no means of real defense with the exception of numbers."

"Few hours and they'll all be asleep anyway." Riddick added.

"They will be guarding him, want to keep him, don't trust him not to run yet."

"A few guards we can handle, they ain't much more than back births."

"Affirmative. They are farmers and hunters, not warriors."

Riddick nodded and they moved from their concealment further into the shadows of the night; moving in a wide circle around the settlement and making their way to the opposite end.

"Hodge Berries." River said happily as she plucked a few off a branch of the bush they were concealed behind.

"Yeah great." Riddick snorted as he eyed the sick house from their position. "How many are in there?"

"Simon, a delusion fanatic, many injured or ill." River replied absently as she popped a few more berries into her mouth.

"Delusion fanatic?" Riddick asked.

"Non-threat."

"If you say so." He shrugged. "Need to get closer."

"She'll go."

"No, no she won't." Riddick argued. "You wait here."

River shook her head. "He is injured. She is not, besides she is 'fast like a freak'." She quoted his thoughts from earlier.

"My ankle's fine." Riddick snapped defensively, he hated the thought of weakness.

"He feels the pain no longer, his mind has moved past that. However, muscle tissue is damaged, whether he admits it or not, it will affect his ability to move quickly."

Riddick wanted to argue the point but he really couldn't and he swore silently as River smirked triumphantly. She'd just heard him admit it in his head. "You there?" He asked her knowing she'd understand the point.

"She is functional enough for basic recon." She snorted indignantly.

"You got five minutes girl, any longer and I'm coming after you." He said firmly. "_Dong ma_ (understand me?)"

River nodded. "She will return."

* * *

Stark and another man Simon didn't recognize entered the sick house. "Alright Doc, it's late, you proved you're worth 'nough for today. Me and Bill will show you your 'stead."

"My what?" Simon asked nervously.

"Your house." Doralee chirped happily. "I told ya, we've been waitin' a good long time for ya."

"Right…" Simon trailed off as his hand slid inside his pocket to wrap around the small knife there to reassure himself. Hopefully tonight would be his opportunity to escape; he needed to get back to River. God only knew what his absence had down to her or what Riddick had done once they realized he was gone.

"And don't get no ideas either, me and Bill will be watchin' ya tonight." Stark smirked and Simon's heart fell.

"Where's Ruby?" Doralee suddenly asked.

**

River was nearly to the sick house and still within Riddick's eyeline when her body froze. As if pulled by an unseen force her head turned and her eyes rested on a small blonde haired girl. The force of the child's sorrow was nearly unbearable and her agony oozed out of her every pour. The River swept up the child's mind taking with it her every memory.

*

"What the fuck?" Riddick whispered to himself from his hiding spot as he watched River take a step away from the sick house and towards the little girl. "God damn it River."

*

River wanted to look away; she couldn't. The sheer violence of the girl's mind pulled her in and away from her brother. Before she realized it she was kneeling directly before the poor broken soul; the rest of the world fading away until River was completely lost within the violence of the child's mind.

"River?" Simon called out, panic lacing his tone. "River what are you doing here?" He ran over to her and pulled her away from Ruby into a bone crushing hug.

*

In his bush Riddick was mentally slamming his head into a wall. What exactly was it that the Tams did not seem to understand about discretion?

*

"Who the hell is she?" Stark demanded as he and Bill approached the doctor.

"Um…" Simon stammered.

"Ruby!" Doralee cried with relief as she pushed past the men to wrap her arms around the small child.

"So broken." River whispered faintly.

Doralee looked up from Ruby. "She's not broken, just mute." She defended.

"Still waiting for somebody to answer me." Stark snapped angrily. "Who the hell is she?"

"She's my sister." Simon admitted. "I tried to tell you, she's sick, she followed me."

"How the hell did she do that?" Stark demanded anxiously scanning the shadows.

"She…" Simon once again was lost for words.

"The whispers." River said her voice was lost and far away; gone was the clarity of the last few hours and she struggled to remember her purpose. Her eyes did not leave Ruby's.

"Whispers?" Doralee asked and then looking back from her to Ruby and back again she misunderstood completely. "Did Ruby talk to you honey?"

"Ruby doesn't talk. Her voice got scared away. Her sister got killed." River said softly. She didn't realize she had spoken it out loud, but the child's mind screamed its secrets at her, and the River caught them up in the current and they spilled through the damn. "Her mother got crazy, killed the sister. That one lived."

"If Ruby didn't talk how do you know that?" Doralee asked slowly moving away from River and taking Ruby with her.

*

"Oh fuck." Riddick swore from his bush.

*

"My sister is…" Simon started. "Well she's…"

River looked around blankly. She had had a purpose and she couldn't remember it now. There was a mission. She couldn't think. There was screaming all around her. "Stop screaming… please stop the screaming." River pleaded with her brother. It was vital she remember but how could she think with all the screaming?

"What screaming?" Bill asked. "Ain't nobody screamin' girl."

"And they shall be among the people." Doralee began to quote and the two men began to pale. "And they speak truths and whisper secrets. And you will know them by their crafts."

"What are you talking about?" Simon asked confused but suddenly very afraid.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." She breathed out.

Stark ripped River from her brother's grasp. "Ring the bell Doralee, raise the Patron!" He snapped.

"What's going on?" Another man ran from around the corner.

"Get everybody up!" Bill snapped.

"What's wrong?" Another woman demanded as she came running.

"Witch!" Doralee shrieked pointing at River.

"No, no, no, no NO!" River shrieked.

*

"She is fast like a freak, let the girl go." Riddick muttered bitterly from behind the bush as he debated the pros and cons of just starting to pick off folk from his bush. It wasn't good. Half the town was already up and running to see what all the yelling was about and he could hear somebody ringing a gorraam bell in the center of the town. "Fucking girl's nothing but a pain in the ass." He said to himself as he followed the mob keeping a distance and staying close to the shadows.

* * *

Mal immediately rose from the bench as the sheriff strode back into the holding cell. "Ya'll ready to deal? Or should I phone the Feds?" He asked with a smirk.

"I would think a man of the law would have already." Mal replied tersely.

"Suppose he would have. I wasn't always a man of the law though, Sergeant Reynolds."

Mal visibly balked and Zoe rose to her feet. "War's over." She answered him fixing her trademark glare.

"That it is." The sheriff agreed. "Ain't a Brown coat anymore either."

"Then what are you?" Mal demanded.

"Just a man in need of a bit of extra coin is all." The sheriff grinned.

* * *

"This is lunacy!" Simon tried to plead with Doralee. "You're supposed to be the teacher here! What is it you teach?" She ignored him refusing to lower herself to speak with someone who consorted with the devil's mistress.

It didn't take long for the town's small population to gather in the square. "What is going on woman? Why are you knocking us from our beds at this hour?" An elderly man only half dressed demanded, but his voice was filled with calm authority.

"The new Doctor's sister's a witch! She read Ruby's mind, saw things she couldn't!" The teacher said frantically. "She followed him here using her dark arts and means to curse us all!"

River paced, frantically tugging at her hair. She'd done it again. The flow of the River could not be stemmed or controlled. She hadn't meant to speak the secrets, they called to her and the current swept them away. The fear and panic rising in the mob assaulted her; she could feel their hatred crawling beneath her skin and festering.

"River is not a witch!" Simon defended as he moved to stand between his sister and the mob. "She's just a troubled girl."

"I'm sure that's true." The elderly man said as he took a step closer. Instinctively River flinched away from this man. He stunk of deception and murder; of perversion and corruption. "You're not a witch are you _nyen ching-duh _ (young one)? I'm the Patron here; do you know what that means?"

"Yes. You're in charge." River answered quietly; despite herself she stepped closer to him, drawn to the violence of his mind like a moth to a flame. These people were a disease. They were corrupt and void of moral recourse, suspicion and ignorance festered in their minds. "Ever since the old Patron died." She continued her lips moving of their own accord.

"That's right." The man said gently.

"He was sick and he was getting better." River watched the scene from his memories as though she was watching a vid on the cortex; it played out in crisp clarity and she lived it like it was her own. She felt the weight of the pillow in her hands, felt the struggle of the feeble man as he fought for his life, she felt his essence leave this world. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. "You were alone in the room with him…"

The Patron silenced her with an open palmed slap across her face which echoed through the darkness; the force of it sent her reeling.

*

It took every ounce of Riddick's self control to not blow the man's brains out of the back of his head as he watched his hand connect with River's face. It was only his deeply rooted survival instinct that kept his fists balled at his sides and not reaching for his gun. He was severely outnumbered and he knew it. He had to wait for his moment.

*

Simon lunged at the man but the mob subdued him easily. "This girl reads minds and spins falsehoods!" The Patron accused. "She's a witch and we must purge the devil from her! With fire!"

River began to shriek as the memories of the assembled mob ran through her. Visions of burning screaming woman; flames licking her skin, smoke choking her screams. Their hateful thoughts tore at her skin like razor blades. She ran from their memories; her mind fleeing outwards for safety; she found it and everything she'd been trying to remember slammed into her at once. "Riddick!" She shrieked suddenly lashing out at the men who were trying to subdue her. The shiv found its way into her hand and she slashed wildly. The overwhelming force of the minds surrounding her clouded her vision and judgment, clarity fled from her mind and she became a feral animal desperately and wildly clawing and snapping. Something heavy and blunt connected with the back of her skull and the world went dark.

*

Something in Riddick broke when River screamed for him; something dark and primal, animalistic and full of rage. Once more he employed every ounce of his self control to keep himself in place. Now was not the time. He needed a plan; at the very least an exit strategy. Slowly he raised the comm to his lips.

* * *

"_Inara."_

The Companion practically threw herself at the comm link when she heard Riddick's voice come over it. "I'm here. Did you get the Doctor back?"

"_Is the Captain back yet?" He asked ignoring her question._

"No..." Inara said hesitantly. "I haven't heard anything yet."

"_Gonna have to learn how to fly real quick girl."_

Inara stared blankly at the receiver in her hand. "What?"

"_These hill folk are fixing to barbeque."_

"What?" She asked incredulously.

"_I'm gonna talk you through the ignition sequence so grab yourself a portable and get your ass to the engine room."_

"What?" She asked again.

"_I. Do. Not. Have. Time. For. This." Riddick answered tersely. "Get your fucking ass to the engine room now!" _

"I don't know if I can do this Riddick." She replied, voice shaking.

"_I didn't ask you if you could. I'm telling you to do it." Riddick snapped._

"Riddick… I…"

"_Shut the fuck up and get your ass to the engine room!" He snarled._

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

"How much?" Mal asked through a clenched jaw.

"I'd say five thousand platinum would be enough for me to sweep this all under the rug."

"_Tai kong suo you de xing qiu sai jin wo de pi gu_(all the planets in space shoved up my butt)!" Jayne yelled jumping up from his bench and nearly knocking Kaylee over in the process. "That's more than what them cattle were gonna bring us!"

Both Mal and Zoe glared at Jayne. "So them cattle were yours then?" The sheriff chuckled.

"_Gou shi_ (Crap)." Jayne swore.

"Counted out the coin in that bag ya had on ya. There's a clear four in there, can't tell me the Captain of such a fine ship as the one sitting outside my town doesn't have another thousand sittin' around."

"You're mistaking me for a wealthy man." Mal replied evenly.

"And you're mistaking me for an idiot." The sheriff glared.

"Take the herd." Kaylee said abruptly and every head in the room jerked in her direction. "Herd's worth more than that last thousand, sell it off and it'll be 'nough to pay off your men to keep mum on them as well."

The sheriff seemed to think about it. "Not a bad idea." He mulled it over for a few more minutes before finally saying, "Alright then, I get your coin and your cattle and you folks are free to go."

* * *

_Okay Inara, you can do this. You can do this._ She told herself as she sat behind the controls of Serenity. She'd managed to get the ship's engines running and that was supposed to be the hard part.

"_Any fucking day now woman." Riddick suddenly barked over the comm._

"I'm working on it!" She snapped just as heatedly back at him. Tentatively she wrapped her hand around the throttle. The ship shuddered to life around her. _Okay it's just a really big shuttle. A really, really, big shuttle._ The ship lurched violently forward and she jerked the controls hard to the left. An ear splitting shriek escaped her as the ship spun wildly. _Oh sweet Buddha, I'm going to die._

* * *

"Well that was fun." Wash said cheerfully as he threw an arm around his wife.

"Just where in the hell are we gonna get the coin to pay off Badger and that pompous fuck on Persephone?" Jayne complained.

"We'll figure something out." Mal said bitterly as they stepped out of the station house. The sudden sound of a ship's engine above their heads caught the attention of the crew. They watched in stunned silence as Serenity broke through the tree line and went careening off to the east at a speed which was not usually recommended inside atmo.

"Tell me that wasn't my gorraam ship." Mal said unable to tear his eyes away.

"I…I…" Wash started stupidly just as horrified by the sight as Mal was.

"Their not leaving atmo." Kaylee pointed out more than a little fearful for her girl. She could tell whoever had started her hadn't properly aligned the thruster by the way the ship flew tilted to the port side.

Mal looked around desperately; his eyes landing on a nearby construction mule. "Can you hot wire that Kaylee?"

Kaylee turned to see what he was looking at. "Faster than you can spit. Why?"

"'Cause we're going to get my gorraam ship!" He snapped.

* * *

"Take me instead. My life for hers." Simon begged the Patron as River was tied to the stake. A small groan escaped her as she began to come around.

"The witch must die. God commands it." He answered him with righteous authority and nodded to signal the fire be lit.

"No!" Simon yelled as he dove for the torch bearer. His fist connected with the man's jaw and he ducked to avoid a strike from another. He managed to knock down two more, but they just kept coming. He couldn't take down the whole settlement. "She has done nothing to you!" He yelled at them. "If she dies tonight it won't be God's will that killed her! It will be you! Your lunacy! Your ignorance!" He spat at them desperately, anger and indignation welling up inside him at their blank and unresponsive stares. _Has the whole world gone mad?_ He thought to himself incredulously. He climbed the platform and wrapped his arms around his sister; daring anyone to take her from him. "You'll have to kill me too."

"Simon?" River tried to blink away her confusion.

"I'm not gonna leave you River, not ever." He promised her.

"That's not gonna stop us Doctor." Stark told him coldly.

"I'm sorry River. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." He said quietly.

River looked at him, a small smile breaking across her face as awareness enveloped her. "He doesn't have to protect her." She looked pointedly to her left into the shadows. "It's time to go." She told him sweetly.

"Burn them!" The Patron ordered.

Stark stepped forward with the torch; a step was as far as he made it. A shocked and terrified outcry arose from the assembled mob as the back of his skull blew open and his body crumpled to the ground.

"Get the fuck away from her!" Riddick roared as he stepped out of the shadows. He could hear Serenity's engines in the distance; he just hoped the whore was good for more than looking at. His gun was out and raised his step purposeful and driven. The only one to notice the slight limp was River who beamed at him from her precarious position.

"Told you." She said smugly to Simon who could do nothing but stare.

"This is a holy cleansing you cannot think to thwart God's will!" The Patron yelled angrily.

Riddick fired two more quick shots which were followed by screams from the crowd as the two other men holding torches dropped to the ground. "Yeah well I'm the fucking devil and since God ain't nowhere to be found it's my fucking will you should be worried about!" He snarled as he moved to place himself in front of the pyre.

"Do you have enough bullets in that gun for all of us boy?" The Patron yelled back. "You cannot shoot us all. God's will will be done! You cannot take us all down alone!"

"Who said I was alone?" Riddick smirked. The wind suddenly whipped up around them and River raised her face to the sky as Serenity's outboard lights illuminated the small settlement.

**

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god…." Inara cried as she jerked the controls trying to keep Serenity level and not over shoot the settlement.

**

"The witch must die!" The Patron yelled. "She must be cleansed!"

"Ain't yours to cleanse old man! Might be a witch but she's my witch!" Riddick snapped as he backed up and climbed the platform without lowering his gun. "Take the shiv off my belt Doc, cut her down." He said out of the corner of his mouth. Simon, still shocked into silence fumbled, but did as he was told.

"Good People!" The Patron shouted. "The ship is unarmed, there is only one gun, will you allow them to thwart the will of God?!" The Patron demanded and a chorus of "Nos!" resounded in answer.

Riddick unclipped his walkie from his belt with his free hand, "Any time you wanna land that thing Inara."

**

"God damn it Riddick I'm trying!" Inara yelled back at him; though she was too afraid to release the controls to yell at him through the comm.

**

"Was not expectin' this." Jayne stared dumbfounded as the mule whined to a stop.

"Is River on a pyre?" Mal asked incredulously.

"That's a stake Sir." Zoe corrected.

"There's a difference?"

"I think it's a pyre after they light it, until then it's just a stake." Wash remarked.

**

The mob started to push forward towards the platform. Riddick fired off another three quick shots dropping a man with each hit. "Any ideas girl?"

"Daddy's here." She said with a mischievous smile.

"What?" Simon asked and his answer came in the form of a shot gun blast fired into the air.

"Well look what we got here!" Mal yelled as he and the rest of the crew approached, even Kaylee was wielding a gun. "Looks like we're just in the nick of time! What does that make us Zoe?"

"Big damn heroes Sir!"

"Ain't we just." He smirked as he and the crew moved in between the mob and his three fugitives.

"THIS IS A HOLY CLEANSING!" The Patron roared.

Mal ignored him. "Riddick whose flying my ship?" He eyed the hovering bulk above them which was currently spinning uselessly in a slow circle.

"Who do you think?" He smirked and jumped down then reached to help River down next.

"Fucking hell." Mal groaned. "Any chance she's gonna be able to land without killing us all?" He asked to no one in particular as several tense seconds past.

"'Bout to find out." Wash said worriedly as the ship tilted harshly to the starboard.

**

"Landing gear, landing gear, which gorraam switch is the landing gear!" Inara shrieked at the controls.

**

"I will not stand for this!" The Patron roared.

Riddick raised his gun and silenced the old man forever. "Won't stand for anything now." He growled.

The mob looked ready to start foaming at the mouth. Mal dodged a large rock and the crew was preparing to fire into the crowd when Serenity released a deafening scream from her engines; the ship once more tilted violently to the starboard but leveled at the last second. The port thruster demolished what passed for the town's church as Inara landed and the crew made a break for it.

* * *

Inara's hands were still clutched around the controls when Wash made it to the bridge to relieve her. "Um… Inara." Wash cleared his throat. "Do you mind?" He gestured with an amused smirk at the controls.

"Yes…yes….by all means." She said a bit shakily as she quickly withdrew her hands.

* * *

"I'll need to give you a a shot to make sure there's no infection," Simon informed Riddick as he finished the last of the stitches.

Riddick grunted in respond as he inspected the doctor's work. "Where'd your sister run off to Doc?" He asked, for some reason her absence irritated him.

"She's helping Kaylee make dinner." Simon answered a bit suspiciously. "What happened between the two of you while I was…um, kidnapped?"

"Don't know what you're talking about." Riddick answered as he swung his legs down from the table.

"She seems different." Simon said lost in thought.

"She is." Riddick smirked.

"That's not what I meant." He frowned as he prepped a needle.

"I know, but that's all you're gonna get."

Simon released a frustrated sigh. "Did she talk to you?"

"Girl's mouth is always running." He dodged the question as Simon administered the needle.

"I need to know Riddick if she's told you anything I can use to fix her." He said desperately.

"Sister's not broken Doc, just confused is all."

"Riddick, they used her brain as a playground. She has surgical scars all over her skull, down her spine, nightmares every night, Riddick I need to know." He pleaded.

"Don't ask me any questions Doc, I ain't got the answers." Riddick told him.

"They're looking for her as we speak Riddick. You have no idea what I saw when I broke into that facility to get her out. You have no idea of the kind of security there was the type of medical equipment I saw."

"Ain't the only one looking out for her now Doc." Riddick said as stood from the table.

"What does that mean?" Simon asked him.

"Means exactly what I said. Little Crazy's grown on me." He smirked as he headed out of the Infirmary.

"In another life the fact that Richard B. Riddick had his eyes on my sister would have given me a stroke." Simon tried to joke. "But thank you." The words seemed to cause him a bit of pain.

Riddick actually chuckled a bit at that. "You're welcome Doc."

* * *

"What are we gonna do about Badger and Harrow Sir?" Zoe asked Mal on the bridge.

Mal thought a moment before looking up from the co pilot's seat. "We'll use the cash reserves and if that ain't enough we'll tear apart the ship; anything that ain't vital and nailed down, we'll hock it. Any spare parts we got laying around, equipment we don't use, we can't afford to screw Badger on this deal. Much as I hate that man and his stupid hat if we can pull through this he'll have steady work for us in the future."

"And fuel?" Wash asked. "Once we hit Persephone we won't have much left."

"Have to find us a job there." Mal answered.

"And hope they pay in advance?" Zoe asked skeptically.

"We do what we have to do to keep her afloat Zoe." Mal said firmly.

"Should consider ourselves lucky we still have the ship." Wash snorted. "I can't believe Inara managed to get her as far as she did running it like it was."

"We ever get the story about how River wound up on a stake anyhow?" Zoe asked.

"I don't even want to know." Mal said seriously. "And that's the God's honest truth on that."

* * *

**Endnote: Whew.**

**Til After now.**


	23. Interlude 5: The Lost Episode I

**A/N:**

**Pyrobabe777: :D this update should answer all your questions :D**

**CGrandJaz: Oh do I have some Jaylee for you. LOL**

**Rachet: Thankx :D Yay Happy dance!**

**Julian Carax: It'll be awhile yet before you see that come into play. I mentioned it now in the A/N to lay some basis of information down as I set up some ground work.**

**Darkdreamer1982: Thanks :D**

**Librarywitch; Yay for the happy dance! :D And you're right about Jayne and Kaylee (Hmm how's Ariel going to play out than? (hehehehe))**

**Elliesmeow: Thank you for reading. :D **

**Sxevlbtch: Hopefully this interlude will do the trick. I can't promise they'll all be this long but I'm going to work on making more of an impact with the Interludes.**

**Hotagainstthewall: Your review was perfectly timed lol. Thankx**

**Sabrina1204: Thanks for your continued strong support of me and all my projects and crazy ramblings. You rock. I'm so glad my stories make your days a bit brighter especially with the whole work school thing you have going on. I do not envy you. I sincerely hope this update gets a few chuckles out of you :D much luv momma.**

**Zen007: I couldn't help myself with that line I know it's a bit cheesy but I really honestly couldn't resist.**

**Don't own a thing. *sniffle***

******  
**

* * *

**Later that night/early morning….**

River sat on the cold grating in front of the closed door to Riddick's bunk; her back against it while her fingers traced out patterns of constellations that belonged above a world she had never seen. The jagged pieces of his dream caught and snagged on the edges of her mind and she hummed to distract herself from them; broken bits of a lullaby in a language that she did not understand and had never been sung to her. She had been there nearly an hour; woken by waves of searing agony and soul wrenching loss, images of infinite graveyards and painfully beautiful silver eyes. She could have wept at their beauty.

River would not wake him; she had resolved herself against it. _**She**_ was trying to speak with him. It was not her place to interfere.

**

Riddick swung his legs down from his bunk using the cold metal of the grating to help ground him; he wiped the sweat from his face with his tank and discarded it; glaring at the slight tremble of his hand and willing it to stop. The last vestiges of his dream ebbed and faded; leaving him with nothing more than the memory of suffocation and a pair of eyes which mirrored his own. The door to his dorm slid open and he was unsurprised to see River standing behind it.

"He is dreaming loudly again." She informed him as she slid in and closed the door behind her.

Riddick snorted bitterly; however there was no sarcasm in his voice when he asked, "Did I wake you?"

"She is rarely awake." River dismissed absently as she puddled into a cross legged position on the floor in front of him.

"All sorts of creepy girl." He smirked down at her.

"He has mentioned it before." She replied evenly. "She is trying to speak to you." She told him as she reached up and poked him harshly in his forehead. "He must learn to listen."

Riddick scowled at her not understanding. "I'm listening, right here ain't I?"

River shook her head. "Not this girl." She poked him in his head again. "That girl."

"Maybe I'm just as crazy as you are." He shrugged not really wanting to talk about his dreams or the mysterious woman who starred in them.

"As he has pointed out as well, she is not crazy; just confused."

"Yeah, well consider the source girl." He snorted as he stood having to step over her small body no to trip. "We both hear voices in our heads." He tugged on a black tee shirt from his locker. "Come on girl, your brother finds you in my bunk he'll rupture something." He smirked and pulled his goggles down before walking out into the harsh light of the corridor. River stood and followed him out into the common room; she watched him throw himself down on the couch before taking her customary position at the opposite end.

"He wants a drink but he and Jayne finished the bottle last night and he regrets it now."

"And?" Riddick asked amused as he turned his head to look at her.

"The girl can tell him where the Sunshine keeps her secret stash."

Riddick perked up considerably but looked at her suspiciously as well. "What's it gonna to cost me?"

"Forgiveness." River said shyly.

"What ya do?" He sat up straight.

"She is unable to return his shiv. The takers took it." She answered dejectedly.

Riddick chuckled and relaxed. "I'm not worried about it girl. You were busy being set on fire and all. Which you're welcome for saving you from by the way." He said pointedly.

River frowned at him. "Why does she have to be grateful? He wasn't when she warned him about the green shirt. No one gave her apples or chocolate." She pouted.

"What was that about?" Riddick asked curiously. "The whole rock and stick thing?"

"The Sunshine has already been shot once. Her company is pleasant. She is yellow and orange, and her mind is warm. I did not want it to happen again."

"So the rock and the stick stopped that how?" To be honest however he was more curious about her sudden use of the word 'I' instead of 'the girl' or 'she' than he was about the rock and the stick. Whatever she'd done it obviously worked.

"Changed the trajectory, rudimentary but effective." She shrugged and chose to ignore his second line of thought. "Will he give her a replacement?"

"What? Shiv?"

"Correct."

"Depends." He smirked at her.

River exhaled dramatically. "In the engine room, fourth floor grate along the rear wall." Riddick chuckled and looked at her expectantly. "She is not going to retrieve it as well." She half growled at him.

"What?" He asked innocently. "I got a bad leg."

"His injury no longer bothers him." She narrowed her eyes.

"Stitches are still in." He said and tugged up the leg of his cargos as if River needed further proof.

She glared at him, huffed, and made a grand point of stomping her way to the engine room and back again. "Here." She snorted petulantly as she dropped the jug unceremoniously into his lap. "Payment." She added expectantly.

Riddick chuckled, rose, and made a grand point of exaggerating his limp as he went to his dorm and back again. "Here, told you I'd give it back when you got your head straight anyway." He tossed her the shiv and she caught it expertly; her arm extending as her hand wrapped around the grip and moved in a slow graceful arc.

"He is more comfortable with the blade." She said; her voice almost lyrical. "Doesn't like guns but he uses them; prefers the close kill, it calls to the thing that crawls beneath his skin." She continued as she moved through a series of slow strikes and spins. Riddick watched her silently; waiting for more and he was not disappointed. "There were no guns on Furya; they thought them dishonorable. There was blade and strength and skill. Far away from the prying eyes of civilization something awoke in them. They were more."

The shiv Riddick had given her was one he had shaped himself. A curved blade which ran along the knuckles; smooth at its tip and serrated as it arched across her fist. It was his trademark style, more of a claw than a blade.

"They called you evolution and they were wrong. The Furyans broke away. Shirah is not insanity; she is the heat of the jungle, the burn of the flame, she is Fury." River ceased her movements and turned to look at Riddick; when she spoke next, her voice was heavy with sorrow. "When they came, they came in such numbers, with such weapons the Furyans for all that they were, were nothing. Many fled when the comet came, they flew hard and fast; but those that sought them had ways of finding which they could not conceal themselves from. It was over before the war began."

"Were?" It was the only question Riddick could form.

"He is among the last and _**is**_ last of the Alpha lines." River nodded solemnly. "They were hunted first."

Riddick uncorked the jug of inter engine wine and drank at that. "How long have you known?"

"Tonight, I promised to tell you as the River brought it to me. He dreams loudly."

"How come I don't remember my dreams but you do? And how the fuck can you see my dreams anyway?" He asked a bit heatedly.

River ignored his anger and answered as she sat herself on the table in front of the couch. "Dreams are nothing but sleeping thought. She has told him already why he does not remember, he does not listen."

"Alright then." Riddick said resolving himself. "How am I supposed to be listening? You're the genius, what am I doing wrong?"

River shrugged. "If she knew, she could stop listening. The River flows; she doesn't know how or why; it simply does."

Riddick took another swig. "Fuck it." He said after a few minutes of silent contemplation. "Past is the past; don't mean shit now."

River shook her head slowly. "The past is the root which feeds our lives. His will call claim; just as hers will."

Despite the light Riddick jerked up his goggles and looked at her, "What's coming girl?"

Again she shrugged. "Don't ask any questions. She doesn't have the answers."

"Do you have any idea how fucking annoying that is?" He forced himself to smirk as he pulled his goggles back into place.

"Tell me about it." She huffed blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

Riddick threw his head back and laughed and despite herself, River did too.

* * *

_Two Days later…._

Mal cleared his throat at the head of the table over breakfast that morning. "Ya'll know we had to blow the money from that last job on payin' our way out of a one way ticket to the Slam, seeming as how the rest of our crew was busy being burned at the stake." He added with a small smirk before returning to his serious Captain voice again. "Now I can't hold that against you but the truth of it remains what's left of the cash reserves is gonna have to pay for fuel so we're coming up short about two thousand platinum after including what would have been our cut off that job. I got a wave from an old friend of mine today Monty, he's got a friend in the way of a Sheppard on Tyrus whose looking for a ride to Haven."

"You really think bringin' on more passengers is such a good idea Mal?" Jayne interjected. "Ya know seeing as how our last attempt got us three fugees and an Alliance mole."

"I hate to say it but I have to agree with Jayne on that Captain." Simon said.

"Monty's a good friend. Don't trust most in this 'verse, but I trust Monty." Zoe stepped in.

"It's crossed my mind Doc, don't think it hasn't." Mal admitted. "But we're only a day out from Tyrus and the man's got the coin to pay upfront. We pass right by Persephone on our way to Haven, we'll be able to pay off Badger and Harrow and move on looking for more work along the road to Haven."

"Also be crossing straight through the Core again." Riddick pointed out. "Those skies are patrolled heavily by Alliance."

"Is that safe?" Simon asked worriedly.

"Nothing is safe." River suddenly said as she stabbed angrily at a piece of dehydrated egg. "They will come and they will not stop… they will come and they want what you took. Takers. They're all takers."

"Right…" Mal started as he eyed the girl uneasily. "Be that as it may, this is the only way I see. We don't have nothin' to sell and the few spare parts we got laying 'round we can't afford to part with. We gotta have coin to stay afloat people."

"We'll need to get those papers fixed." Wash said practically. "That's what got us into trouble in the first place."

"If it's Tyrus we're headed to, I got a guy that can handle it." Riddick offered.

"Then we come back to the problem of not having enough coin to get that kind of work done." Mal said.

"Man owes me Mal. I can cash in the favor." Riddick shrugged. "Got picked up by some mercs awhile back; Andre was in the cell next to me on the ship, when I got out I took him with me. Figured it would come in real useful like to have somebody with those kinda of skills owe me. He's how I got my idents for Rick Richardson."

Kaylee giggled remembering her response to Riddick's fake name the day he boarded. "Why would you go with somethin' like that anyway?" She asked.

"It's best to take a name that's close to your real one." Riddick shrugged. "This way even if you're not paying attention and somebody calls your name it gets a natural reaction out of you."

"Makes sense." She shrugged back.

"Well." Mal started again in an attempt to refocus the conversation. "That's it then, we pick up the preacher and head out to Haven. We'll stop on Persephone along the way and hit any other job we get in between. "

"I'm still not really sure a trip through the Core is a good idea." Simon said, though he knew it wasn't going to change anything.

"I understand your concerns Doc, but we'd be headin' through at some point anyway. Inara has business that takes her through occasionally and other times the it just the shortest way. The papers will help and you and your sister will just have to stay on ship when we hit dirt, other than that there's plenty of places onboard this ship we can stow you if we get stopped at a regular checkpoint." Mal told him.

"The last time I was hanging on to the outside of the ship." Simon groused; feeling queasy at even the mention of having to go EVA again.

"That wasn't a normal stop. They caught us scavengin'. We'll be squeaky clean sliding through the Core. Ain't looking for a stint in the Slam anymore than Riddick is." Mal assured him.

* * *

_One day later_

_Radha Plateau, Tyrus_

_Serenity_

_Southeast Docking Yards_

"Feel like breaking the rules?" Riddick leaned against the door frame of River's dorm; a half smirk crooked across his face.

River looked up from her sketch pad and regarded him silently for a few moments. It wasn't the first time she had been unable to read anything more than a haze of emotion from him; it didn't make it any less frustrating. She tried to decipher his purpose from that alone but all she could make out was curiosity and anticipation, underlined as usual with amusement.

"Brother's looking awfully tired. I'm thinking he might need another cup of your coffee." His smirk grew. "That's if you think you can keep up."

"It's not safe." River said sadly. "I cannot be trusted."

Riddick growled low in his chest and stepped inside River's room, closing the door behind him. "How many came before you at the Academy girl?"

"It's not relevant."

"How many?" He demanded.

"Inconsequential."

"How many?" He half snarled.

"Four." She relented as she made a study of her hands.

"How many survived?" He pressed.

"She was the only one."

"And why is that?"

"She was stronger." River admitted.

"And when you're brother needed you?" He pushed.

"It did not matter. She lost herself anyway." River argued sadly.

"Not the point."

"It is."

"Thought I was supposed to be the Rock?"

"The theory is flawed; too many variables."

"Town full of inbred god freaks don't count." He was smirking again.

"It's not safe." River said firmly.

Riddick crossed the room in two large steps and called for the lights to dim; he crouched down before her and removed his goggles. He picked up her right hand and traced the thin half healed slice across her palm. "Made ya a promise didn't I?" When River made no response he continued. "Whatever they did to you girl, there's no coming back from. The way I see it is you only have two choices; spend your life hiding from it, or embrace it. They want you to be afraid of them, when the truth is they made you into something they should be afraid of. That's why they're hunting you girl. That's why they won't stop. They're afraid of you. You hiding out here; it gives them the power back girl."

River turned his words over in her mind. She could not make one single argument against him. His logic was infuriatingly infallible on this point. Curiously she tested his mind for any sign of an ulterior motive; surprisingly she found none. He had made her a deal. Protection for knowledge; this was his way of protecting her. He wanted her to be strong; he wanted her to obtain control. The fulfillment of the Contract was not the end in his mind; it was merely the beginning. He had no intention of coddling her and allowing her to play the role of a frightened child; he intended to force her into using her abilities; to make her confront all that sent her screaming and tearing at her hair. He had no intention of fixing her; he had already accepted there was no going back for her. He didn't care. He hadn't known her as she was. He wanted her as she was now, what she could be. He wanted someone who could keep up.

Riddick watched the play of emotions and thoughts behind her eyes. He noticed the way her they did not rest when she was deep in thought; they scanned the room restless but saw nothing in front of her. It was as though she was reading voraciously from some text he could not see and he figured she was in there; digging around in his mind, determining whether or not she could trust him. He waited; with more patience than he had thought he was capable.

After what seemed like hours had passed but in actuality had only been a few silent minutes River almost imperceptibly nodded her head.

Riddick smirked as he stood. "Good. I'll be waiting. Don't be late."

River was left looking thoughtfully at the empty space in her doorway.

"River, what's wrong?" Simon asked when he appeared a moment later to find her staring unblinkingly into space.

She smiled sweetly at him. "Nothing. She was thinking."

"About what?" Simon asked curiously hoping for some clue about the Academy.

"The use of Euclidean space perceptions and their applications in quantum mechanics." She lied. Simon blinked blankly. "You are tired Simon. She will make you coffee." She rose and pecked him on his cheek. "We need to take care of each other."

* * *

Riddick went directly to the unused shuttle after his conversation with River. He flipped on the cortex and entered an encryption sequence before dialing out on the wave. A moment later a thin freckled face appeared on the screen; a long jagged scar ran along his left temple and down to his jaw, making the man's face a contradiction of pain and lighthearted amusement.

"Holy fucking mother of Buddha…" The face spoke as it paled slightly. "You're supposed to be dead."

Riddick actually laughed at that. "Thought you knew me better than that Andre, ain't an easy man to kill."

"Jesus Christ."

"Got any other gods you wanna invoke before we get to business?" Riddick asked amused.

"Yeah, let me get the list. Holy shit man. Holy fucking shit. You know that Johns' brother collected the bounty for your head?"

"Being dead has its advantages." He replied dryly.

"I thought you were dead."

"You've said that already."

"Yeah well give me a fucking moment here will you?" Andre smirked. "Are you dirt side?"

"Yeah and I'll be needing that favor."

"That favor brought you the Rick Richardson id," Andre smirked leaning back in his chair. "But seeing as that's the one that supposedly got you dead I think I owe you another. Hell, I'd be rotting away in Slam City if it wasn't for you. My rock's your rock brother."

Riddick snorted at the use of that word. "Good. I'll be needing papers for a ship. Firefly class, mid bulk, ship name Serenity."

It's was Andre's turn to snort. "That it? I was expecting a challenge from you."

Riddick laughed. "That ain't it. I'll also need new idents. A brother and a sister, give them whatever names you want. The brother's about five eight, brown and brown, give it doctor's creds, the works nothing too flashy though, age twenty four. The girl's about five four, brown on brown again, age eighteen."

As Riddick spoke Andre began typing information into a computer. "You got photos, or will you be adding them yourself?"

"What do you think?" Riddick quirked an eyebrow.

"That hurts." Andre feigned a look of offense.

"Yeah well you'll get over it. Might as well throw in another set of clean papers for me, I was planning on coming your way sooner or later anyway."

"Okay so that's one ship cred and three people." Andre looked up at Riddick and raised an eyebrow of his own. "You do know flying a ship that size with two other fugees is like painting a bull's eye on your ass. I could get you a nice two man." He said as he took a sip of something outside the frame of the wave.

"I'm not flying it, on crewing on it."

Andre spit his drink out on the console. "What?"

"You heard me."

"It's the skirt ain't it?" Andre asked with a knowing leer.

"Anybody ever tell you questions are dangerous for health?"

"Yeah yeah, fuck you too Riddick." Andre snorted. "Give me like two days and you'll have your papers."

Riddick shook his head. "Not good enough. I need to be back in the black by morning. You got four hours."

"Four hours?" Andre asked incredulously. "Who the fuck do you think I am? Four hours." Andre swore in a mixture of old Russian and English.

"Thought you were the best." Riddick smirked. "You telling me it can't be done?"

"Fuck you I am the best and you damn well know it. Four fucking hours, you know Riddick, great art can't be rushed."

"It ain't art it's forgery." Riddick chuckled knowing he was pushing all the right buttons.

"The fuck it ain't!" Andre snapped.

"So are you telling me it can't be done?"

"Fuck you. God damn prick. Four hours, I'll meet you at that bar we went to the moment we touched dirt here the first time. Password Blood money."

Riddick was going to reply but Andre didn't give him the chance and ended the wave.

* * *

_One hour later…_

"Sheppard will be here in the morning." Mal said to Riddick after catching up with him in the bay. "I'm gonna give the crew the night off and I'll be staying with the ship so once you grab the papers, rest of the night is yours."

Riddick grunted in acknowledgment as he added a square of sticky explosive to his pocket.

Mal raise an eyebrow. "You really think you're gonna need that?"

Riddick smirked at him. "Realized not too long ago that sometimes the best way out, is one you blow yourself." He neglected to mention that in that particular circumstance he had used an explosive that had been implanted into his neck.

"Thought this guy was a friend." Mal answered a bit uneasily.

"He is."

"Than what's with the explosives and the extra gun?" Mal asked gesturing to the sidearm strapped to Riddick's thigh.

"Not exactly heading into the friendliest part of the city," he shrugged.

"You sure you want to go alone?"

"My guy's a bit jumpy around unfamiliar faces." He lied as he pulled two extra clips from the ammo locker and slid them into one of his pockets. "Doc ain't leaving the ship is he?"

"No, boy's already passed out, wouldn't even twitch. Why?"

Riddick couldn't help but smirk. "Boy's talent for alienating people is damn near miraculous, looking forward to a night where I don't have to pull people off of stakes or listen to his gorraam mouth." He only half lied that time.

Mal chuckled. "I wouldn't be so hard on him, seems like he was born with his foot in his mouth. It's a chronic disease I hear there ain't no helping it."

"See ya later Cap!" Kaylee piped as she and Jayne entered the bay. Jayne's one arm was thrown across Kaylee's shoulders and she was wearing his hat again.

Mal repressed the urge to shudder at the sight.

"Let it be Mal," Riddick smirked. "Least she ain't drooling over Core Boy no more."

"Don't like it."

"Don't have to. You just got back on Sunshine's good side. Don't fuck with the person who fixes your ship." He advised.

Mal let out a traumatized sigh. "Suppose you're right. He has been a bit less Jayne lately. Mayhap I won't have to worry about him shooting me in my sleep and taking the ship iffin' he gets sweet on her."

"I don't think there's any 'if' left about it Mal."

"Supposed to be Captain onboard this ship, why is it ain't not a one of you ever listens?"

"Most likely be dead by now if they always followed orders." Riddick laughed. Mal went to shoot a retort but Riddick didn't give him the chance. "Be back before dawn Captain. Don't wait up." He called over his shoulder as he fired up the ATV and headed down the ramp.

Mal merely shook his head before heading back up to the bridge.

* * *

River twisted her long hair into a loose braid and threw the lock on her door. She hesitated momentarily; reaching out for her brother's mind to ensure he was fully under before using the shiv Riddick had given her to pry open the heating grate above her bed. After securing the shiv once more on her thigh she lifted herself easily up and into the vent; pulling the grate closed behind her.

* * *

Tyrus for the most part was a dry world. Large canyon riddled deserts stretched for thousands of miles brokered occasionally by city sized oasis's and vast mountain chains. Before terraforming the world had actually been overridden by lush rainforests and massive rivers which stretched entire continents. However the air itself had not been breathable; a hundred years later and the world was fit for human life, though the vast majority of its natural ecosystem utterly destroyed. The planet itself would have been labeled a failure if it had not been for the rich mineral deposits the drying up of the water supply had left behind. Now it was a miner's paradise; or hell, depending wholly on one's perspective, even at night the temperature rarely dropped below a hundred degrees.

Riddick killed the ATV's engine while he waited on River not wanting to run the risk of overheating it. A part of him was well aware of the potential shit storm he had invited if River couldn't keep it together, while the other part didn't give a shit whether or not she did; either way it would be all sorts of entertaining. He wasn't expecting any trouble but he had to admit a part of him was hoping for it. He wanted to see River in action. He'd gotten a glimpse here and there and her jab to his throat back on Jiangyin had sure as shit dropped him; but that was only a taste. The way she'd talked about blades told him she knew how to use them; the way she moved and reacted told him she was dangerous; he just wanted to see it.

"Ain't gonna work girl, I know you're there." He smirked as he caught a whiff of her scent. River stepped out from behind a stack of crates and Riddick turned to look at her. "'Bout time you got here." He jerked his head to gesture for her to get on the ATV.

River shot him a look as she did so. "He was allowed to leave through the front door; the girl had to find an alternate route."

"How did you get out?" He asked curiously as he fired the engine back up.

"Exhaust vent." She shrugged causally. Riddick's answering laugh was drowned out by the sound of the ATV as it pulled away.

* * *

"Go!" Jayne yelled and he and Kaylee slammed back their shots. His empty glass slammed down on the table only a half of a second before Kaylee's.

"Shoot! That's three in a row!" She giggled. "Believe it or not I could out drink my brothers back home." She pouted.

"I believe it girl. Ain't many who can out drink me though." He chuckled. "You really sure you wanna try this? Captain be awful pissed iffin' I get you so drunk I have to carry you back to the ship."

"This only number three Cobb." Kaylee said as a mock threat "Ain't even close to being down for the count yet."

*

"So Kaylee and Jayne?" Wash quirked an eyebrow at his wife from their booth across the bar.

"None of our business." Zoe shook her head.

"Yeah, but Kaylee and JAYNE." Wash clarified. "Aren't we afraid he's going to go all Jayne on her?"

"If he does, I'll shoot him." She shrugged causally as she tossed back her own drink.

"Well there's always that." He chuckled.

* * *

"Am I interrupting?" Inara asked as she stepped onto the bridge holding a mug of coffee in each hand.

"Um, no…not at all." Mal said hurriedly as he cleared away a stack of star charts. "Just tryin' to pick the best route through the Core."

"Someone left a full pot of coffee on, I thought you might like a cup." She offered and Mal accepted.

"Thank ya kindly." He took a sip. "Tastes kinda funny."

Inara shrugged and laughed a little. "How can you tell?"

"Point taken." He smiled at her. "Care for a flying lesson?" He asked after noticing her gaze sweep across the controls.

"Oh, no thank you. I think I've had my fill of flying Serenity." She blushed.

"Well we won't actually take her for a spin, already paid for the dock time." He winked at her. "Come here." He gestured with a nod of his head. "I'll just show you the takeoff and landing procedures, go through some of the basics. Wash and Kaylee 'bout near had a stroke over the way you were flying." He half chuckled.

Inara arched an eyebrow before the smile she had been trying to suppress broke through. "Well than, for the sake of Wash and Kaylee I suppose I can sit for a minute."

"Well alright than." Mal grinned at her.

* * *

Riddick pulled the ATV to a stop in front of what appeared to be a vacated boarded up warehouse. River knew differently; she couldn't hear the throbbing of music from behind the concrete wall like Riddick could, but she could feel the onslaught of minds.

"No dancing tonight girl." Riddick told her as he climbed off the ATV. "Stay close." He warned her. "If you feel like you're about to lose it you signal me and we'll get out. You got your shiv?"

River nodded as she slide off the bike and pulled up her skirt slightly to display the tip of the blade pressed against her thigh. Riddick swallowed hard and knelt down ignoring her thigh and shoved another blade into her boot. "No god freaks in here girl, but these people mean business all the same."

River acknowledged him with a nod of her head. "He means for her to be born again. He does this at great risk to himself. She understands this." She informed him and confirmed she had read his intention of obtaining new identities for her and her brother.

"Might wanna try to keep that 'she' and 'her' talk to a minimum," he smirked. "You'll stick out enough in there, way to clean looking." He chuckled.

River looked at herself dejectedly. "It cannot be helped."

"You can hear me if I think at you right?"

River shot him a look, the patented _Boob_ look.

"Just checking." He said amused by her indignation. "Stick close to my head then too girl, if I give you an order it means move your ass. _Dong ma_ (understand me)?" River rolled her eyes. Riddick smirked. "Alright girl let's do this." He threw an arm around her shoulders and led her over to a large steel door. "Andre won't be here for another hour or so still. We go in, find us a booth and I want you to scan the room, work on separating the thoughts from yours. If I point I want to you to tell me everything about the person."

"She has proven her ability time and time again." River said a bit heatedly.

"Ain't about proving anything." Riddick shook his head. "This is about learning to control it, and not letting it control you. The River doesn't move through you girl, you are the River."

River was too stunned to reply. She honestly didn't think that Riddick had inkling as to how significant those words were. Her mind ran in a thousand and one different directions at once. Reality shifted. This time however it did not shift into an illusion. This time the shift was real and palpable. This time it shifted into truth. It shifted to _Dao_ and River saw for the first time that it had been her that did not see. Confusion melted into understanding and understanding into resolve.

This change occurred rapidly, in the mere seconds it took Riddick to raise his fist to bang on the steel door River had processed these thoughts and by the time the sound of it could reach her; _**she knew she would be better.**_ It was more than resolve, it was _Dao._ Her mind reached out to Riddick's almost tendril like and tethered itself; he was the Rock.

Riddick's fist banged against the steel door and a moment later a peep hole shifted open. "Password."

"Blood money." Riddick said. The peephole slammed shut and the heavy door swung open. For the briefest of moments loud music and bright flashing lights exploded through the empty street; Riddick guided River inside and the door slammed shut behind them.

* * *

Mal yawned from the co pilot's chair and kicked his feet up on the console. "So in the event of an engine overload what do you do?" His eyes began to flutter and he tried to force them open.

Inara shook her head to clear the grogginess. "I…" she was cut off by a yawn. "I shut down… reroute power to the thrusters and wait for…" she yawned again, "wait for Kaylee to tell…tell…" Her eyes drifted closed and she slumped forward on the console.

"Ina…" Her name was cut off by a snore.

* * *

"Ain't they cute?" Kaylee asked the hint of a slur to her words.

"Huh?" Jayne looked up from his empty mug of beer and tried to focus his slightly hazy vision.

"Zoe and Wash." She jerked her head to the dance floor where the couple in question was dancing, though it was more stumbling and laughing then actual dancing.

"Never did figure how that worked out." Jayne said.

"Don't matter the how." Kaylee shrugged and frowned at her empty beer. "You gonna fix this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jayne chuckled. "You don't wanna dance?"

"You dance?" She asked incredulously.

"No." He admitted sheepishly.

"Well then I ain't dancin', better at drinking anyway." She snorted.

Jayne laughed even harder than before. "You sure ain't like them other girls."

"Yeah and you already told me I was better than them anyways. Jayne I have five older brothers who taught me how to rebuild an engine before my momma could teach me how to fix my hair. I figured something out 'bout myself at that party. You know I spent half the night talkin' to a bunch of farmers 'bout machines? Didn't dance once and them farmers treated me a hundred thousand times better than any of them fancy ladies. We are what we are Jayne."

"And what are you?" He smirked.

Kaylee smiled. "I'm the mechanic on the best ship in the 'verse. I like drinkin' and machines talk to me. I like pretty things 'cause I'm a girl and they make me happy but I'm more'n comfortable in a pair of overalls with grease under my fingernails."

"And me?" Jayne asked which only came out of his mouth due to the copious amounts of alcohol he'd already consumed.

"You're a mean _hun dan_ (bastard) of a merc." Kaylee giggled. "But when no one's lookin' you're the shiniest of shiny."

Jayne roared with laughter. "The shiniest of shiny? Girl you're all sorts of drunk."

"Well iffin' you ever get around to filling my empty glass I will be." She said sarcastically frowning at her empty mug once more.


	24. Interlude 5: The Lost Episode II

River cringed back the second the door slammed closed behind her. Instantly assaulted by the hundreds of voices to the background of blaring music and flashing lights.

Riddick felt her tense at his side and he tightened his grip around her shoulders to reassure her he was there. "I'm the Rock, River." He growled low into her ear. "Focus."

River forced a deep inhale into her lungs. When she exhaled she felt it ripple across her mind like a hand smoothing out silk. She felt for the tendril of thought which secured her to Riddick. It was as though mentally she was gripping the cord tighter.

Riddick waited for her body to relax before he moved them through the crowd. River was amused to see the mob of people seemed to part on their own accord to make way for him. As if some natural instinct told them they would move, or be moved and it was wiser to move. He situated them in a booth which was semi circled with their backs to the wall and a view of the entire club. Riddick ordered two beers from a waitress but they didn't speak until she had reappeared with their drinks and disappeared with Riddick's money.

"Don't drink it." Riddick smirked at River's confused look. "I don't even wanna know what happens when you get drunk." He chuckled. "Just pretend. You stand out enough as it is already, it would just make it worse if you were sittin' here not drinking anything. Tell me about the girl with the pink hair."

River followed his gaze to a young girl in the center of the dance floor; her hair was short and hot pink, she was dressed in leathers and her mind had an odd fog to it. "Her hair is fake." River frowned.

Riddick growled but not in irritation, more in exasperation. "Tell me something I don't know."

River tilted her head to the side and with one mental hand gripped tightly around her cord she pushed herself into the girl's mind. "She's taken too much. She'll die tonight."

"How do you know that?" Riddick asked curiously. The girl was obviously on something, you could tell that just by looking at her. Hell, he could smell it on her when they passed on the way to the booth. That's why he'd started with her. He had wanted to see if anything could keep River out.

"I can feel her brain functions." River informed him without taking her eyes of the girl. "They are deteriorating rapidly; she is experiencing hallucinations as a result but she was expecting them. She does not see it as a warning sign. She feels euphoria, she thinks it is real." River said dreamily.

Riddick was actually impressed. "Dig into her memories. How far below the surface can you get?"

River mentally tested her hold on her cord and plunged deeper. Shards of pain and betrayal tore at her, waves of repressed rage bled into her. Memories turned to ravenous monsters that ate at the girl from the inside. River physically recoiled as she clawed her way back out of the girl's mind. Riddick flinched as pain seared through his head.

"Fuck!" Riddick swore as one hand shot up to grip the side of his head. "What the fuck was that?" He snapped as the pain ebbed as quickly as it had come.

River was panting next to him, trying to catch her breath. "Do not make her go inside again." She said almost pleadingly. "He told her he was the Rock, so she tied herself to him before she allowed the River to carry her. He felt her pull on the cord to find her way back out. She is sorry she didn't mean to hurt him." She rushed quickly. "She needed to get out or she would drown."

Riddick shook his head as the last of the pain subsided. "It's fine girl." He said forcing a smirk. "You did good. I'm guessing that's what happened with that kid on Jiangyin. She swallowed you once you got inside."

River nodded. "She didn't understand before."

"And now you do? 'Cause I'm still a little lost." He said taking a long swig of his beer. He knew River could hear him clearly so he didn't bother trying to not think the thoughts which came to him. It was pointless and a waste of time and energy.

River felt his confusion. The slight hints of anger at having someone in his head, but it wasn't bitterness. He wasn't angry at having her inside his head; he was angry because he couldn't protect her from his thoughts. He was worried that she needed to be inside his head, he was worried the more time she spent there she would become afraid of him. He didn't want her to be afraid. He wanted her trust; something he'd never wanted from anybody before. He wanted to know how far she could go in someone's mind, what were her limits; did she have limits? Would there come a time when she no longer needed the Rock? She was as confused as he was by the spike of fear which occupied those thoughts so she passed it by, unwilling to add more confusion then there already was.

"She doesn't have any answers. Only more questions." She sighed.

"Figured." Riddick snorted, but his amusement overruled the bitter edge to it. "So I'm guessing that girl was some kind of freak?"

"Not freak. Victim. Don't ask. She doesn't want to go back." River said shuddering slightly at the memory of her own demons and monsters which raged inside her head.

Riddick was not oblivious to the River's abject terror of having to go back into the pink haired girl's mind. He wanted to push her. The 'verse had no mercy for the weak and sooner or later River was going to have to go inside somebody's head she didn't want to be in and their lives would depend on it. He was pushing her enough as it was tonight however and there were still several hours to go.

"Thank you." River said quietly. She would have done anything to not have to go back inside Cecelia's mind. Death would be a tragic mercy for the girl and she would never see it coming tonight. River found it beyond strange she was grateful the girl's suffering would end since it meant she would be dying; but death had become nothing more than a relative concept to her. She had lived through several deaths already. Every death signaled a rebirth; that was the way of the world.

"Just 'cause you don't have to go back in doesn't mean you're done." Riddick rumbled. "Give me Mr. Big Nose in the corner by the DJ."

River inhaled and exhaled once more; she tested her cord and dove headlong into the River. "His name is Gavin…"

**

A little less than two hours later, River; with the beginnings of a thundering migraine stopped mid sentence and jerked her head toward the door. "The stork has arrived."

Riddick looked at her quizzically before following her gaze and laughing. "I get it, 'cause you said before you were going to be reborn right?"

River nodded and squeezed her eyes open and shut a few times.

"Headache?" Riddick asked his laughter dying down. River couldn't do more than nod. "Here." He slid her a shot of whiskey he'd ordered. "It will take the edge off, almost done here girl."

River nodded again dumbly and took the shot without a second thought, causing another riot of laughter from Riddick as she choked and made a face against the burn of the whiskey. "Horrid." River scowled at the evil beverage.

"You get used to it." Riddick continued to smirk as he watched Andre clear the dance floor and make his way towards them. "Andre." He stood and greeted the freckled faced red head; a genuine grin on his face.

"For a ghost you're looking pretty good there old boy." Andre joked as he shook Riddick's hand and slid into the bench across from them. He tossed a key at them. "Dock locker number twenty two F. Everything you need and more."

"More?" Riddick crooked an amused eyebrow up.

River knew exactly what more was in the same way she knew Riddick didn't want to reveal what she could do to anyone just yet and so she kept silent.

"Call it a gift from me to you." Andre smirked and for the first time registered River's presence. "You must be Anna Delacroy. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said gallantly. "You must tell me one day about what it was like to grow up on Muir. I've never met anybody from there before." He winked quite obviously at her and River rolled her eyes. She didn't need to be a reader to know what he was doing.

"If you like mud and rain I can recommend no place more pleasant." She replied absently.

"I hear it's nice in Farne." Andre commented just as absently.

"I wouldn't know since Farne's on Kain and not Muir. Same system different rock."

Riddick watched the exchange with amusement. Andre chuckled. "You'll be just fine girl." He turned his attention to Riddick. "A drink? First time I've been out in weeks."

River suddenly stiffened. "He should have stayed inside."

"What's that mean?" Andre asked unsure of whether or not to be offended.

Riddick was immediately on alert and his eyes scanned the bar, landing directly on a big hulking figure who was making a decided point to look everywhere but the table at which the trio sat. He had with him four heavily armed guards. "Fuck Andre. You picked up a tail."

Andre froze. "Big guy, tattoo on his face?"

"Yeah." Riddick answered slowly.

"Fuck."

"What's going on Andre?" Riddick growled. He knew River could tell him but he wasn't willing to expose her secret and her answering for Andre would only raise questions they didn't want to answer. River read his thoughts as he thought them and waited patiently for Andre to explain the truths she already knew.

"It ain't a merc Riddick. It's a fucking bookie. I owe big." He groaned as his head hit the table.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

"Ten thousand platinum." Andre admitted.

"You fucking _ben dan_ (idiot)."

"Was supposed to be a sure thing." Andre said sheepishly.

"You're gonna owe me big for this." Riddick suddenly grinned.

Andre looked up. "What you got ten thousand platinum?" He asked hopefully.

"Nope." Riddick's smirk grew as he unholstered his side arm underneath the table.

"You got half? Half would keep him from killin' me."

"Nope." Riddick looked at River who rolled her eyes but nodded.

"What you got then?"

"I got a gun with twenty six bullets in it. Only need one."

"Duck." River informed Andre.

Andre went to say something, what it was didn't matter in the next moment. Riddick rose from his seat, flipping the table in their booth at the same moment he leveled his gun. He fired one shot. Tattoo face went down. It took less than five seconds for the club to go from ordered chaos to an absolute panicked frenzy.

"Get the fuck out of here." Riddick growled at Andre who was in no position to do anything but comply. Riddick grabbed River by the arm and yanked her out of the booth. She in turn jerked them both to the ground as a hail of automatic gunfire rained directly above their heads. Andre had already disappeared into the crowd by the time they were back on their feet.

"Back door." River rushed to him. She spun and led the way around a divider wall moving through the panicking crowd as she monitored the men now pursuing her as they fought their way through the as well.

"What the hell are we doing in the Men's room? Don't see any fucking doors River girl!" He snapped as he flipped the lock. The door shook against the force of someone trying to break through.

"He does not learn. She always has purpose." She told him firmly. He was a bit surprised when she suddenly jammed her hand into one of his pockets. However understanding lit his face as she retrieved the sticky explosive. "Fuse." She demanded as the door shook again.

Riddick pulled the spool from his pocket as River tore a very small piece of sticky from the block and slammed it against the wall. He inserted the fuse and they took cover inside one of the far stalls. The door to the bathroom blew open at the same time the wall did. Riddick spun out from the stall shooting. "Move!" He yelled to River who was already half way through the newly created door as Riddick began to fire. The three thugs who had followed them dove back outside the bathroom for cover as Riddick fired; he followed River backward through the hole, firing until his gun clicked empty.

"This way!" River yelled at him and he followed without question. She lead him back around to the front of the warehouse and the ATV. "Daddy would be displeased if we left it."

"You drive," Riddick growled as he slammed another clip into his gun.

River nodded; it took her a brief moment to analyze the controls and decipher the operation of it. She grinned as she threw the clutch into gear and the bike lurched forward.

Their pursuers had not given up the chase and it was only a matter of time before a pair of ATVs were following. Riddick fired as River drove finding her way easily through a city she had never been to until tonight.

"Don't lead 'em back to the ship!" Riddick yelled at her as she took a hard left.

"She is not an imbecile!" River snapped back as she made another hard right as another round of automatic gunfire exploded in their direction.

* * *

Jayne was no stranger to the sound of gunfire and the bar he and Kaylee were still in was nearly empty and semi-quiet. His attention jerked to the window behind Kaylee's head and his jaw dropped opened at the sight which whizzed by. "Jayne?" Kaylee slightly slurred as she snapped her fingers in front of his face. Jayne seemed to shake himself from whatever he was lost in and looked at her blinking a few times. "What's going on?" She asked, having crewed on Serenity she was no longer a stranger to gunfire either. She swiveled in her stool to see what he was looking at but all she saw was an empty street; the echo of gun fire fading into the distance.

"Kaylee girl, I think I'm a lot drunker than I thought I was."

Kaylee erupted into a burst of snorting giggles. "Why'd ya say that?"

"I coulda swore I just saw River and Riddick riding an ATV."

"What?" Kaylee laughed. "That's impossible." She swiveled back around to face him.

Jayne pushed off his stool, wobbling a bit as he did so. "Think there's trouble girl."

"Ain't no way that was Riddick and River. Ain't no way Simon would let her off the ship with Riddick. I think I win." She smiled triumphantly.

"Huh?" Jayne asked, her smile distracting him.

"You're so drunk you're seein' things." She teased.

"Ain't hardly!" He snorted indignantly. "Another round!" He yelled at the bartender as he slammed a few coins on the counter; dismissing the itch in the back of his head in favor of Kaylee's smiling face.

* * *

Wash and Zoe were working on keeping each other upright as they stumbled back towards the docking yard. Wash had on arm around Zoe's waist and the other clutched a half drank bottle of whiskey. "To the most… most beaut…beautifully warrior Amazon in the whole wide 'verse!" He cheered as he took a swig off the bottle.

Zoe's answering laughter bounced off the silent buildings. She took the bottle from her husband and tried to make a toast of her own but every time she opened her mouth only snorting laughter came out. The sound of gunfire however slammed her into a semi sobriety and she threw them both to the ground seconds before it tore away at the wall they had been standing in front of. When the danger passed they pulled themselves up.

"What the hell was that?" Wash asked as he stumbled a little trying to stand upright.

Zoe laughed as she propped herself up against the wall. "For once, somebody that wasn't trying to shoot at us." She laughed it off. It had been close, but at least it wasn't chasing them and she was determined to finish enjoying their rare night off duty. The solider in her who demanded she investigate was told to shut the hell up by the drunken wife part of her.

"Huh." Wash said as he picked up the bottle that had been dropped. He frowned as he realized the contents had been spilled. "So this is what it's like to be an innocent bystander."

"Only causality was our bottle." Zoe smirked as she practically fell into a kiss with her husband.

"Fucking bastards." Wash bemoaned but distracted himself from their recent misfortune with the decidedly tasty lips of his wife.

* * *

"God dam it River!" Riddick snapped as a sudden turn had him struggling to maintain his perch on the bike.

"Fuel is running low." River ignored his comment as she informed him.

"Don't matter." Riddick growled. "I'm done running." Riddick leveled his gun. "Keep her steady." He fired. The first bullet pierced the skull of one of the drivers. The now dead man slumped forward on the steering jerking his ATV into the line of the second. The second driver swerved and as he dodged the ATV and turned his bike to avoid the collision Riddick popped off another quick two shots; exploding the gas tank. Riddick smirked. "Head back to the yard."

* * *

Aboard Serenity Mal, Inara, and Simon snored.

* * *

* * *

Riddick opened the locker using the key Andre had given them. Inside he found four thick packets of paperwork; but it was the modified shotgun that caused him to smile. "This was the more huh?"

River nodded. "There are armor piercers in there as well."

Riddick's smirk grew as he slung the shotgun over his shoulder and pocketed the two boxes of ammo and grabbed the packets. "Can you make it back from the ship from here?" He asked as he turned. He chuckled when he realized she was already gone. "Fucking crazies." He said to himself.

**

"Hey Riddick!" Wash yelled as the ATV pulled up alongside them.

"Looks like you had a good night." He smirked.

"Eh…" Wash said with a grin. "A little drinking… a little dancing."

"A little gunfire." Zoe laughed.

"Gunfire?" Riddick asked genuinely curious.

"Some gorraam idiots almost killed us! Shootin' up the town on ATVs." Wash hiccupped.

"Local gang fightin' it out most like." Zoe explained.

"Huh." Riddick said with a smirk.

"You know Kaylee and JAYNE are a thing?" Wash blurted out.

* * *

River dusted herself off as she dropped back into her dorm. Her mind wandered out to locate her brother's and verified he was still asleep. She unstrapped the shiv from her thigh and pulled out the one from her boot; slipping them both underneath her mattress before unlocking her door.

Riddick was walking down the corridor as opened it. He tossed her her new ident package with a grin. "Had fun tonight girl. We'll do it again sometime." He said before turning into his dorm.

River clutched the packet to her chest and turned back into her own room with a smile of her own.


	25. Interlude 5: The Lost Episode III

Inara was the first to awake; a painful crink in her neck from having slept slumped over. She blushed furiously as she wiped the line of crusted drool from her mouth and disappeared to her shuttle without bothering to wake the Captain who snored on. The sound of her feet quickly stomping down the bridge stairs however awoke him anyway.

Mal for his part very nearly fell from his chair and stumbled to his feet; more than grateful no one had been there to witness it. "What the hell?" He grumbled out loud to himself as he tried to figure just what in the gorraam hell he was doing on the bridge.

**

Jayne awoke with a bear like yawn and a slight jarring in his head along with the odd sensation of not being able to move his arm. He blinked a few times before realizing the ceiling he was looking at wasn't the ceiling in his bunk. A soft sigh next him caused him to turn his head to see a small strawberry blonde tuff of hair half poking out of the blanket. _HOLY FUCKING HELL! _ He screamed at himself before realizing they were both still fully dressed. It was the first time in Jayne's life he was actually glad he was waking up in a girl's bed dressed. The more he thought about it he realized it was the first time he'd ever woken up in a girl's bed dressed. _How the hell did we even get back to the ship last night?_ He tried to think but the jarring in his head wouldn't allow for it.

"Jayne?" Kaylee asked sleepily, less surprised then Jayne was.

"Mornin'." He said cautiously a little afraid she was about to start yelling.

"Mornin'." She smiled back at him sleepily. "We have to get up yet?"

Jayne's face broke into a large grin. "Nah, go back to sleep Sunshine."

"You gonna stay to?" She asked already part way asleep again as she snuggled closer to him.

"Yeah, ain't goin' nowhere." He answered pulling her against his chest.

"Good." She mumbled.

**

"Cofffeeeeee." Wash groaned and as if by magic a steaming cup appeared in front of his face. He cracked a wide grin as he managed to look up at his wife who was standing over him; a smirk on her face. "God I love you."

"Love you too baby." She laughed.

**

Simon woke slowly feeling magnificently rejuvenated though a bit surprised to see his sister sitting on the edge of his bunk. "Everything okay River?" He asked concerned as he pushed himself up.

"It's Anna now." River corrected him.

"What?"

"He will see." She giggled. "She's hungry. It's his turn to make breakfast." She said grinning down at him.

Simon grumbled. "Alright, I'm getting up."

**

Riddick pulled on a clean tank after running some cold water over his face. He'd never actually slept last night. He'd given it a few hours before waving Andre to make sure he got out okay and then run through his work out. He kept replaying the previous night in head. He was a little disappointed he hadn't actually gotten to seen River fight; he'd done all the shooting but he was rather pleased with the fact the girl had managed to keep her head. He'd be lying to himself if he didn't admit the fact that he could feel River recoil from that pink haired little freak didn't unnerve him; but that was something to thing on another time. He grabbed Simon's and the ship's new ident information before heading out to the mess. He needed to make sure the crew was clear on the Doc and River's new statuses before the new passenger got onboard.

* * *

"What is it Doc?" Jayne asked skeptically poking the odd looking flattened cake on his plate.

"Protein pancakes." Simon said a bit defensively.

Mal eyed his suspiciously as well before taking a bite which he immediately choked on. "New rule." He said after washing it down with a mouthful of coffee. "Doc keeps to the infirmary."

"It can't be that bad." Kaylee said cheerfully as she popped a piece in her mouth. It was only her naturally kind personality which kept her from outwardly spitting in back on her plate.

Riddick wisely didn't even bother trying; he stuck to coffee on River's advice. "Got the new papers." He told Mal as he tossed the ship's packet on the table.

Mal reached across and grabbed it, Zoe stood over his shoulder and Wash craned his neck around. "Gotta say Riddick, these look real." Mal nodded in approval.

"Close to real as you'll get. There's a computer chip in there too. Plug it in to the main frame and if we get buzzed it will relay the fake ID." He tossed another package to Simon. "You're now Michael Delacroy, your sister's name is Anna. You're from Muir so it wouldn't kill you to do a little research on that rock."

Simon looked dumbfounded. "Are you serious?"

Riddick nodded. "And just so the rest of you Know my new ident reads Rick Marshall."

"I… How…" Simon stuttered.

Riddick chuckled. "Don't worry about it Doc. Just try not to fuck it up by calling me Riddick or your sister River 'til the new passenger is gone. He's a Sheppard so I doubt he pays any mind to the wanted bulletins."

"River you understand right?" Simon asked her seriously.

She gifted him with the _Boob_ look. "Genius." She reminded him.

"Sister's not dumb Doc." Riddick half growled. "Already been through it with her."

"She just gets confused sometimes I wanted to make sure." Simon shot back defensively.

Mal sensing something was about to start and though he was unsure exactly what it was he decided to cut it off before it had the chance. "Alright then people." He finished off his coffee and rose from the table. "Sheppard will be here 'fore the hour is out. Ya'll got jobs let's get her ready to fly. Badger's got to be chompin' at the bit as it is we'll be a day or so late hittin' Persephone."

A chorus of grunts and complaints hit him as the crew scrambled to finish off the edible parts of breakfast and drain the last from their cups before heading out in their various directions to do their jobs. "And let's all remember people, while the Sheppard's onboard we got an Anna, a Michael, and a Rick. No fuck ups. I'd hate to have to space a man of god." He smirked.

* * *

"Captain Reynolds?" A voice behind Mal called and he turned to see an older dark skinned man standing before him.

"That would be me."

"Sheppard Book." He extended his hand and Mal shook it.

"Well welcome aboard Serenity Sheppard."

"I want to thank you for taking me on. Monty speaks very highly of you."

"Don't believe a damn word he said." Mal grinned. "That all you got?" He gestured to single duffel at the preacher's feet.

"Don't need much." Book shrugged. "Firefly's a good ship." He said appreciatively as he looked up.

"Yup and mine's the best. You grab your gear and I'll show you to the dorms. We have a two other passengers and you'll meet most the rest of the crew when we get onboard." Mal said easily. "Have a few stops along the way but we'll get you to Haven." He continued as they started up the ramp.

"I'm in no rush Captain, been out of the world for a spell and I'm eager to walk it a bit, bring the word with me to those that need it."

Mal frowned slightly. "You're welcome aboard this ship Sheppard, God, he ain't." He said a bit harshly. "You keep your prayers to yourself. We look out for our own, don't expect anyone else real or make believe to do it for us."

"Just because you don't expect it Captain doesn't mean he's not watching." Book said gently. He'd been flying with Monty and his crew for a good couple of months before his stop over on Tyrus and from what Monty had told him of Reynolds and his crew he'd expected as much from the Captain.

"He watching right now?" Both Mal and Book jerked their heads up to see Riddick standing at the top of the ramp, River's head peeping out from behind his body; he punctuated his statement by pumping a round into his newly acquired shotgun. "What the fuck are you doing here Derrial?"

Mal cautiously stepped away. "What's going on here Rick?

Book dropped his duffel in surprise and slowly raised his hands. "Thought you were dead Riddick."

"Thought wrong." Riddick deadpanned. "You got one ten seconds to tell me what the fuck you're doing here before I blow your gorraam head off."

"Not the man I was Riddick." Book said slowly. "Haven't been for a good long while."

"You two know each other?" Mal asked moving out of the line of fire.

"Me and Commander Adams go way back, little hellhole called Sigma 3."

"Not my name anymore, and I'm not a Company man anymore either. I go by Sheppard Book, spent the last ten years in an Abbey on Persephone. I'm a man of God now."

Riddick looked down at River when she tugged on his shirt. "He tells the truth." She whispered.

"Can I trust you?" Riddick asked Book but River knew the question was directed at her and she nodded almost imperceptibly.

"You can." Book said.

Riddick lowered the gun. "You got answers I want."

"That I do son." Book admitted.

"Somebody wanna tell me what in the gorraam hell is going on here?" Mal snapped.

Book shouldered his duffel. "Nothing but the past catching up to a tired old man."

"Should I be taking off or shooting somebody?" Mal asked thoroughly confused. He wasn't about to bring another mole onboard but he needed that coin and he didn't want to let somebody leave just to go and alert the Feds. They'd just got new papers.

"We're good Mal. I start thinking otherwise I'll space the bastard myself." Riddick growled.

"Alright then." Mal nodded and hit the controls to close the ramp. "Gonna have to hold off on showing you that dorm Preacher. I want to know who the god damn hell I got on my ship, you follow me on up to the mess, soon as we're out of atmo I want answers."

"Seems like there's not much choice." Book replied as he followed the Captain.

River glared at him as he passed. "You're late." She informed him cryptically.

Book looked from Riddick to Mal and then back to the small framed girl half hidden behind Riddick's body. "Don't ask." Mal and Riddick answered in almost perfect unison.

* * *

Mal called a ship wide meeting once they were safely in the black. "Seems like this ship is a magnet for people on the run and this time I'd like the whole story 'fore I wind up with a swarm of Alliance on my ship."

"What's going on?" Kaylee asked confused she along with everyone else had thought the meeting was just to introduce the new passenger.

"Commander Adams has some fucking talking to do." Riddick growled.

"Commander? I thought you were supposed to be a preacher?" Jayne asked as he pushed himself away from the table. "What did I ruttin' say? Said it wasn't a good idea to take on passengers, said the last time we got stuck with three fugees and a ruttin' mole!" He snapped.

"Three fugitives?" Book asked curiously calm.

The entire crew shot Jayne a look this time. "Aw hell." He swore realizing he'd done it again.

"Ain't story time for anybody you." Zoe said fixing her glare back on the older man.

"I am a Sheppard." Book affirmed. "I wasn't always, but I am now. How much did you tell them about yourself Riddick? Where do I start?"

"How 'bout I start it for you old man?" Riddick growled. "Then you can pick up on the part where you sold me out to save your own ass."

"It's not what you think." River whispered quietly to Riddick.

Riddick for his part was furious. He hadn't planned on revealing anything to anybody about his past and now there was no way around it. If he didn't Adams/Book would. There was also the fact by saying anything at all was going to expose what he knew about River as well. "I was a Company Ranger."

"Company?" Wash asked confused.

"Blue Sun." River announced and her words jarred the room's focus onto herself. "More than you think… they're the roots, the roots that crawl inside your brain and take control of you. It isn't there's to take but they take anyway." Her eyes took on a far away quality and the room hung on her every word. "They smile because they are the ones that own." She laughed suddenly. "And no one knows. SECRETS." She laughed again. "And she knows every single one."

"Somebody wanna translate that for me?" Mal asked after several moments passed and River didn't continue. "'Cause I got a feelin' it means somethin'."

"I got me a Blue Sun shirt." Jayne said. "They make tea and stuff."

The sudden sound of Book, Riddick, and River laughing in unison caused a collective lurching of the stomachs of the remaining crew.

"It's the and stuff part that got your sister the way she is Doc." Riddick revealed.

"What are you talking about?" Simon demanded.

"Blue Sun is the Alliance. It wasn't always but it is today." Book explained. "It started with military weapons contracts. Money is power, and money slide the government right into their pocket. To call it the Alliance now is just a cruel joke. It is Blue Sun or The Company, as it's called by those that run it, it's their own little joke."

"The Company Rangers," Riddick picked up, "were a military unit trained protect The Company's assets. Sigma 3 is one of the few planet's that were settled that already had life sustainable atmo and an actual developed animal population." Riddick snorted bitterly. "Their called Spitfires." He lifted up his tank to reveal several burn scars along his torso. "I started out as a Sweeper; we cleared the mining tunnels of those fuckers."

"He learned to cheat Dice." River interrupted.

"Commander Adams." Riddick continued ignoring River's outburst. "Was my Commander. Why don't you pick up from there?"

Book nodded, "I was transferred in after Riddick's former Commander met an unfortunate demise. I didn't know how bad things were. Sweepers stayed ahead of the mining teams and didn't even live at the barracks. I promoted Riddick to the Strike Force Academy, as you can imagine his special eyes give him a decided advantage in the mines. He was reassigned to Special Security detail."

"Wasn't a fucking miner on that world that wasn't a fucking slave." Riddick said bitterly.

"I don't understand." Kaylee's voice shook as she spoke. "What do you mean slaves?"

"They brought people in by the shipload; sign them on for three year contracts with a big payout in the end, except there were all these little clauses and shit. You had to buy your own gear, your own food, pay for lodgings, each day you wound up a little more in debt. Six years pass on your three year contract because you had to borrow against that big payout. Then ten, and then you die from exhaustion or mal nutrition or you mysteriously disappear." Riddick explained.

"How do they get away with that?" Simon asked in disbelief.

"You can get away with anything when you own the whole planet son." Book said. "There was no outside communication at all. The Special Security team oversaw the workers."

"Don't sugarcoat it Preacher." Riddick said darkly. "We were fucking murderers."

"Riddick brought me hard evidence of the atrocities which were being committed. I didn't know then the extent of the corruption. I didn't turn on you Riddick." Book said as he looked up to hold Riddick's gaze.

"Then how do explain the day I woke up in chains on my way to the Slam, with no trial and a list of crimes I didn't fucking commit?" Riddick asked a deadly calm to his voice.

"They didn't think the old man had it in them to give them the slip. They drugged you in your sleep; they came at me in the day. By the time I got clear of it I heard that you'd been arrested and convicted, sentenced to the Slam and escaped. I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done. We've both been on the run boy."

There was a heavy silence for a few moments before Simon broke it. "And my sister? Where does she fit into this? What did you mean by that Riddick?"

"I didn't figure it out 'til that day of the shindig on Persephone. When your sister was throwing that fit and tearing labels off cans. I wouldn't have even connected it if she hadn't said it herself. She said, '_the little blue things which hide'_, and then I saw the labels. Then I remembered what she said in the Infirmary when Mal and Zoe got pinched. She was going off about blue hands."

"Agents." Book said suddenly. "Blue Sun Agents."

"What?" Mal asked.

"They're like cleaners Mal." Riddick explained. "They wear chest armor that comes down over their arms and hands, its blue. They're not military but usually ex intelligence soldiers privately contracted."

"Why don't they just send military?" Zoe asked, "If they want her that bad."

"I don't know." Riddick said. "If I was to guess it's because the Alliance doesn't want to be seated at the same table as a crazy girl with her brain spliced up." He omitted the psychic part. "Blue Sun keeps them out of it."

"Guess we were on the right side." Zoe said to Mal. "What do we do with this Sir?"

Mal stood up from the table. "We keep flying. We knew people would be coming for the Tams, nothing's changed there. Sheppard Book here and Riddick didn't fight in the War against us, they were both on the lamb then so I don't have to shoot them. We knew the Alliance was dirty the moment we took up arms before the War, nothin' new there either. We need coin. Sheppard's paid us to take him to Haven, that's what we're gonna do. Just have to keep an eye over our shoulder and a step ahead, the new papers will help and we were always on the wrong side of the law anyhow. Way I see it, ain't a gorraam thing's changed about anything. Well," He added with a half smirk, "Now we got four fugitives instead of three." He turned and headed up to the bridge. "Ya'll got jobs you should be attendin' to." He called over his shoulder.

"I'll show you to a dorm Sheppard." Kaylee offered eager to break the tension and go back to her engine room where things made sense.

"Thank you…" Book let his voice trail off into a question.

"Oh shoot!" She blushed. "We all know you but you don't know the rest of us. I'm Kaylee the mechanic, Wash is our pilot, Zoe's the first mate, Simon's our doctor, River's his sister, there's Jayne and you know Riddick they handle um…"

"Public relations." Jayne glared.

"Public relations?" Book quirked an eyebrow as he stood and shouldered his duffel.

"It's a specialty." Jayne smirked.

"I can imagine." Book replied.

"We ain't right Sheppard." Riddick told him as he passed by.

"Not expecting to be son." He answered and followed Kaylee out.

"He can be trusted. His hair cannot." River said seriously after the Sheppard had left the room; Riddick raised an eyebrow but refrained from comment.

"This ship just keeps gettin' weirder and weirder." Jayne muttered before heading off to his weights.

**Endnote: AND BAM! **

**Til After Now.**


	26. Our Mrs Reynolds I

**A/N:**

**Information is incredibly sketchy and highly debatable on the origin of Shirah. Some say she's a Furyan survivor in hiding somewhere communicating with Riddick telepathically, another theory suggests that she is a blood relative of Riddick's, others say she is the embodiment of Furya, or a powerful elder caught in between the world of the living and the dead (which oddly enough I think is where the Necromongers are trying to get), but Twohy is quite vague on the subject himself and the story switches up a bit between the movies and the video games. So inevitably I had to go with my own version of who I think she is. I struggled a bit with this because I felt at times that I was stretching a bit too far from the Firefly 'verse with the added supernatural element. Then I thought to myself, well, technically what the Alliance had done to River would have given her Kluver-Bucy Syndrome and not made her into an empathic assassin. In fact Kluver-Bucy Syndrome actually causes extreme docility, hyper orality, hyper sexuality, visual agnosia, as well as a diminished emotional response; which is completely contradictory to what actually happened to her. So I went for it.**

**Now you might be asking yourself what in the gorraam hell is she going on about? I thought this was Our Mrs. Reynolds. It is, but here's the thing, River didn't actually have any speaking lines in this episode, the ones she did have were cut in the final edit and I thought the one scene was just a little weird anyway. So this episode may in fact read a lot like an Interlude. I'm throwing a lot at you this time around.**

**On a side note I got a record number of reviews on the last update. Daydreamer1982, ****sxevlbtch, Rachet, idlejim, CGrandChaz, Pyrobabe7713, serenitie1, Shadow Gal ANBU, librarywitch, hotagainstthewall, Elliesmeow, forestreject, Sabrina1204, Adara, Oppenhiemer, fallenstacieb, Just a Fan, angelwingz21; ****YOU GUYS ROCK. For real-zees.**

**Oh, and Sabrina1204 as much as you rock you also suck just a little bit. Thanks to your review on A Moment there is a feral plot bunny running rabid inside my head. :P**

_**Thug-4-Less you are the shizz-nit, for real-zees, bees knees. My beta in shining armor.**_

**Shutting up now**** none of its mine, their toys were just shinier. **

* * *

"Iffin' we're hurtin' for cash so bad, don't see why we're risking our skins with this job. Folk can't even pay us proper." Jayne grumbled low to Mal in the seat beside him on the old Conestoga wagon.

"Gotta do some good to balance out the bad Jayne." Mal dismissed his merc's complaints.

"I'll admit there's a significant amount of satisfaction in seein' you in a dress." He chuckled.

"Think it's my color?" Mal smirked from beneath the floral bonnet he wore on top his head.

Jayne snorted in amusement as he guided the two horse team through the shallow river crossing. "Awfully quiet." He mused.

"Always is before the storm." Mal replied absently. "Keep your eyes open."

**

"So tell me why it is Mal's wearing the dress and not the one female gun hand we got?" Riddick asked Zoe in the back of the covered wagon.

"Captain knew better than to ask." She smirked as she peeped out the canvas. "Comin' up to the river crossing."

**

"Here we go." Jayne whispered low to Mal as six riders came barreling in from the woods to the east; armed to the teeth and all business as they circled the wagon.

"Pardon me for intruding," the lead man yelled as he slowed his horse. "But I believe ya'll are carryin' something of mine."

"T'ain't yours!" Jayne called back, his accent thick and his head low.

"You talkin' words to me?" The man snapped. " You b_en tian sheng de yi dui rou_ (stupid sack of inbred meat), you're gonna mouth off after what you done? Did you think we wouldn't find out you changed your route? You're gonna give us what we're due and everything else on that damn boat." He snapped. "And then I think maybe you're gonna give me a little one on one time with the Missus." He sneered.

Jayne lifted his head as he smiled. "You might wanna reconsider that last point. I married me a powerful ugly creature."

"How can you say that?" Mal cried with feigned indignation in a high pitched, poor imitation of a feminine tone. "How can you shame me in front of new people?"

"If I could make you prettier I would." Jayne shrugged. He bit hard against the inside of his cheek; it would blow everything iffin' he was to fall over laughing.

"You're not the man I married a year ago." Mal accused.

The gang of bandits looked at each other in confusion during the exchange. Usually there was a whole lot more cowering and pleading for mercy. This little lover's spat was a bit out of their realm of experience.

"Enough of " The lead man had started to draw his gun but, before he could even finish his sentence, Mal and Jayne swung out their own weapons and stood. The bandits were a bit taken a back to say the least. Why in the hell was a man wearing a dress?

"Now think very hard. You been bird doggin' this township long enough and they wouldn't mind a corpse outta you. Now you could luxuriate in a nice jail cell but, if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you." Mal said evenly; his tone hard and his eyes harder. He didn't much hold for folk takin' advantage of those less powerful and, personally, he wouldn't mind makin' one or two corpses himself; he was just looking for the excuse. He wasn't disappointed.

"Take 'em!" One of the bandits yelled as he raised his rifle.

A shot exploded from behind Mal's head. Zoe's rifle smoked in one hand while the other held on to the wagon as she leaned outside of it. When confronted with a standoff situation it usually only took one shot to break the tension into violence. This was no different.

Mal and Jayne immediately fired; dropping the lead man as well as the other who rode beside him. Riddick leapt out from the wagon, tackling one of the mounted men, hurling them both to the ground. The man was dead by the time they hit. Jayne spun after firing his first shot and took out a man aiming for Zoe. Mal knocked him back and saved his life as a bullet embedded itself it in a wagon post. Riddick took out the last rider with his sidearm, as he had a natural aversion to throwing his shivs, when the brigand tried to make a run for it as soon as he was on his feet.

The silence which came after was broken only by the panicked neighing of the horses the bandits rode in on. Riddick chuckled darkly as he wiped the blood from his shiv off on his cargos. "Hell of the way to start the morning, boys." He smirked.

* * *

That night the small town of Ridings West celebrated the defeat of the local gang with a shindig for the records. There was no glamour or class to it, no frills or bells or whistles; it was a bonfire, a band, and more food, mulled wine and moonshined whiskey than could be consumed by an entire contingent of Alliance soldiers. Here, if you punched a man, he punched you back, none of that sword nonsense. The world was good and Captain Malcolm Reynolds found himself in a better mood than he'd been in months. Sure the whiskey and wine probably had a lot to do with it, but there was no denying the Captain was born to play the hero and he reveled in it.

"We'll head for Beaumonde in the morning." He told Inara as they circled the gathering, there was no real point to their conversation other than Mal appreciated the golden tone her skin took on in the light of the bonfire and wanted very much to keep appreciating it awhile longer. "Give you a chance to do some work of your own."

"I appreciate it." She thanked him with a smile; despite herself, and the lack of gold trimmings she was used to, she was enjoying herself greatly. "This place is lovely but "

"Not your clientele." Mal smirked as an old man passed out drunk by their feet. "I'm wise; you gotta play at being a lady and all."

"Well yes." Inara laughed. "So explain to me again why you were the one in the dress and not Zoe?"

"Tactics woman." He snorted; leaving out the fact that he doubted very much he would have walked away with all his limbs if he had ordered Zoe to do it. "I needed her in the back. Besides them soft cotton dresses feel kinda nice. There's the whole air flow."

Inara nearly snorted through her laughter. "Spare me the details."

"You can't open the book of my life and jump into the middle. Like woman I am a mystery." He grinned lopsided at her.

"I will concede to that." She smiled back at him.

"Care to dance?" Mal took the chance.

"I've danced with you before; my toes still haven't fully recovered." She teased.

"Hey."

"Go enjoy yourself." She said as she started to walk away, but she turned to walk backwards as she spoke next. "You got hired to play the hero for once. It must be a nice change." She finished and turned back around; walking off into the shadows and towards Serenity.

"That it is." Mal said to know one in particular.

**

Riddick kept himself on the edges of the party; partially concealed by the shadow of a large oak tree as he leaned against its trunk. His goggles were up as his eyes tracked a single particular form as she moved through the circle of dancers. A slight growl escaped him as he watched a boy get feely; it turned into an amused smirk as he watched her "accidentally" stomp on his foot in the middle of the dance. He knew, she knew, he was watching; every so often her eyes would catch his for a half of a breath before she spun off into another part of the dance.

He told himself he was only watching her because of The Contract; every time he had to pull himself back from stomping over to grab her out of the hands of some _bu lang bu you_ (good for nothing) scrawny _fei fei pi gu_ (baboon's arse) farm boy it was because of The Contract. A part of his mind knew it was bullshit but that part was drowning ever so slightly in the copious amount of whiskey he had consumed. That thing which itched at his skin from the inside was restless; tension ran heavy in his veins as he forced himself to remain where he was. If he took one step forward he wouldn't stop until he had broken the hands of every male who had danced with her; instead he took another sip of whiskey.

**

River didn't have to be a reader to feel Riddick's eyes on her. She knew every time he shifted his weight, she felt every twitch of his fingers to his side where his shiv was prominently displayed. His emotions were shifting rapidly; too quickly for her wine-addled mind to decipher them. The Sunshine had offered her a taste of strawberry wine and it was divine. She giggled to herself over the rhyme she had made in her head and her partner smiled wider thinking it was meant for him.

She ignored him; he was inconsequential, just a set of hands and a pair of feet to move with her as she danced. His face was nothing more than a blur of memory in a seemingly endless stream of hopeful dirty faces. She could hear his every thought; which is why, on the next spin, as he brought her back she "stumbled" and crushed his toes. Pain would help him focus. He was just a dance partner, discarded and replaced easily; those thoughts were not within his rights to have.

The world spun around her; a cascade of endless shadows and ribbons of firelight; the music was coarse; the people coarser. It too was inconsequential. She felt joy and love; she felt admiration and awe, these people were celebrating and drunk; their emotions flowed through her and enveloped her being. These emotions were artificial; tomorrow would come and they would return to their endless toil against the burning sun and earth which they would find next season to be dead. Hunger would come; but these people were no strangers to it and they feasted now while it was bountiful. Their joy stronger because they knew it was fleeting and so they embraced it.

The song ended and she disappeared from her partner's arms quicker than he could register. She was in search of more wine; the boy had none and she was thirsty. He was good merely for the dance and for the moment it was done; he had served his purpose. She drifted through the crowd and she felt another set of eyes follow her. She felt his legs move as she disappeared behind a stack of hay and towards the Sunshine. He was repositioning himself to keep her in the view. He kept to the shadows while she moved through bursts of lamplight; he fell into orbit around her, he was watching; beneath his calm demeanor was an animal coiled to strike; he did not like the crowd, he did not like so many people touching. He did not know why. A woman of curves and experience brushed against his side and he ignored her; his eyes were occupied.

**

Riddick ignored the whispered suggestions of the woman who pushed up against him; a low growl was all it took to send her scurrying away. She smelt like cheap perfume and sweat; the combination was nauseating. Alone once more, he repressed the urge to snatch the jug of wine from River's hand. The girl drinking couldn't be good. He looked away from her long enough to search out her brother through the crowd. Boy shoulda been paying closer attention. He snorted in contempt when his eyes finally rested on the source of his search; the good Doctor was face down in a pile of hay.

_Figures_, he thought_._

He turned his focus back to River; she stumbled a bit. Her usually fluid motions were more liquid now but the control behind them was fading quickly. He smirked to himself momentarily amused by it; girl was drunk as hell. He watched her as she giggled with Kaylee and smiled at Jayne; oddly enough it angered him. Why should he care if she was laughing with Kaylee? Why should he care if she smiled at Jayne? He didn't know and he raised the small bottle he had been drinking to his lips to take another swig. It was empty and it pissed him off more.

**

River looked up at the sudden surge of jealousy which swept over her. Her blurry eyes tried to focus on its source. A pair of glaring silver eyes met hers and he was angry now. It confused her. What had she done? She tried to push deeper into his mind but it was beyond her and the effort caused a sudden jarring inside her own. She raised her right hand unconsciously to her temple; she was vaguely aware she had started swaying and the whole world began to sway with her. She didn't like the sharp edges caused by Riddick's anger; she needed to make it right. Her head swiveled a bit too quickly to evaluate her surroundings. A small smile graced her lips as she plopped down onto the bench next to the town Elder. Deception edged his mind but its cause was of no immediate concern of hers; in her experience men of God had many secrets, many lies, it was inconsequential. He had something which would soften the edges of Riddick's mind.

**

Riddick watched River rise from her seat and come skipping towards him, a broad lopsided smile on her face.

"You're drunk." He grunted; not bothering in the least to conceal the annoyance in his voice. River pinched him. "Ow, what the fuck?" He snapped.

"He is red and jagged. It hurts." She pouted.

"Make even less sense when you're drunk." He scowled at her.

"If he continues to be unpleasant she will not give him his gift." She said firmly. She moved to take a step backwards to lean against a wagon but misjudged the distance and stumbled over her feet; landing on her butt in a cloud of dust. She frowned at the ground unsure of how she had come to be there.

Riddick's scowl broke; a smirk replacing it as he shook his head and helped her back to her feet. "You been drinking all night girl?" He chuckled, forgetting his anger.

"So has he." She pouted.

"You're brother would rupture something if he saw you drunk."

"Not relevant." She dismissed the statement with just the trace of a slur. "He is incapac pac..pacitated."

"Yeah I saw that." Riddick laughed. "What was this about a gift?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow curiously. The last time it had been a jug of wine, this time he was hoping for something a bit stronger.

River's frown reversed itself and she produced with a rather dramatic flourish; which she stumbled through as she withdrew a plain silver flask from one of the pockets in her skirt. Riddick unscrewed the lid and took a tentatively inhale; an appreciative smile crossing his face as he did so.

"Where'd you find this? Sure as hell ain't the same _gou shi_ (crap) I've been drinking all night." He took a sip; it was smooth and sweet, some of the best he'd tasted in a good long while. He was beyond curious as to where she could have found something on this moon which tasted like that.

"The Elder has many secrets." River giggled conspiratorially.

"Does he now?" Riddick asked; his mood drastically improved with the addition of good whiskey and River's company. "Care to share?"

River shook her head in the negative; her body jerking with the motion. "Too much to look; too fuzzy to care." She shrugged carelessly.

"So you haven't looked, but you still know he's a liar?" He questioned; realizing the conversation might be useless given her state but not wanting her to go skipping back off. He had her attention now and he was unwillingly to share it again.

"Liars-" she started before willingly dropping herself to the ground as her center of gravity deserted her. "-think in painted colors that aren't theirs. She doesn't need to know what they are thinking to know that it is untrue. She _feels_ it is before she _knows_ it. Emotion before thought." She was swaying slightly now even as she sat on the ground and propped herself up by leaning back on one arm.

Riddick for his part had not understood a single word of it; he shook his head as he laughed. "Come on girl, let's get you back to the ship before you wind up face down like your brother."

River eyed his offered hand uneasily. It wasn't that she didn't trust him; she didn't rightly trust her ability to grab said hand and propel herself through gravity as was required to stand. "It is unwise. The ground is better."

Riddick barked out another laugh. "Lightweight." He snorted as he reached down to pull her up. "Whoa " He caught her as she almost went right back down and easily swept up her legs to carry her bridal style.

River let out a sigh as she rested her head against his chest, "Gravity is failing." She mumbled.

"Nah girl, that's just the booze." He smirked.

"Don't tell Simon," She pleaded meekly soothed by the steady rumble in his chest; vaguely it reminded her of a growly purr.

Riddick smirked down at her mess of hair as she snuggled against him; the warm caress of her breath against his chest was entirely too distracting. "Keep my secrets, I'll keep yours."

**

"It makes the rain come when you turn it. The rain is scarce, and comes only when needed most. And such is men like you." Elder Gommen said to Jayne as he held up a long rain stick and tilted it; the soft melody of the seeds inside was almost hypnotic.

"Sounds pretty " Kaylee admired.

Jayne for his part looked to be on the verge of tears as he reverently accepted the stick. "This is the most.. .you," He stuttered as a result of both the drink and the emotion. "Friend. You're the guy. You see this?" He slurred to Kaylee.

The mechanic threw her arms around him and pecked a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Told you, the shiniest of shiny! Even the Elder thinks so!"

"I'll treasure this." Jayne told the older man as he crushed him into a hug. Kaylee who was still slung around Jayne's neck was pulled into the hug by default.

"Well this is touching." Riddick half-smirked as he stopped in front of the trio.

Jayne broke away from the hug immediately. "Look Riddick, got me a stick! Something 'bout rain and great men!" He held out the stick for Riddick's inspection.

"It's a stick." Riddick said, unimpressed.

"But it makes rain!" Kaylee cried out.

Riddick looked up at the sky. "Looks clear to me." He smirked.

"Rain sticks ." River suddenly groaned as she looked up from Riddick's chest. "Used by primitive cultures of polytheistic religions on Earth-that-was."

"Huh?" Jayne looked at her.

"It is a nice stick, both of them." River acknowledged squinting.

"Both?" Kaylee giggled. "River, sweetie I think you're drunk."

"Yeah and whose fault is that?" Riddick raised an eyebrow.

"Don't know what you're talkin' 'bout, Riddick." Kaylee tried to seem offended but the sudden snorting laughter of Jayne ruined the effect as she couldn't help but join him.

"I'm going to take her back to the ship, if her brother wakes back up-," he jerked his head in the direction of the haystack, "-tell him so."

"She's looking a bit green there." Jayne observed as he cautiously scooted away.

River managed an offended groan.

"Aw, sweetie." Kaylee half-slurred as she struggled to stand. "I can take her, it's my fault anyways."

"No. I got it." Riddick answered a bit quickly and harshly; however everyone present was a bit too drunk to notice.

"Alright then " Kaylee's voice trailed off as she leaned against Jayne's shoulder. "Iffin' you say." Riddick however was already walking away.

**

"So the Preacher thing just ain't for show?" Riddick asked as they passed by the blanket covered corpses of the bandits on the way towards the ship.

"I am a Shepherd." Book looked up from his Bible. "Even the wicked deserve a proper word."

"How honorable of you, Commander," Riddick snorted sarcastically.

"I'm not that man anymore, Riddick."

"You keep saying that."

"Do you forget that you lived that life too, Riddick?" Book retorted though his voice remained calm. "It's a bit hypercritical to judge me, don't you think?"

"Blood doesn't wash off, Preacher." Riddick half-growled. River moaned against his chest again and his attention was refocused; his tone shifted and he gently lifted her chin. "Stay with me girl, almost there."

Book arched an eyebrow. "Does the Captain know the girl is with you in that state?"

"Fuck you," Riddick barked angrily. "Girl's no concern of yours."

"All of God's creatures are my concern, Riddick." He answered simply.

"_Wuo jai jeong yi chi _(let me repeat myself); she's not yours to _shi guan _(have concern/show concern for)." His voice lowered to a gravelly rumble and his eyes lit with a gleam that was all too familiar to the Preacher.

"All the same," Book said calmly as he went back to his Bible, "I'll be sure to tell the Captain you escorted River back to the ship."

"He's over there." Riddick jerked his head. "Wearing flowers in his hair and jumping around like a damn fool."

"_Ren ci de shang di _ (Merciful god)." River moaned before trying to push away from Riddick's hold. At first he wouldn't allow it but the sudden retching of her body clued Riddick into the purpose of her struggle and he released her; taking a quick step back as he did so. River dropped herself to the ground and began to violently throw up every ounce of strawberry wine she had consumed.

"_Hao, zhe zhen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan_ (well, this is a happy development)." Riddick muttered as he stood back to let River heave it all out.

"You should get her brother." Book suggested as he made a face and stepped back as well.

"Yeah, well he's back there, face down in a haystack. If you can wake him, by all means have him come and collect his puking, drunk, crazy little sister." Riddick snapped at him. When he was sure the girl had gotten rid of it all he bent back down and swopped up her small, trembling body into his arms again. He swore under his breath. "Come on girl; let's get you back to the ship." He ignored Book and started walking.

"_Shuhn ming shi t'wohn gu jong_ (Life support failure)." River groaned at being jostled.

"Ain't dying." Riddick chuckled and River groaned in disagreement. "Puke on me, girl, and I swear I'll drop your ass."

**

"Hey Jayne, like my hat?" Mal yelled as Jayne and Kaylee stumbled onto the bench next to him. "A pretty lady gave it to me."

"I got me a stick!" Jayne said excitedly holding it out. "Makes the rain come," he frowned a bit, "Old guy gave it to me though."

Kaylee punched him playfully. "Don't need no pretty girls to give ya stuff."

"Think my hat's made out of a tree." Mal said as thoughtfully as his mind would allow.

"Wonder iffin' it's from the same was my stick?" Jayne asked with just as much thoughtfulness. "Does that make us tree brothers or somethin'?"

* * *

Riddick watched River sleep; fascinated by the slow rise and fall of her chest, he timed it with his own and inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes. What the fuck was it about this girl? A week ago he had been itching to put as much distance as he could between them, and now? Now he was back to inhaling her scent like a fucking drug. His body hummed with tension despite the fact she was sleeping before him now; the urge to beat a few of the rutting _hun dans _(bastards) who had touched her within an inch of the fucking lives was still raw. The fact that he felt that way at all made the urge all the stronger.

Why the fuck should he care if the girl danced with some jackass farmer? Why did watching her smile at Jayne make his blood boil? Why the _fuck_ had Richard B. Riddick carried a drunk, crazy, puking girl back to the ship and put her to bed with nothing but the purest of intentions? The Contract, he told himself; but even he knew it was bullshit. The truth of the matter was ever since that girl popped out of that gorraam cryobox she'd been under his skin. What was even more incredulous was the fact she _**wanted**_ to be there. She'd seen his nightmares, felt that thing which clawed inside his head, listened to his mind run on tangents of killing sprees; she'd felt his joy of the kill through his mind, the rush of warm blood down his arm, and still she felt safe with him. He was the first one she ran to, even before her gorram sissy Core bred brother. His eyes were the first she sought out when she walked into a room. He was the one she told all her secrets to.

Ever since Jiangyin she'd rarely left his side; she sketched while he worked out, danced along the catwalk while he worked in the bay, hummed broken bits of songs as he flipped through a book or cleaned his weapons, and at night, when he woke in a cold sweat with trembling hands she would be waiting outside his bunk door. Her presence had become expected, natural, soothing even; he became agitated in her absence. It worked both ways in that aspect though; since Jiangyin she hadn't had to be sedated once, she was calm in his presence, perhaps not always completely 'there' but undeniably more coherent and lucid than when he wasn't. He'd figured if he left he'd get used to her not being around; but River, she would crumble without him. She needed him or she was lost. That thought brought a certain amount of smug satisfaction.

River hadn't wanted to go with him on Tyrus, but she went because he told her too. She hadn't wanted to read minds, but she did so because he told her to; and that pink haired girl, she definitely did not want back in there, but she _**asked**_ him not to make her. She would have gone if he had told her to. A slow smirk formed across his lips and he relished the possibilities. He was the Rock and the River could be made to bend to his will. Slowly all the questions of why faded from his mind. Why was no longer important; not when one of the most beautiful creatures in the 'verse had given him power over her.

Riddick did not look at her with lust, when he saw in her beauty it had almost nothing at all to do with her physical form; she was like a rusted shiv, fragile yet jagged and lethal. All one needed to do was clean it up, smooth away the jagged edges, sharpen its point. A plan began to formulate in his mind. He needed to get her away from her brother; away from any other that could influence her, but he wasn't dumb enough to try to jump ship with her yet. She wasn't ready. She trusted him, but she loved her brother, she loved the ship. It was an obstacle but not one he was overly concerned with. As far as he was concerned he was already half way there, he was her Rock, her _shi ruo_ (strength); despite popular opinion he was capable of being extremely convincing even without the promise of violence.

That was a line he would not cross with her. He would never physically hurt her. The thought of doing so actually made him nauseous. She was too valuable to him; but even more than that he had no desire to make her fear him. He wanted devotion, loyalty, and he wanted it unquestioningly. It would take time, but he was a patient man, his life had taught him to be; it had taught him to wait for the moment and strike only when he could be assured of victory. River was not something he was willing to lose; she was his.

He rolled that thought along the edges of his mind. _**His.**_ What had he ever held claim on that wasn't expendable? The answer was a resounding nothing. Acquiring material assents was a fruitless endeavor when you lived on the run. He had no family, no home world; his entire life fit into two duffel bags and there was not a single thing inside which could not be replaced. Now he had something that was irreplaceable and he knew without a doubt he would kill anyone who tried to take her from him; even her brother. Fuck the consequences.

He heard the airlock ramp open and made his exit; heading directly to his dorm, he collapsed on his bunk. He didn't bother undressing; he merely kicked off his boots and folded his arms beneath his head. The itch he'd felt earlier had dissipated entirely now that he had figured River's place in his life. A new sense of purpose washed over him not unlike the moment he and River had sealed a Contract in blood.

He decided he would sneak her off ship at every opportunity; maybe even pull a job on the side under the crew's nose, he'd need to start stockpiling coin again anyway and Mal was absolute crap at finding the jobs that paid good. It meant he'd have to come back from the dead. Rick Marshall was a nobody; Richard B. Riddick could make a grown man piss himself. Being dead had its advantages but with River at his side, he wouldn't need to be; with River at his side there wasn't a power in the 'verse that would be able to stop them. His last conscious thought before sleep over took him dwelled on River's scent; traces of which remained behind on his clothing from when he had carried her.

****

When Riddick opened his eyes again it was because the scent of wet foliage and sulfuric fumes tickled his nostrils.

He was not on Serenity.

Above him the thick canopy of trees nearly blotted out the sky but traces of the ever swirling violet clouds could be seen.

He knew what waited for him at the edge of the jungle.

He'd never seen this place awake; his mind concealed it from him then.

But now, now he could recall the name of every mountain chain, every jungle.

He knew this world as though he himself had created it.

This was Home.

This was Furya.

He came to the edge of the overgrown jungle; a clearing on a cliff face.

The violet clouds covered every inch of sky and cast the world in a never ending dusk.

A woman; her hair long and dreadlocked, bits of bead and bone knotted into its length; she was dressed in soft leathers, a curved sword on her waist.

_Shirah._ Riddick spoke her name with a reverence he did not know he was capable of.

_**Child of Fury.**_ She acknowledged his presence without turning her gaze away.

Riddick stepped forward, away from the shade of the jungle; to see for himself what enraptured her so.

The darkness hid nothing from him and his blood began to boil.

The valley was littered with rotting corpses; men, women, children, infants, none had been spared.

Their bodies mutilated and faces contorted in endless agony.

They were screaming. Every last one of them.

A soft hand on his shoulder tore his focus from the sight before him and locked his eyes with a pair of that mirrored his own. They glowed beneath his ultra violet gaze. They were beauty incarnate.

She was the heat of the flame, she was anger, she was passion, she was the song of blood and vengeance,

She was FURY.

And he felt her presence more than he saw it.

Her touch brought that thing inside roaring to life. She called to his blood.

And once more, though Riddick never remembered doing so, he dropped to his knees before her and lowered his eyes.

_**You are not ready to know these things.**_She waved her arm and the bodies vanished, in their place a stone pillar, a grave marker, one for every body she had removed from his vision and the field was endless.

_**A time will come when our past will stake its claim. That time is not now.**_

_I'm not a hero._

_**No, you are a Furyan.**_

Riddick's head jerked up immediately; her response all too familiar.

_**She hears the echoes of my words to you.**_ She answered the question that had not yet fully formed in his mind. She smiled down at him and raised his chin to look at him better, much as a mother would her favored child. _**She is capable of more than you know, as are you.**_ She dropped his chin and though her smile remained it was tainted heavily by sorrow.

_She's got nothing to do with any of this! _ Riddick practically snarled as he found himself on his feet and ready to lunge though every fiber of his being screamed at him to stop.

Her eyes flashed a brilliant blue and Riddick found himself on the ground gasping for air.

_**You over step yourself.**_Her voice echoed and thundered through the valley, the earth itself seemed to quake before her._** For all that you are, you are no one to challenge me. I have no desire to hinder my own cause. It was she who taught you to speak my name and it is she who sings my songs though all others have forgotten. It is her plight that will bring you to me. Her fate lies entirely with you. **_

Riddick forced his lungs to take in air. There was a burning sensation on his chest and he tore off his shirt to find to his horror a glowing handprint was centered there. He looked up at her; confusion laced with fear written across his face as the mark seared itself into his chest.

_**It is time for you to awaken, Furyan.**_

Riddick woke abruptly; a cold sweat covering his face and the scent charred flesh burned into his nostrils. His breathing came in heavy gasps and his hands trembled violently. All of his body seemed to hum with electric energy. He remembered everything. His hands moved toward his chest and ripped off his shirt. He stared incredulously at the perfect expanse of flesh. The only blemishes were the scars and burn markings he was all too familiar with; there was no sign of the hand print. He fell back against the pillow trying to slow his breathing. It was just a dream; only it had been different. Different then all the others, for the first time ever he could recall every detail in perfect clarity as if it had been more; as if it was an actual memory.

_Who the fuck was that woman?_

He wanted to desperately ask River; something told him she would know. She had been able to tell him her name long before he could remember it himself. Could she tell him who she was as well? Was she a real person? Had she ever been real? Was she from his past? Was she just a figment of his mind conjured by his need to remember? What was he supposed to remember? Who the fuck was he?

'_**She is more than you know, you both are.'**_

Just want the fuck was that supposed to mean?

'_**it is she who sings my songs though all others have forgotten.**_'

Was that what she had been humming all this time?

'_**It is her plight that will bring you to me.'**_

Did that have something to do with The Contract?

'_**It is time for you to awaken, Furyan.'**_

Is that why he could remember? Or was that the handprint? Or was it both?

Serenity was still grounded, but running in day cycle. He could hear the echo of footsteps and muffled voices with too many walls between himself and their sources to decipher meanings, but the noise was there none the less. It took a considerable amount of effort to peel himself out of bed. His head was throbbing which he had been expecting from the amount of whiskey he'd consumed last night; though he suspected it had a lot more to do with his dream. A headache was a headache. He had slept in the same cargos he'd worn last night and he reached into the lower left pocket for the flask River had given him and took a sip; hoping it would take the edge off the pounding in his head. His entire body ached like he had spent the entire night working out instead of sleeping.

_No rest for the wicked._ He smirked bitterly to himself as he exited his dorm and headed up to the mess.

Jayne and Kaylee were exiting as he entered. "Cap't wants us loading up in twenty." Jayne told him.

Riddick merely grunted in answer and moved to pour himself a cup of coffee. Simon was huddled over his own cup looking even worse than Riddick felt.

"Where's your sister, Doc?" He asked as he leaned against the counter; savoring the strong coffee.

The girl in question appeared in the door way before he could answer. She looked worse than her brother. "River, are you alright?" Simon asked concerned. "You didn't drink last night did you?" He asked as his brow furrowed. "I'm sorry I um... I got a bit carried away myself I should have ."

River silenced him by reaching across the table and covering his mouth. "Ssshhhhhh. Hurts." She groaned as she let her head fall against the table.

"River, you didn't?" Simon asked aghast.

Riddick chuckled from behind them.

River looked up and frowned at him. "He said he wouldn't tell." She groused.

"Gave it away yourself, girl." He smirked as he poured her a cup of coffee.

"River!" Simon said in horror. "You're not and with your meds "

"Relax, Doc." Riddick came to her rescue as he placed the coffee down in front of River and took the chair next to her. "I had my eye on her."

"Is that supposed to be comforting?"

"Watch it, Doc." Riddick warned.

"She shouldn't have been drinking at all." Simon snapped.

"Yeah, well, you're a shining example, aren't you?" Riddick shot right back.

River ignored them and groaned. Her head was simply not up to the task; there was a violent jarring inside and her entire body ached. She had decided upon waking up this morning that strawberry wine was not, in fact, divine; it was the beverage of choice for sadists and masochists and she would never again have any part of it. She could feel the jagged edges of her brother's anger begin to poke at her mind as the insults he traded with Riddick began to rise to a head rupturing volume. It took her another moment to realize she was only hearing and feeling her brother's; that Riddick was only emitting a low, steady hum. There were no images, no emotions, no random thoughts; his mind produced only an incredibly soothing hum.

It was nothingness, and it was absolute bliss. Slowly her head turned up to look at him; she reached out her mind much like she had done on Tyrus and wrapped herself tendril-like around him. There was no resistance; in fact she moved in him with more ease than before. There were no assaulting thoughts; no jagged edges, no swirling emotions, there was stillness and peace. To remain there was almost effortless. It was as though his mind welcomed the intrusion. She tried to push herself deeper but she moved through mists. There was nothing for her to read.

" You spoiled piece of " Riddick was practically snarling at the Doctor when his tirade was abruptly ended by River grabbing his head with both her hands and forcing him to look at her. "What in the gorraam hell are you doing?" He snapped but did not pull away. River rarely touched anyone willingly. He had been surprised she'd even let him carry her last night.

"Think." She ordered.

"What?" Both Simon and Riddick answered in unison.

River looked at her brother harshly. "Be still!" She snapped and looking back to Riddick she ordered again. "Think."

"What, at you?" He asked more than a little confused.

"Yes. Think with purpose."

"Okay ." Riddick looked at her skeptically but held her gaze as he pushed to her _/I had a dream last night I can remember/_

Shock rippled across River's face as she stumbled backwards. Every detail of Riddick's dream played through her mind. She wasn't just watching it, she was experiencing, she felt the wind, the smell of burning flesh, the sight of the woman called Shirah and all her magnificent glory; she saw The Marking, The Awakening. River opened and closed her mouth several times but she was unable to form words. Shirah knew of her. How? Shirah was supposed to be a figment. Shirah was not supposed to be tangible. It wasn't possible. It went against all logic and proven laws of nature. She had assumed the woman was memory, but she wasn't; she was so much more.

"River?" Simon asked cautiously.

Riddick remained silent as the dream replayed itself in his head. His eyes did not leave River's as he felt a play of emotions he wasn't entirely sure were his. It was strange; now that he focused, he could almost feel River inside his head. It wasn't an intrusive feeling; just the knowledge that he wasn't entirely alone in there. On Tyrus, he hadn't felt her until she needed him to help pull her out, but now he could feel it as though she was running phantom fingers through hair he didn't have.

"River?" Simon tried again; a bit more forcefully.

River pulled herself away, slowly recoiling her mind from Riddick's.

"River?" Simon called her again; this time standing and walking over to her. He forced her to look at him by gently grabbing her arms. "River?" He shook her slightly.

River looked past her brother to Riddick, the intensity of his gaze drew her to him and she could not look away. "Everything is going to change."

"River, what does that mean?" Simon asked his own increasing panic evident.

River ignored her brother; her focus remained on Riddick. "You are not what they made you to be, you are what you were born to be." She said softly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riddick asked through a clenched jaw.

She couldn't feel his anger. It was evident in his tone and the set of his features but she felt nothing save the steady hum which told her only that he was alive and nothing more. Nothing more than what he chose for her to hear. The Rock had dammed the River. "It doesn't make sense, but it does. How does she know? How does she stop the River?" Her questions were voiced to herself, though she didn't know if she was speaking of Shirah or herself.

"River?" Simon pressed again. "I'm going to get a smoother, you shouldn't have been drinking. You need to get some sleep."

"No drugs, Doc." Riddick said firmly.

"What?" Simon forgot about his sister momentarily as he turned on Riddick. "Just who the hell are you to tell me that?" He demanded.

"Sister's fine, she ain't going crazy, she ain't screaming, you pump her so full of that shit she doesn't remember who she is half the time." Riddick's voice remained steady and calm but he rose from his chair as he spoke.

"You're not a Doctor! You're a gorram murderer! You don't have the first clue ."

"Not a murderer." River stopped her brother. "A Furyan."

"River, you're not making any sense." Simon shook his head. "Let's get you to the Infirmary."

"What did I just tell you, Doc?" Riddick snapped; this time the calm was gone from his voice.

"And what did I tell you, Riddick?" Simon snapped right back.

"Silence!" It was River who yelled as she brought her hands to her temple. "It is too much too much." She muttered and without another glance at either one of them she turned and left the mess. "She belongs to no one but herself." She mumbled too low for Simon but Riddick heard it with perfect clarity and a low growl built in his chest. River for her part had no idea where those words had come from; only that she had felt they needed to be said. She found herself drifting; not walking; but drifting. She was on the catwalk; below her a flurry of activity in the bay she made no notice of.

She found herself in her room and she curled up on her bunk; pulling her blankets above her head in a futile attempt to hide from the world. Riddick's nightmare had become her own and over and over again she saw the glowing blue from the mysterious woman's eyes. The unseen blow that had brought Riddick to his knees and the mark upon his chest. The Contract; _**her plight will bring you to me.**_ The Contract. She saw the truth behind Shirah's words that Riddick did not. A Contract made on a whim sealed in blood. Blood meant everything to the Furyan's. She didn't realize how right she had been when she told him the Furyans had become more. She hadn't known then what it meant; the River had brought her the words and nothing more, the dream had brought her their meaning. A Furyan Contract; again the River had brought her the words, but not the meaning. Now she knew and there was no unknowing. Riddick had bound himself deeply to her on Jiangyin; more deeply than they could have either imaged. The Rock had before just been imagery, imagery to explain a concept she was not fully sure of herself. The Contract had made the Rock tangible.

Why now had his mind changed? Why not then when it was first made? The answer had become clear even before the questions had fully formed in her mind. Riddick had made the Contract without fully accepting its meaning; he had accepted the surface value of it. _**Her plight will bring you to me.**_ Had he accepted it more deeply last night? Had he accepted her? Or had he accepted being the Rock? There was no way of knowing now that she was blocked from his mind. For the first time in a very long time River felt the frustration of not knowing what someone was thinking. She had thought she had desired that above all things; to be a normal girl. Now she was, in this aspect alone, with this man alone; she had no idea what was going on in his mind. She did not feel relief, she did not feel happiness, she felt anger, she felt frustration, she felt unsure.

**

"What did you do to her last night?" Simon accused Riddick.

"Nothing, Doc," Riddick replied just as heatedly if not a bit more so. "Just took care of her when her _gou shi_ (shit) brother got too drunk to stand. You should be thanking me."

"_Gou shi_ (shit) brother?" Simon asked his face turning red. "Do you have any idea what I've given up for her? All I have done for her?"

"Hard to forget when you keep reminding everybody." Riddick growled.

Simon actually took a step back at that. "How dare you! Tell me what you did to her last night!"

"Don't like repeating myself, Doc."

"You obviously did something." Simon accused again. "Where are you going?" He demanded as Riddick headed out of the mess. "We're not done here!"

"Yeah we are." Riddick said darkly. "Got nothing left to say to you except stay the fuck outta my way, Core-boy."

"Well that's fine by me, but you stay the hell away from my sister, she's not your concern!" Simon shot back and turned to sit back down; he'd give River a few minutes before going to talk to her. He needed to cool down so he didn't lose his patience with her.

Riddick felt his blood heat; absolute rage flooded him at the doctor's words.

Simon found himself slammed against the wall of the mess; his face brutally crushed against metal. One arm was twisted up hard and he felt the tip of a blade pressed against his lower back.

Riddick leaned in close to Simon's ear; his voice was lowered to a harsh graveled whisper, every word dripped with the promise of pain and blood. "You're a doctor, feel that?" He questioned but didn't waste time waiting for an answer as he increased the pressure ever so slightly. His shiv cut through the fabric but stopped before the point of breaking skin. "Abdominal aorta, third lumber down. It's a gusher Doc, but you know that." He smirked. "All I have to do is just push, less than a pound of pressure to cut through flesh and by the time the crew found you it'd be too late. You don't issue orders to me, Tam. I told you, little Crazy's grown on me. She's your sister; I get it, I do, that's the only reason you're not bleeding out on the floor right now. Thank her the next time. Remember this moment though Doctor, 'cause if I have to remind you again, won't be no words, you won't even see it coming." Riddick released Simon and stepped away, the smirk never left his face as he watched the good doctor crumple into a heap on the floor. Riddick couldn't help himself as he planted his boot into Simon's stomach. "You even think of trying anything on me and I will kill you."

Simon pulled himself up coughing as Riddick turned to walk away. A mixture of fear, anger and humiliation on his face as he glared daggers at the killer's back.

"Smell that, Doc," Riddick called over his shoulder as he inhaled deeply. "That's fear, nothing better in the morning." His resounding laugh echoed through the mess and straight down Simon's spine as he left.

Immediately he began mentally packing their bags. What had he been thinking, taking up with thugs and criminals? He'd thought they'd be safe. He'd thought having the 'verse's most wanted watching out for them they would be safe. He'd gotten their new indents, hadn't he? The man was unbalanced, disturbed and for some god-forsaken reason had taken a liking to his sister. As he pulled himself together, he realized he was completely and utterly out of his league. The man had escaped numerous maximum security prisons, evaded the law for nearly a decade, faked his own death; how in the hell was he supposed to run from him? He had assumed the Alliance was the worst the 'verse had to offer and he had been wrong.

"Doc?" Simon was startled from his near panic attack by the sound of Zoe's voice. "You look like you've seen a ghost. You alright?" She arched an eyebrow at him.

"Ye..Yes. I'm fine, just well "

"Hung over?" She chuckled. "Hay stacks can't be all that comfortable."

"Uh no." He forced a chuckled as he raked a slightly shaky hand through his hair. "I wish I knew what they put in their whiskey." He covered.

Zoe laughed as she moved past him to head to the bridge. "Best not to ask, Doc."

Simon stared after her for a moment before his brain restarted. He took off towards the Infirmary at a near run, vaguely registering Riddick and the rest of the crew loading supplies in the bay. He paused outside of River's dorm and rested his head against the door; her room was silent and he hoped she was sleeping. Moving forward toward the Infirmary it was with trembling hands he loaded a syringe with enough sedative to take down one of those elephants he'd seen once at a zoo on Osiris. He capped it and slipped it into his pocket resolving to carry it with him everywhere. Riddick might have been able to physically crush him; but the next time Simon would at least have some means of defense. His mind whirled; he needed to get them off the ship without Riddick's notice. Maybe he could sneak them off the next time they were on a decent planet? River was not the soul of discretion however, so he would need to do it without her prior knowledge and leave most of their belongings behind.

He was loath to leave Serenity; as much as he complained about it and its crew, it was the closest thing to a home River had. Where would they go now? Who could they trust? Nowhere and no one were the only answers he could come up with. He physically shook himself. Now was not the time for fear or hesitation. It made no difference. He had broken his sister out of one of the most heavily guarded medical facilities he had ever seen; they'd escaped Alliance radar so far. He could do this. He would do this. Anything to keep River safe.


	27. Our Mrs Reynolds II

**A/N: Well this is a first, an a/n in the middle of an episode. So do you see where I was nervous about bringing an aspect of the 'other' into the world of Firefly? A few points to cover any questions:**

***River has not yet figured out exactly who or what Shirah is, up until this point she hadn't really questioned it. She was a voice inside Riddick's head; she's got plenty of voices up inside her own head. Now she realizes that Shirah is aware of what happens to Riddick in the 'real world'.**

***Remember the a/n update? Where I mentioned that Riddick was able to resist the quasi dead and actually fought back mentally against it? His ability to block River is similar to that, he just never before tried because he didn't think it was possible. (CoR hasn't happened yet in this story) How many times did he think to himself there was no point in trying to? He just assumed she could get in regardless. Shirah changed that she kind of turned it on so he knew it was there.**

***The Furyan mark did not fully awaken Riddick; it kind of just allowed him to access certain parts of his mind. Keep in mind what Shirah said to him because it's not like flipping a switch, its more like she showed him the key he still has to unlock and walk through the door himself. "Her plight will bring you to me."**

***Last point: Remember in the Interlude Confused or Crazy:**

"**The River is not the only variable in the equation to be affected." **Riddick repressed the urge to growl; he been so caught up in his own head he'd stopped paying attention to what was going on around him and that was unacceptable. "The River smooths the Rock as time passes," she continued as she entered the common room and curled herself up on the opposite end of the couch. "He learns grace and humility as she moves around him, through him. **Stone is porous,** he may guide her but **he is shaped by her, he absorbs her."**

**That being said, I'm shutting up now.**

* * *

"Elder Gommen," Mal said heartily as he clapped the older man on the back. "I and my crew thank you for your hospitality."

"We owe you a great debt. I am sorry we have so little to pay it with." He replied humbly as he gestured toward the sundries the crew and a few of the settlers were loading onto the ship.

"Well, I wouldn't think on it overly, I don't think Jayne's ever gonna let go of that stick." Mal grinned. His grin faded quickly as Zoe hurried down the ramp to speak quickly in his ear.

"Alliance patrol boat headin' into atmo, scanners just picked it up, Sir." She whispered.

Mal immediately turned back to face the Elder; a smile plastered across his face. "Well we gotta fly now."

"We will pray for a safe voyage, and hope to lay eyes on you again 'ere too long friend."

"You can count out it. 'Bye now." Mal waved him off as he jogged back up the already closing airlock ramp. He was slightly unsurprised to find the bay was emptied by the time he turned around. He rolled his eyes and snorted; he was really going to have to work on the whole Captain-Crew relationship. It wasn't right that the Captain was left to secure the cargo. That's what he paid them to do. He was however feeling particularly generous given the fact that the job had gone without a hitch and they'd been thrown a hell of a shindig in payment; not to mention nobody had gotten shot or tied to a stake, so he went about checking the rigging himself with only a little resentment.

"Holy shit! Who the hell are you?" Mal demanded angrily at the young woman with short strawberry blonde hair and doe-eyes of a particularly attractive shade of green, who had suddenly popped up from behind a crate.

"What do you mean?" She asked timidly.

"What are you doing on my boat?"

"But you know I'm cleave to you." She said in an almost quiet, pleading way.

"To wabba who?" Mal asked confused.

"Did Elder Gommen not tell you?"

"Tell me what?" He asked incredulously. "Who are you?"

"Mal." Riddick interrupted as he walked back into the bay. After that little episode with the girl's brother and the new revelation of River only hearing what he let her; he realized that he was going to have to step up his plans. Which meant they needed jobs that paid better; no more of this do a good deed for a couple of crates of fresh produce_ gou shi_ (crap). "I know a guy on ." He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the girl standing in front of Mal. _What the fuck?_ "Who's she?" He asked in more on a grunt as he walked over.

"The hell if I know!" Mal throw his arms up in the air. "I'm trying to figure that out."

"Mr. Reynolds, Sir, I'm your wife."

Mal blinked several times in an attempt to process that information. "My wife?"

"Your wife?" Riddick asked with just as much confusion.

"Could you repeat that please?" He asked slowly.

"I'm your wife. That was your agreement with Elder Gommen since he had not the cash or livestock "

"Wait." Mal stopped her rubbing his face. "I'm sorry but go back to the part where you're my wife."

"Wait, you let them pay you with a wife?" Riddick started to laugh. "That's the dumbest thing A wife?" Riddick roared with laughter, using a nearby crate to hold himself up. "Gets lonely in the black but "

"Shut the hell up!" Mal barked. "I didn't I never nobody told me " He found he was unable to form a coherent statement on the situation.

"I don't please you." The meek woman said quietly and looked down at her feet.

"You can't please me. You've never met me." Mal looked absolutely bewildered; blessedly Zoe and Jayne reentered the bay in that moment. "Zoe, why do I have a wife?" He asked hopefully.

"You got a wife?" Jayne asked confused. "Hell, I didn't think we drank that much last night." Zoe remained silent; too afraid she would burst out laughing if she opened her mouth in the slightest. The look on her Captain's face was almost more than she could handle.

"I didn't we're not What the hell is going on here?" Mal demanded.

"I'm sorry if I shame you." The girl said softly.

"You don't I don't " He took a deep breath. "Look you don't shame me. Zoe, get Wash down here."

"This is Zoe. I need all personnel in the bay." She managed to suppress her chuckle until after she had delivered the message through the comm.

"All?" Mal yelled at her. "I said Wash gorram it!"

"Captain," She replied sweetly; not even bothering to cover the smirk on her face. "Everyone should have a chance to congratulate you on your day of bliss."

"There's no bliss!" Mal yelled. "What bliss?"

"Captain, don't sully this." Zoe snorted the last bit out with a choked laugh.

**

River peeled away her blanket at the sound of the first mate's voice over the speaker. She furrowed her brow and pushed her mind out; seeking to find out if it was necessary she leave her cocoon. There were eight patterns of thought and she began to dismiss it before she bolted upright on her bed. She hadn't noticed it before because she had grown accustomed to eight streams of consciousness and hadn't realized that she shouldn't be able to hear Riddick. She wasn't hearing Riddick, but there was eight streams regardless. She tossed off her blanket and entered the hallway just as her brother and Book were heading into the bay as well.

**

"Who's the new recruit?" Book asked as he, Simon and River came down the stairs. Simon had one protective arm wrapped around River's shoulders. Riddick's glare turned to a smug grin as River shook herself out of her brother's grasp and went immediately to stand beside him. Simon wisely remained silent with his protests; though River heard them loud and clear, she ignored them.

"What's going on?" Wash seconded as he came down from the bridge.

"Hey who's she?" Kaylee asked as she and Inara entered from the opposite side as Simon and Book.

"Everybody-," Zoe announced with a wide grin, "-meet our Mrs. Reynolds."

"You got married?" Kaylee asked gleefully. Inara did not seem as nearly as enthused.

"Um congratulations?" Simon said after a moment of stunned silence.

"We always hoped you two kids would get together." Wash said cheerfully. "Who is she?"

"She's no one!" Mal snapped; the no one in question began to cry.

"Captain!" Kaylee admonished.

"Woulda ya stop that?" Mal pleaded with the girl.

"I'm sorry." She said quickly wiping her eyes and bracing herself for something.

"You brute." Wash shook his head disapprovingly.

"Oh, sweetie." Kaylee said soothingly as she wrapped her arms around the Captain's wife. "Don't feel bad. He makes everybody cry. He's like a monster." She shot Mal a glare.

"You wouldn't happen to have an encyclopedia, son?" Book asked Simon.

"_Dang ran_ (of course)." He answered and left to go retrieve it after shooting his sister a wary glance.

"I'm not a monster!" Mal defended himself. "Wash, you turn this boat around right now!" He ordered.

"Can't."

"That's an order." Mal said firmly turning a bit red.

"Yeah, but I can't. Alliance touched down the second we left. And there's already a bulletin on the cortex as to the murder of a prefect's nephew. Yup, that's right," Wash continued at Mal's disbelieving stare. "One of our bandits had some family ties. So, unless you feel like walking into a gallows, I suggest we continue on to Beaumonde and you enjoy your honeymoon." Wash said throwing an arm around his wife.

"This isn't happening." Mal said in disbelief.

"Oh this just keeps getting better and better." Riddick chuckled to River. "I'm glad you didn't warn me about this. Funny as hell."

"There's something wrong with her." River said quietly.

"'Course there is; she married Mal." Riddick smirked.

"No." She said firmly, stepping forward slightly. "There's something wrong." River paused momentarily to reach out to Riddick's mind; she latched on and then pushed herself into the newest passenger's mind.

Riddick closed his eyes behind his goggles as he felt River attach herself to him. He was sorry he hadn't been able to feel it before; now, that he was aware of it, it was like a warm reassuring caress against his mind. The feelings of warmth lasted only momentarily. It took every bit of his self control to not start clawing at his head and to instead remain standing and stoic.

Every emotion, every image River saw and felt slammed against his mind like the force of a thousand hammers against a single pane of glass. None of it made sense. He could interpret nothing but he felt it all as it rushed into and through him. He staggered back physically, almost imperceptibly but as he did so he felt the connection break; it was cut abruptly and roughly, it was ripped from him.

When River first pushed herself into to the girl's mind she did so with an amazing amount of ease. She filtered through it as though she was flipping through the pages of a book. It was not a flooding, raging River; it was a controlled stream she could languish in as she chose. The girl's name was Saffron; but it was newly created. Lies, deception, secrets, a deal between her and the Elder Gommen. GREED. As the weight of the deception became known to her, anger rose up in her. She pushed herself further, to learn all she could, and the deeper she went, the more her rage grew. Suddenly she felt the cord between her and Riddick snap. The woman that called herself Saffron's mind collapsed in on her all at once. The stream was once more a raging River. She lost herself. **REALITY SHIFTED.**

None save River and Riddick were aware of the momentous things going on inside their heads. On the outside, their appearances remained unchanged. The conversation around them continued.

"Will you stop crying?" Mal snapped at the girl; his brain on absolute overload at the moment.

"Oh for God's sake Mal, can you be a human being for thirty seconds!" Inara snapped speaking for the first time.

"You know," Wash said with a smirk, "From one married man to another "

"I'm not married!" Mal yelled. "I'm very sorry, you don't shame me, I'm sure you have very nice qualities but I didn't even marry you."

"I believe you did." Book said looking up from the encyclopedia Simon had brought him. "Last night."

Mal froze and took a step towards Jayne. "How drunk was I last night?" He asked quietly. He had to admit, the details of the shindig were a little blurry.

"I don't know." Jayne shrugged. "I passed out."

"It says here." Book started reading from the handheld. "The woman places a crown of flowers on his head and this represents her obeisance to his rule. And he drinks of her wine. This represents his obeisance to the life giving blood of her well I'll skip that part, and then they dance with a joining of hands. The marriage ceremony of the Triumph settlers, been so for over eighty years. You, Sir, are a newlywed." He smirked as he powered down the encyclopedia.

"_Thief_!" River shrieked and lunged toward the girl. The entire crew snapped their attention from the newest passenger to her. It was only Riddick's quick reflexes that stopped River from attacking; as she lunged, he grabbed her crushing her into his chest. She struck him and screamed. He had no idea what had happened. Everything he had seen and felt had blurred into one single incomprehensible swell of emotion. Vaguely he wondered if that was why River seemed crazy. If it all usually hit her like that; it was enough to drive anyone over the edge; the constant onslaught of things which never made sense. He didn't have time to fully process those thoughts however; River continued to shriek and fight against his hold.

"Doctor!" Mal roared. "Get her under control!"

Simon was already moving and he pulled the syringe he had loaded from his pocket; relieved beyond measure when Riddick didn't try to fight him on using it. He injected her with only the amount which would be needed to knock her out, recapped it, and returned it to his pocket.

The crew remained motionless, each trying to figure out what in the Hell had set the girl off. River stilled after a few moments; but fought against the effects of the drug until she was overwhelmed. Riddick held her tighter as she calmed; her eyes glazed and locked on to his for a brief moment before she totally succumbed to the effects of the drug and passed out. In one fluid motion Riddick swept River up into his arms fully.

"You're coming with me, Doc." He growled and turned toward the infirmary. Simon followed without complaint or argument. Whatever happened between them was irrelevant now. His sister was all that mattered.

"Okay ." Jayne started confused after the trio had exited the bay. "Anybody?"

"Maybe she was angry the girl had stolen the Captain's heart?" Wash joked in an effort to ease the tension.

"Ain't nobody stolen my heart!" Mal defended. River's fits, although they had become less commonplace lately, were still no big surprise. He dismissed it easily in wake of the other more pressing and relevant problem that was his marriage. "What did it say about divorce?" He asked Book.

The girl burst out in another flood of tears and ran from the room.

"_Nee boo go guh, nee hwun chiou_ (you don't deserve her, you fink)." Kaylee glared at him.

"_Gwan nee tzi-jee duh shr_ (mind your own business)." He snapped right back at her. "Everybody go back to whatever." He ordered after he started after the girl.

"Really think you're the one to talk to her, Sir?" Zoe asked.

"Way I see it, me and her got a thing in common. We're the only ones who don't think it's funny." He growled back.

* * *

"Lay her on the bed." Simon ordered Riddick; forgetting momentarily this was a man who had threatened to kill him. "I need to check her vitals; I may have given her a bit too much."

Riddick laid River gently down; pushing back the question of how the Doc seemed to have a needle prepped and on hand, loaded with more drugs then his sister would need. He remained silent as Simon checked her pupils and her heart rate. "What the hell happened back there, Doc?" He asked after Simon had finished and was pulling a blanket up around her.

"Another fit." Simon dismissed it. "You see now why she needs the meds?" He said haughtily.

Riddick bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue and debated silently how much he wanted to reveal to him. He didn't honestly know what Simon knew already; if anything at all. "How much do you know about what's wrong with your sister?" He decided to start with a question.

"How is that any of your business?" Simon snapped.

"Doc." Riddick warned.

Simon conceded even though he didn't want to; it didn't do him any good to try to pick a fight with the man. "Not much. I have no idea exactly what they did to her. I don't have that kind of equipment. I told you about the surgical scars already, which tells me at some point the operated on her brain and spinal column, tissue samples were taken, but if they took or added anything else I have no way of knowing." He said dejectedly. "I can guess she is suffering from a form of Post-Traumatic Stress, paranoid schizophrenia, and a lack of emotional control. There's nothing in our family medical history which suggests a heredity likelihood that could have been triggered by the trauma, so I'm guessing it's a result of some sort of unilateral brain damage."

"You're wrong." Riddick answered flatly; not taking his eyes off the sleeping girl.

"Excuse me?" Simon asked bristled. "How would you know that?"

"You asked me after we got off Jiangyin if she had said anything to me."

"And?" Simon asked eagerly; forgetting his dislike of the man entirely.

"And, your sister ain't crazy Doc. She's just confused, she's just lost."

"I'm sorry I don't follow." Simon said. "Confused and crazy are the same thing."

"Whatever they did to her-," Riddick continued ignoring him. "-it changed something, she can hear you."

Simon looked at his sister, "She's nearly comatose, there's a theory that she can hear us but whether or not she understands is debatable. I don't see how that has any relevance."

Riddick shook his head, for top three percent the boy sure was slow on the uptake. "I'm not talking about right now." Riddick looked up at him. "I'm talking about all the time, I'm saying she can hear and feel what's going on inside your brain."

Simon snorted in a combination of contempt and disbelief. "This is medical science we're talking about. You can't surgically create a psychic. It doesn't work like that at all. I know from what the doctor who led me to her the day we escaped said they were trying to do. They had thought it was possible at first, but all their other cases had died from the surgery or gone completely insane. They weren't hearing people's thoughts; they were spouting gibberish and ripping out their own eyelashes. They were keeping her in a forced coma-like state when I broke her out. I should have paid closer attention to what he was saying but it's all just a blur, I was so focused on getting her out. He said something about behavioral modification, neural stripping. They had hoped to create a psychic, but what they got was this." He said sadly.

"Said it yourself Doctor, the day she first popped out of the box. River always understood things, even before they took her."

"Yes but there's a difference between understanding something from body language and vocal patterns and being inside their head; River is a genius and highly observant. Before they took her, I asked her once. She said that people said things without speaking all the time, subtle body movement, changes in breathing and perspiration."

"That may have been the case at one time, Doctor, but it ain't anymore. She knows things about me, things I've never told anyone and nobody else was left alive to tell her either. Think about it, Doc."

Simon did and very slowly, one by one, little random occurrences started to fall into his head. Things she had said which didn't make sense at the time but looking back he was amazed he hadn't understood. He realized he had known it already; more than once he had wondered if she was reading his mind, but he had always denied it. It defied science and logic. How could the Alliance believe they could make psychic weapons? That was science fiction. He found himself slowly sinking into a chair as little by little acceptance came. It was with horror that he realized River saw every thought he had ever had in his head. Every moment of doubt and bitterness he had felt at his weakest point. God, how guilty had he made her feel?

Riddick didn't have to be a reader to see what the boy was thinking. "Don't help any to think of all the things you've thought around her or about her. She knows they're just thoughts; she knows you can't help them."

"Why you?" Simon asked suddenly looking up. "Why did she tell you and not me?"

"She tried to attack me one night. If she hadn't I probably would have killed her." Simon looked at him in horror. "You want honesty or not, Doc?" Riddick growled.

"Just give me a minute." He said a bit shakily.

"Don't have a minute." Riddick shook his head. "I need you to wake her up."

"What do you mean wake her up? The amount of sedative I gave her will keep her out for hours."

Riddick growled with impatience. "Something she saw in Mal's wife's head did that to her. Those fits happen when she can't take it anymore. Always means something, everything she does means something. She called that woman a thief, saw something she didn't like. Now you need to wake her up so we can figure out what, before that bitch blows up the ship or something."

"I can't just give her something; the shock might send her into cardiac arrest."

Riddick looked around for a moment before walking over to the med cart and ripping open one of the drawers. He shifted through it before pulling out a large needle wrapped in yellow plastic. ADRENALINE, was written down the side in bold Chinese characters.

"Absolutely not!" Simon yelled suddenly jumping up. "It could kill her!"

"Don't have a choice, Doc." Riddick said, gruffly.

"We do!" Simon insisted. "The woman's not going to blow the ship up while she's still on it. If she's up to something, we have time. For all we know she was a thief, maybe she's retired, maybe she's just looking to start over fresh, we don't know and it's not worth the risk. It's very likely you could kill her with that."

Riddick turned it over it his head. As much as he hated to admit it, Simon was right. It just wasn't worth the risk. He tossed the needle onto the nearest counter. "We wait then." He dropped onto a stool and rolled himself to River's bedside. "How long?"

Simon shrugged. "Could be an hour, could be several. It's hard to gauge. This is why you told me no meds, isn't it?" He asked, calmly as he resolved himself.

"She can't think through them. It actually makes it harder to sort through which thoughts are hers and which aren't. Clouds her judgment."

"I can't stop all the meds." Simon said, shaking his head. "Some of them have to be weaned out of her system and others she will need forever." He continued quickly when Riddick started to growl again. "You need to understand, whatever they did, whatever part of her brain they decided to play with has affected her brain chemistry. Your body needs certain levels of hormones to function properly. Whether you want to admit it or not, a certain amount of her psychosis is related to that. If I knew what exactly they did, I could reduce the amount significantly." He tried to keep his words simple; not because he thought the man was stupid, he had already proven he wasn't; but because anyone who didn't have a medical degree wouldn't be able to follow if he went into details.

"Then we find out." Riddick said with easy confidence. He wasn't planning on taking the doctor along for the ride when he kicked on with the girl and he needed to get her medicine down to something he could handle.

"Not likely." Simon snorted bitterly. "I need access to equipment you just don't pick up at a medical supply store. We're talking multi-million platinum equipment, the kind of stuff most hospitals aren't even equipped with."

"You let me worry about that, Doc." Riddick said vaguely.

Simon looked up at him with no small amount of curiosity. "Why do you care?"

"Told you," Riddick smirked. "She's grown on me."

Simon was by no means an idiot and he didn't buy it at all; but it was because he wasn't an idiot that he didn't push the subject. Instead he resigned himself to the now tentative truce with a man that, less than an hour ago, he'd been plotting to kill. He wasn't exactly positive that this meant that Riddick wouldn't hold true to his word and try to kill him one day; but he had to admit the man had more connections then he did. If it meant he could get a hold of the equipment he needed he'd deal with the issue of his premature death later. River was what was important.

* * *

"Hello? Woman-person? Um. Hello?" Mal called out into the engine room and was answered by quiet sniffling. "You all right?" He asked.

"I thought that last night, during the ceremony, you were pleased." She said as she tried to dry her eyes. "And then this morning and that girl " She was half way crying again.

"Well, last night I was-" He exhaled deeply. "-I had me some mulled wine, pretty girl gave me a hat made out of a tree, nobody said I was signing up to have and to hold." He grumbled. "And don't pay no mind to River, she ain't all there."

"Are you going to kill me?" She asked timidly.

"What?" Mal asked incredulously. "What kind of crappy planet is that?" He asked taking a seat next to her on the engine block. "Kill you?"

"In the maiden's home, I heard talk of men who weren't pleased with their brides, who " Her voice trailed off fearfully. "What will you do with me?"

"Not rightly sure. We're bound for Beaumonde, might be able to set you up with some kind of work."

"I won't be anyone's doxy." She said harshly.

"I don't mean whorin'." Mal said defensively. "There's factories and the like, some ranches if you like the outdoors. It'll be near a week 'fore we get there. We'll figure somethin'." He said standing.

"I'd be a good wife."

"Well, I'd be a terrible husband. You got five whole days to figure that out." He started to walk away but she stopped him.

"Five days? We'll be together?" She asked hopefully.

Mal cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We'll be together on the ship, not in any "

"That'll be fine." She said cheerfully, standing as well. "I'll do for you or not as you choose."

"Well shiny." Mal said glad at least she wasn't crying any more. The rest he'd figure out later. "You hungry? Kitchen's just through there." He offered having no idea what else to say.

"I'll cook you something " She said eagerly.

"You don't have to..."

"I'm a fine cook." She cut him off.

"Yeah but "

"Everybody says."

"I don't even know your name." Mal said giving up.

"Saffron." She smiled and disappeared down the hallway before he could get in another word.

He banged his head against the doorframe to the engine room a few times, before the clearing of a throat alerted him to another presence. "Oh Preacher, find out anything about that divorce?"

"Divorce for the Triumph settlers is a very rare thing and requires dispensation from her pastor. I can send him a wave, see what I can do." Book offered.

"I'd appreciate it. She's a nice girl."

"Seems very anxious to please you."

"That's their way I guess." Mal shrugged.

"I suppose so. If you take sexual advantage of that girl you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk in the theater." He said abruptly and very seriously.

"What?" Mal looked genuinely offended. "Preacher you got a smutty mind."

"Perhaps I spoke out of turn."

"Per maybe haps yeah." Mal snorted indignantly.

"I apologize." He bowed his head slightly. "I'll just go and make her up a bed in the one of the empty dorms then."

"Good." Mal affirmed still offended.

Book turned to walk away but paused. "A special hell, Captain." He warned again.

"Mother of " Mal swore to himself.

**

* * *

"Thank you." Mal said with genuine appreciation as Saffron placed a steaming plate of delicious smelling food in front of him. He took a tentative bite under her close supervision and the moan of pleasure which escaped his mouth genuine as well. "Wow." He said through a mouthful of food.

"Something smells good " Wash said as he and Zoe entered.

"Having yourself a little supper, Captain?" Zoe asked amused as they down at the table.

"Well Saffron I didn't It's damn tasty." He finally settled on.

"Any more where that came from?" Wash asked hopefully.

"I didn't think to make enough for your friends." Saffron said apologetically. "But I've everything laid out if you'd like to cook for your husband." She offered Zoe.

There was a micro-second in which Wash looked positively hopeful. Zoe's eyes narrowed and he swallowed hard, "Ta-hahaha," He laughed worriedly. "She's quaint, ain't she?" His laugh dissipated quickly as Zoe's eyes narrowed further. "I'm I'm just really not hungry."

"So," Zoe said turning her glare on her Captain. "You enjoying your nubile slave girl?" She had now officially moved beyond finding the whole situation amusing. Now it just pissed her off.

"She wanted to make me dinner." Mal shrugged. "At least she's not cryin'."

"I might." Wash said leaning over to examine Mal's plate wistfully. "Did she really make fresh bao (Bread like bun)?" Zoe shot him another look. "Quaint!"

"Remember that sex we were ever gonna have again?" She asked him archly.

"Ya'll makin' a big deal and I would appreciate it if one person on this boat did not assume I was some evil, lecherous hump." He said indignantly.

"Nobody's sayin that," Wash told him, "We're all just mostly giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly. Is that cider?"

"By the stove." Mal said waving his fork.

"Yum," Wash remarked as he leaned over and grabbed Mal's mug. "I'll just get you a refill then."

"That's my job." Saffron said suddenly appearing and grabbing the mug from Wash.

Mal rose uncomfortably. "You're a good cook, and if hadn't just eatin' well I gotta um Captainy things to do."

"Do you need anything else? Would you like me to wash your feet?" She asked.

Mal paused for a moment utterly at a loss. "No well um Captainy things and all." He made his exit before the situation could become any more uncomfortable. Saffron bobbed her head politely at Wash and Zoe before taking her leave as well.

Wash and Zoe looked at each other for a brief moment; with a smirk, Wash went for Mal's uneaten plate. Zoe tried to be angry, she really did; but she had to admit that bao smelled damn good; with a laugh, she elbowed her way onto the plate.

* * *

"Hey, Jayne," Kaylee said suddenly, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah?" He looked up from the gun magazine he was flipping through as he reclined on Kaylee's hammock in the engine room.

"You think there's anything too what River said?"

"What's that, all I heard was screamin'?"

Kaylee sat down her wrench and turned to face him. "She called her a thief."

"We're all thieves." Jayne shrugged. "Why's it bad iffin' his new lay is too?"

"Jayne!" She scolded. "Don't call her that; they's married."

"One in the same." He shrugged again.

"Jayne!" She yelled at him again. "Is that what you really think of me?" She demanded angrily.

Jayne sensing he was about to walk into a trap quickly put his magazine down and sat up. "We ain't married."

"Yeah but we a we well you know." She said heatedly.

"Aww, baby, it ain't like that."

"If she's just a lay cause she's his wife, what am I since the crew don't even know we're together?"

Jayne chuckled. "They all know, nobody has said nothin' yet is all."

"That's not the point." She snapped.

"Baby, you know it ain't like that." He said as he stood and moved to hold her.

"No." She said firmly, stepping away. "You ain't gettin' out of it. What are we, Jayne? Tell me, am I just another notch?" She demanded.

"A notch?" He asked confused and knowing full well he was digging himself into a hole; except he had no idea how to get out of it. Sexin' he was good at, pillow talk he was good at; but this, this was uncharted territory.

"Yes, Jayne. A notch, like a notch on the bunk post. You plannin' on just dumpin' me once you're bored."

"Aww, Hell, Kaylee, you know it ain't like that."

"Do I. Jayne? 'Cause all you keep sayin' is what it ain't, but you can't tell me what it is."

"Girl, I brought you that dress, and that was even before we was sexin'."

"So?" Kaylee challenged putting her hands on both her hips. "How's I know you didn't just do that in hopes of gettin' in my pants. Ain't seen nothin' else but bars and bottles of whiskey since."

"Is that what this is about? 'Cause we haven't done anythin' fancy? Damn girl I'll buy you a thousand dresses or whatever the hell ya want."

"Jayne Cobb you know that's not what this is about!" She snapped.

"Then what is it?" He asked thoroughly confused.

"If you don't know maybe you should just get out until you figure it out!" She yelled.

"Kaylee " Jayne tried.

"Out!" She jabbed a finger in the direction of the door.

Jayne leveled his glare on her, one that had withered many a tougher man than the five foot four mechanic in front of him. Kaylee however was not fazed in the slightest. "Woman " He started.

"_Out_!" She yelled.

Angrily Jayne snatched his magazine and stomped out past her. He managed to hold onto his glare until he was out of sight from the engine room doorway. Once he was it quickly turned to a look of hurt confusion. Just what in the gorraam hell had he done wrong? Everything was fine until Mal had to go and get himself hitched. Fear clutched his heart for a moment when he wondered if that's what Kaylee meant. Did she want to get married? Is that what it was about? Gorram Captain had to go and screw it all up. What the hell was he supposed to do know? He never pictured himself a marryin' man, Hell, he thought he'd be dead long 'fore that happened. He needed to think. Kaylee bein' all mad at him didn't feel right. It made his insides itch, made him want to shoot somebody; 'xcept she was mad at him, and he didn't think shootin' _himself_ was a good idea. He had to make it right, he didn't want to get married, he knew sure as Hell he wasn't ready for that, but there had to be a way to fix it. He figured he could grab Vera and give his girl a good cleaning and tweaking; cleaning his guns always helped him think. If that didn't work, he was gonna have to wave his Ma. He really didn't want to wave his Ma. He was pretty sure she'd be on the gettin' hitched side of things.

* * *

The excitement and hilarity of the afternoon waned as Serenity drew closer to her night cycle. The crew fell into their normal patterns and routines and it was business as usual as she drifted past the cracked remnants of an asteroid. However, unbeknownst to the crew as they drifted past, a large camera hidden in the debris of the asteroid scanned the ship. The images were downloaded and viewed within minutes by two greasy looking men in a cluttered office.

"It's a wreck." The younger man said as they leaned over the 3D image.

"No, it's a Firefly." The other responded.

"Yeah, a lot of cheap parts we'll never unload."

"That's why you'll never be in charge, Bree. You don't see the whole. Fireflies will run forever with a mechanic even half-awake. It's a good ship. The whole will sell quicker than you can spit."

"It's got no flash." Bree argued.

"Don't need flash, need a ship that runs. She's a good catch. She comes our way, fire up the nets."

"Lotta effort we're going through here, hoped we'd hit a T-bird at least, Corbin."

"Keep complain'; the sound of it is soothing." Corbin snorted as he turned to go alert the rest of the men.

"Kill the crew?" Bree asked.

"Save me the pretty ones." Corbin smirked. "You know the drill."

* * *

"How much longer, Doc?" Riddick asked impatiently. It had been hours and River hadn't so much as twitched.

Simon looked up from his encyclopedia where he was researching data on the brain functions of proven psychics. His brow furrowed as he checked his sister's vitals. "I'm not sure. Another hour or so maybe?"

Riddick let out a growl of frustration. "Find anything?"

"Nothing useful." Simon shrugged. "If she truly is psychic her brain patterns should be predominantly theta or delta, but that's only when she's actively 'receiving'. I don't even have an EEG machine here, not even anything I could use in the same basic sense, so that's really no help. Some nonsense about psychic cords; but everything I read just seems to be the work of nut jobs and phonies."

"What's a psychic cord?" Riddick asked; trying to sound disinterested. River had said something to him about a cord and tying herself to him.

"A way to telepathically tie yourself to someone; to communicate and exchange emotions, some people say it helps to ground them into reality by tying themselves down to something that makes them feel safe as they move through the metaphysical realms. All sounds like a bunch of _gou shi_ (crap) to me."

"Huh, what would happen if they did and the connection broke somehow? Like if the one they tied themselves to can't take it or the pull on the other end is too strong?"

Simon shrugged. "I don't know, like I said its all mumbo jumbo. I guess though it would cause the one moving through the metaphysical plane to 'get lost' so to speak. Why?"

"Curious is all." Riddick feigned indifference. "Another hour or so?"

Simon looked at his sister. "Most likely."

Riddick stretched as he stood. "Gonna grab some coffee, want some?"

Simon shook his head distractedly as he went back to his hand held. "No, it seems to make me more tired these days."

Riddick managed to repress his smirk until after he left the Infirmary.


	28. Our Mrs Reynolds III

Jayne was cleaning his guns at the mess table when Riddick entered. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down across from him. "That's a hell of a gun there, Cobb." He smirked.

"This here is Vera, my best girl." He smiled proudly. "Six men came to kill me this one time, and the best of them carried this. It's a Callahan fullbore autolock, customized trigger and double cartridge thorough-gauge."

"Wouldn't let little Kaylee hear you talking like that, might make her jealous."

"Aw Hell, Kaylee's got Serenity, I got Vera. Iffin' I can't get jealous, neither can she." He slid the last part back into place; as he slid the part in, something in his brain clicked. Maybe Kaylee didn't want to get married; maybe she just wanted to know that she was his best girl. A look of understanding and relief passed his face.

Riddick quirked an eyebrow. "Something on your mind there?"

Jayne grinned. "Not anymore." He rose and started picking up his supplies; slinging Vera across her back. He had an idea and a serious decision to make.

Riddick was tempted to push the subject, if for no other reason than sheer curiosity, but let it drop. He had enough shit to think on. "Alright then. Any idea how long 'fore we reach Beaumonde?" He asked. He had a feeling if that woman was trying to pull something it would happen then.

Jayne shrugged at the doorway which led to the crew bunks. "Think Wash said somethin' like four or five days."

"We got a job?"

"Believe so, got a guy on Beaumonde name of Bernoulli. Mal mentioned somethin' 'bout him." Jayne called over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hall.

Riddick thought that over. Five days was a lotta time for something to go wrong. Any number of accidents could happen in five days time. If need be, Mal's new wife could be a victim of one such accident. After all, supposedly girl had been dirtside all her life. He started to run through a number of different 'accidents' that could occur as he finished off his cup of coffee. By the time he was through he'd narrowed it down to three based on circumstances; all he needed now was for River to wake up and give him the go ahead. He didn't like the idea of having to kill a woman; especially one like that girl, didn't seem like she could stand up against a strong breeze, but something made River's head twitch. Whatever that something was meant the girl was nowhere near as helpless as she looked. He tossed his cup in the sink and headed back to the Infirmary; he wanted to be there when River woke up; he didn't want to give her brother the chance of drugging her again if she woke up hysterical. He'd calmed her down before; he was pretty sure he could do it again. A lot of his plan to eventually leave Serenity centered around his ability to do so, and if he couldn't, he was going to have to figure something out quick.

* * *

"Well she's led a sheltered life." Wash shrugged to his wife who was ranting on the bridge over their newest crew member.

"Did you see the way she grabbed that glass from you?" She asked pointedly. "Or the way River freaked?"

"Every planet's got its own weird customs. 'Bout a year before we met I spent six months on a moon where the principal form of recreation was juggling geese," he said as he raised his right hand up. "My hand to God. Baby geese. Goslings. They were juggled." He smiled. "And well, River is always freaking, it's kind of her thing, you know?"

"Of course, the man rushes into defend her." She snorted.

"Huh? I'm talking about geese."

"Captain shouldn't be babysitting a damn groupie. And he knows it."

"Okay when did this become not funny?" He asked.

"When you didn't turn around and put her ass back down on Triumph where it belongs."

"You wanna walk straight into the gallows? Did you forget the part where I told everybody we killed a prefect's nephew?"

"She's trouble." Zoe insisted.

"Yeah, I'm getting that." He snorted.

Zoe glared at her husband a moment longer. "I'm going to bed." She said coldly and left without another word.

"I'm gonna stay here." Wash said dejectedly to his T-rex. "Just play with these dials and stuff, maybe steer. Who knows? Maybe I'll learn to juggle dinosaurs." The T-rex didn't look too happy about the idea. "Alright then, I'll just steer." Wash groused.

* * *

Mal gratefully slid down the ladder to the peace of his own bunk. It was going to be a long five days; at least he'd be able to hide out for a bit, or so he thought. "Wa! What um you're in here." Was the best he could manage after the shock of seeing a half naked woman curled up in his bed.

"I've made myself ready for you." She said shyly.

Mal closed his eyes tightly and opened them again. "Let's move right past the part about what exactly that means. I showed you you're room."

"And I'm to sleep there?"

"That's the notion assuming you're a sleepy."

"But we've been wed. Aren't we to become one flesh?"

Mal cleared his throat. "Um Well no, I think we're still two fleshes here, and your flesh should sleep someplace else."

"I'm sorry. When we'd talked, I thought but I don't please you." She sat as she sat up; the blanket fell from her chest and Mal realized there was more than a half naked woman in his bed, there was a fully naked one in his bed.

"Oh, hey flesh!" He said trying to quickly look away. "Look Saffron," he started again, looking pointedly at the ground, "It ain't a question of pleasin' it's a question of what's um morally right."

"I do know my Bible, Sir. _'On the night of their betrothal, the wife shall open to the man, as the furrow to the plough, and he shall work in her, in and again, 'till she bring him his fall, and rest then on the sweat of her breast.'_"

Mal swallowed hard. "Good Bible." He shook himself free. "Saffron, it ain't that you're not pleasin'. Hell you're all kinds of pleasin' and it's been a good long while since anybody took hold of my plough that wasn't me." He said nervously running a hand through his hair. "It's just just 'cause some _hun dan_ (bastard) gave you to me 'cause he couldn't pay his bills doesn't make you beholden to me."

Saffron rose from the bed and closed the distance between them. Mal swallowed hard again and tried not to look. Tried. "If I had the will to chose I would chose a man like you from all the planets the night sky could show me. If I'm wed, then I am a woman and I take my leave to be bold. I want this." She said stepping closer. "I swell to think of you in me and I see you do too."

Mal looked down embarrassedly and tried to shuffle away from her but she made it impossible for him to do so by taking a step closer. "Well that's just "

"Leave me at the nearest port. Never look upon me again. I'll make my way with the strength you've showed me. Only let me have my wedding night."

Mal looked up at the door to his bunk. "I'm gonna go to the special hell." He groaned.

Saffron leaned in and kissed him gently. Mal pulled away after a moment, "I really wish I could do this I wish it was that simple but girl..."

She cut him off as her lips descended on his a second time and this time he did not resist. The world seemed to close in on itself and Mal pulled away once more. Everything around him began to spin and he stumbled before he had a chance to pull his gun. "Son of a bi "

"Night, sweetie." Saffron scoffed as she stepped over his body and pulled back on her dress before exiting quickly and locking an unconscious Mal inside his bunk.

* * *

* * *

"Well, if it isn't the master chef. Not sleepy?" Wash asked as Saffron stepped on to the bridge.

"Am I allowed to be up here?" She asked timidly.

"Well, sure why not?" Wash shrugged. "Don't see anybody else taking up space."

"I've never been off world before." She said as she walked towards the window a bit in awe.

"Beautiful, isn't it? Endless. You stare at it long enough, as long as I have, and it almost becomes preternaturally boring."

"I don't think you're serious." Saffron replied her brow furrowing.

"'Bout half." He smiled at her. "You stop even seein' them after a spell, but they are your first charts. Time and again you look up from you screens and remember that."

"It's like a dream."

"Planet I'm from you couldn't see a one, pollution's so thick. Sometimes I think I entered flight school just to see what the Hell everyone was talking about." He chuckled.

Saffron smiled at him warmly before hurrying over to quietly close the bridge door.

"What are you doing?" He asked nervously. One hundred percent positive Zoe would skin him alive if she caught him alone on the bridge with the girl and a closed door.

Saffron took his hand and led him a bit reluctantly to the center of the bridge to look out the window with her. "Now we're alone. Us and the stars. No ship, no bellowing engines nor crew to bicker, just look."

"Um "

"Do you know the myth of Earth-that-was?" She asked him.

"Not so much." He swallowed hard at her closeness.

"That when she was born, she had no sky, and she was open, inviting and the stars would rush into her, through the skin of her, making the oceans boil with sensation. When she could endure no more ecstasy, she puffed up her cheeks and blew out the sky."

Wash swallowed even harder. "Good myth."

Saffron turned to look at him with almost pleading eyes. "My whole life, I saw nothing but roofs and steeples and the cellar door. Few days I'll be back to that life and gone from yours. Make this night what it should be. Please." She raised her face to his. "Show me the stars."

Wash pulled away at the last second before she could kiss him; panic clearly written across his face. "_Wo de ma he ta de fen kuang de wai sheng dou_ (mother of god and all her crazy nephews), do I wish I was somebody else right now." He chuckled nervously. "Somebody not married, and not madly in love with a beautiful woman who could kill me with her pinky."

"I've been too forward." She said lowering her head.

"No. Well. Yes. But I actually like that in a woman. That's part of why Zoe and I, are as previously mentioned, married."

"I thought " She started taking another step towards him again. "She didn't respect you."

"Not everybody gets me and Zoe at first glance. Did it get very hot in here?" He smiled nervously moving toward the door. "I think I need some airflow."

"You love her very much." She stepped closer still.

"Yeah." Wash confessed with a sigh as he turned to open the door. "I never did meet a woman quite like her. The first time we "

Saffron silenced him with a kick to the head; his face slammed into the door frame and Wash hit the ground unconscious. She looked down and smirked; wasting no time she dragged his body the rest of the way out; hiding it from view of the stairs before entering the bridge and locking the door behind her. She situated herself behind the pilot's console and replotted the ship's course. She worked the nav controls with the ease of someone who had flown their whole lives. Quickly, she typed out a message to signal her partners before reaching beneath to the access panel and prying it open.

The obviously experienced woman sorted through the mess and tangle of wires with just as much ease as she had worked the console. Saffron reconnected a few bits and tore free a handful of wires; sending out a wave of sparks. The computer screens aboard the bridge died quickly and silently. The moment they did, she was back up and out the door of the bridge. She paused to remove a small, thin, black piece of sticky tape from the folds of her dress. She placed it along the door seam and pulled back it's protective covering. When the doors slammed closed there was a hiss and a short flurry of sparks as the doors melted and sealed together.

* * *

River shot up into a sitting position, gulping in a large breath of air; Simon and Riddick where instantly at her side.

"River?" Simon said. "How are you feeling _mei-mei?"_

River ignored her brother and fixated her glare on Riddick. "He told. He promised not to tell but he told."

_/Not everything/_ Riddick pushed the thought mentally and then spoke out loud. "What happened?"

River blinked at Riddick's forced thought. That was something she was going to have to get used to; it had startled her at first. She tried to focus herself, to remember everything which she could, but her mind was still foggy from the drugs and only slight bits and pieces drifted lazily to her. "The spider awaits the firefly." She whispered quickly and tried to stand. She stumbled as her feet hit the ground and Riddick reached out to steady her.

"River, you're not going anywhere." Simon informed her.

"But mother is in danger." River pleaded with him, she didn't have time for make him understand.

"River, mother is back on Osiris and quite frankly I don't know why you care. She didn't care much." He said bitterly.

"No." River said firmly, she looked up at Riddick with pleading eyes. "_Mother-,_" she stressed the word, "-is in danger, daddy is already wounded."

"River, you're not making any " Simon was cut off by Riddick.

"She don't mean your folks. She calls the ship mother and for some fucked up reason, Mal, daddy." Riddick explained, though his focus remained on River. "Gotta give me something better than that girl. What's going on?"

River pulled herself free and tried to take a step forward but the world began to spin uncontrollably. She grabbed at the bed to steady herself.

"River, you have to lie down, give the drugs some time to wear off." Simon scolded her.

"There is no time, Simon!" She snapped. She turned back to face Riddick. "_Go_!" She yelled at him.

"Go where?"

"_Go_!" She yelled again and this time Riddick didn't bother to ask. He headed for the bridge.

* * *

Saffron tore through the ship; headed to the empty shuttle. Her hand slammed against the door release and she was forced to take a step back as she came face to face with Inara. "Oh! I'm so sorry." She quickly looked to her feet.

"Are you lost?" Inara asked gently.

"I'm sorry, I thought the other shuttle was yours." She replied timidly.

"It is, I was on the cortex and my screen shorted out, but this one is out, too."

"Looking for customers?"

"What were you looking for?" Inara asked, a bit offended by the chit.

"I don't mean to be rude. A Companion's life is just so glamorous and strange I wish I had the skill for such a trade." She answered quickly.

"You'd like to please your new husband?" Inara asked archly.

"Oh, he'll have none of me." She answered, not entirely lying. In fact, it seemed the men aboard this ship were strangely honorable in that sense. "For true, I'm somewhat relieved. If I am to learn of love, I'd want it to be at the hands of someone gentle someone who could feel what I feel "

**

Riddick swore as he caught sight of Wash face down and bleeding in the hall. He inhaled deeply; the deceptive girl's scent was all over the place. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment; looking for a trail which could not be seen with the eyes. His nostrils flared and he headed for the shuttles.

**

"But Mal said you don't approve of my work." Inara said, suspiciously. There was something off about the girl; something in her body language and the way she moved, it all seemed somewhat forced.

"I'm sure he said that to keep you from me. I was too curious about you, it angered him." She answered shyly, as she took a nervous step forward.

Inara's suspicion was confirmed as, over Saffron's shoulder, she saw Riddick approach. Her Companion training, however, had taught her well how to maintain a calm facade no matter the circumstance. Rather than look confused or surprised, she smiled seductively at the young woman. "Come to my shuttle."

"You would lie with me?" She asked hopefully. The ship's alarms began to sound; at first Saffron looked innocently up but as she looked back to Inara she realized her cover was blown.

"I guess we've lied enough." Inara smirked. "You're good."

Saffron returned her smirk. "So are you."

"I'm better." Riddick rumbled from behind Saffron and the woman spun, her leg instinctively kicking up. Riddick side-stepped easily and came back up with an elbow to the girl's jaw. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and bounced her head off the wall. A smirk forming as he watched her drop. "Get me something to tie her up with." He ordered Inara, she nodded and ducked back inside the shuttle.

"What's going up?" She demanded a second later as she reappeared with a short coil of nylon.

"Go check on Wash." Riddick ordered; not really wanting to tell her that he didn't know but a psychic told him something was wrong so he'd come to find Saffron.

"Wash? Oh God. What's happened?"

"Go!" Riddick barked at her. Woman couldn't follow directions for shit, he grumbled to himself.

Inara nodded dumbly and headed to the bridge at a run. Her mouth dropped open and her face paled when she reached the foredeck hall. The alarms had brought the crew out in force; Jayne and Kaylee were struggling with the door, while Zoe was leaned over the unconscious form of her husband.

"Baby, wake up " Zoe pleaded and the desperation in her voice was more frightening to Inara than anything else she'd ever heard in her life.

"Oh god, Mal." She breathed. If he was alright, he should have been there too. He was the Captain after all and the alarms were still screaming. He must have heard them, unless she didn't let her mind wander. She slammed down the ladder to Mal's bunk to find him motionless on the floor.

"Mal, Mal, Mal " She tried to shake him awake. "_Ren ci de Fo zu_ (Mericful Buddha)." She kissed him once and felt the faintness of his breath against her lips. She left him to yell up to the hall, "Get the Doctor! Mal's hurt he's " Suddenly she felt very light headed and dizzy. Her tongue flicked out across her lips and recognition lit her face. "Oh, you stupid son ." She hit the grating.

* * *

* * *

"Better?" Simon asked River as he took back the empty water glass. The ship's alarms had finally died down and he was hoping whatever disaster had sent Riddick running had been averted.

River shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't know how to make you see." She said quietly.

"_Mei-mei_ I " Whatever Simon was about to say was cut off by Riddick's abrupt entrance.

"You're needed, Doc." He grunted as he unceremoniously dumped Saffron's unconscious form on the extra bunk.

"Is she alive?" He asked skeptically.

"If she wasn't, she wouldn't be tied, now would she?" Riddick shot back. "And it ain't her, she'll be fine, will have one hell of a headache when she comes too." He smirked. "It's Mal though; he's out cold in his bunk. Inara is too, for some reason."

Simon grabbed his kit, immediately switching into Doctor mode. "Stay with her?" He asked, thinking it odd that, only hours ago, he had tried to order the man to stay away from his sister.

"Not leavin' her in here with this one. Go on, once she's ready to walk, I'll bring her up to the bridge."

"Alright then." Simon nodded and headed out.

"We need to talk." He said very seriously to River once her brother was gone.

"Not now." River shook her head as she slid herself off the bed. "Too much to be done, not enough time." She muttered.

"Bridge door is fused closed. What'd she do?"

River took a moment to ensure her legs were steady before she answered. "It doesn't work like that. She doesn't know everything. She cannot tell you how to move from A to B to C. She knows A and she sometimes knows C or just B and she knows to get there but the path is broken and unnavigable. Sometimes one must go to M or X before finding C. Then sometimes she can see A, B, and C, but they don't make sense, so they form an R when it really should be an F."

Riddick quirked an eyebrow, but he thought he got the basic gist; sometimes she understood and sometimes she didn't, sometimes she saw the big picture and other times just the parts. At this point he didn't blame her for being crazy; fuck he would be, too.

* * *

"Is it Christmas?" Mal tried to blink the fog away from his mind. The entire crew minus Riddick, River, Jayne and Kaylee were standing over in his bunk.

"Well, he's back." Simon said helping the Captain sit up.

"Yes, Sir it's Christmas." Zoe dead-panned. "The special night where St. Nick comes down the chimney, changes your course, blows the navcom, and tries to take off with your shuttle."

"What happened to me?" He groaned, rubbing his head.

"Your blushing bride was a plant, she took the both of you out." Zoe said gesturing towards her husband who was holding a wad of gauze against his bleeding temple.

"How did-?" He started feeling a bit dizzy still.

"Narcotic compound." Simon answered. "Probably spread it on a seal over her lips. You get it on yours and pow."

Inara was propped on Mal's bunk and shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"Lips, huh?" Zoe arched her brow at the Captain.

"Well uh " Mal stammered.

"We used to get in a lot of guys on the night shift at the ER, usually robbed and very groggy. We called it The Goodnight Kiss." Simon said as he put his bag back together.

"So you two were kissin'?" Zoe gave Mal a look that made him feel like he was ten again.

"How special." Book remarked rather pointedly.

"Wash, how did you-?" He asked quickly trying to take the focus off of him.

"Hey, I just got kicked in the head."

"My baby would never fall for that _jien hwa_ (cheap floozy)." Zoe said, smiling lovingly at him.

"Most of my head wishes I had." Wash grumbled.

"You guys don't understand," Mal groaned standing.

"Seems pretty simple from here." Book said righteously. "You were taking advantage of her "

"I was the one being taking advantage of!" Mal snapped, cutting him off.

"My apologies." Book offered, though he didn't seem apologetic in the least. "You were victimized, Wash was beaten, and Inara found you here."

"I fell though." Inara added quickly, a trace of a slur to her voice from the drug. "My head got hurt, like Wash." If anyone had actually been paying attention, they would have seen right through it; but as there were more pressing matters at hand, no one did.

"I don't get any of this." Mal said.

"I only fell is all." Inara pressed.

"What the Hell's our status?" Mal asked.

"We're shut down." Zoe told him. "Jayne and Kaylee are trying to get us into the bridge and Riddick got to Saffron before she could get off; only problem is, he knocked her out cold. She won't be talkin', least not right away anyhows."

"Well that's somethin'." Mal groused.

"All we know is we're headed somewhere and it's not Beaumonde." Wash said. "From what I could tell looking through the window to the bridge, everything's down. Honestly, we're lucky she didn't pull life support."

"Probably would have if the controls for that were on the bridge." Zoe snorted.

"Oh, I'm fine really." Inara waved Simon off as he moved to examine. "Just fell is all."

Jayne was firing up the torch as Riddick reached the bridge with River while Mal and the others were climbing out of his bunk.

"She didn't just lock it, she fused it to something. Both entrances." Kaylee informed them.

"What was she after?" Mal asked.

"Besides seducing innocent Captains?" Book asked.

"Would you stow it, Preacher?" Mal snapped. "We're in some peril here."

"If she can fly this thing, why'd she go for the shuttle?" Zoe asked.

"Maybe she has a thing for shuttles?" Wash offered, everyone shot him a look. "What?" He demanded. "Some people juggle geese."

"Not now, baby." Zoe shook her head as Jayne broke through the seal on the bridge door and they filed inside. Wash and Kaylee immediately went for the console; both heads disappeared beneath it and Riddick craned his head down for a view as well. After a few moments he stepped back and let out a low whistle.

"Well that's all sorts of ominous." Jayne shifted uncomfortably.

"You have no idea." River said cryptically as she dropped into the copilot's chair.

"That's not helping." Mal snapped.

"I told you. You can't be angry when you don't listen! I told all of you!" She snapped back just as harshly.

The room, all save Wash and Kaylee, who were otherwise occupied, seemed to have a collective epiphany, even Jayne. "How did you " Mal started. "You called her a thief."

River, who was a bit put off by both the residual headache from the drugs and the blatant under appreciation she felt was being expressed, really was in no mood to discuss semantics; she spun around in the copilot's chair and put her back to the Captain.

Mal was about to start yelling over the amount of Captainy respect he was receiving at the moment but was prevented when Kaylee suddenly spoke from beneath the console. "She's a real pro."

"This is a masterful muck up." Wash seconded. "See how she crossed the dry feeds?" He pointed out to Kaylee and Riddick who bent back down to take another look.

"Yeah-huh." Kaylee nodded.

"So we even try to reroute and "

"It'll lock up." Riddick finished. "_Jing tsai_ (brilliant)." You had to admire good work, even when it was used against you.

"She went straight for the thermal cap, too." Kaylee shined her mini-light into a torn apart clump of wires."

"Yeah, yeah, we're so hung." Wash said with a bit too much admiration for Mal's liking.

"I'm glad you two are having such a good time down there." He snapped bending down to yell at them. "Can we progress to the making it right?"

"That's not gonna happen for a good long while, Captain." Wash informed him.

"We don't have a good long while." He replied. "We could be headed straight into a nice, big solid moon, for all we know, so's how 'bout we get to work?" He said straightening himself.

"Hey!" Kaylee defended. "It was your big make-out session that got us into this mess in the first place, Sir."

"I was poisoned!" Mal defended himself this time.

"You were drugged." Inara snorted bitterly.

"That's why I never kiss 'em on the mouth." Jayne said.

Kaylee looked horrified. "You kiss me on the mouth!"

"I can't know this!" Mal snapped.

Jayne shifted uncomfortably, in the bridge, surrounded by the crew, while their lives were in danger wasn't actually the place and time he'd been planning on for his declaration. "You ain't like them." He tried to say in a low voice.

"That what am I?" She demanded.

"Hello? Captain speaking, ship to fix!" Mal snapped.

"Gorram it, woman! I'm with you all the time, only wanna be with you. Ain't been whorin' or even out drinkin' without you! What else you want? You're my girl, that's what you are."

"Oh dear God." Wash rolled his eyes. Riddick's smirk broke out into outright laughter, while Jayne blushed furiously. He didn't know what was funnier; the fact Cobb was blushing or the look on Mal's face.

"Aww, Jayne," Kaylee's anger melted away instantly. "You just called me your girl."

"Well yeah, ya are." Jayne said not really seeing how it wasn't obvious before.

"_Enough_!" Mal yelled. "Jesus Christ, we're all about to crash into a gorram moon 'cause I can't get control of my ship. I can't be dealin' with this right now! So save it for like, when we're not about to die, and sweet Buddha I swear to Christ iffin' I hear one more word about anybody kissin' anybody I'm gonna ruttin' space ya all!" He huffed to regain his breath for a moment before continuing. "Now if you can't get me control of my ship, what the Hell can you do?"

Wash rolled out from underneath the console; for a second he thought about cracking a joke to ease the tension, but given the color of the Captain's face he wisely decided it wasn't the time. "Give us some time and maybe we can get the cortex and navcom back online and we can at least see where we're going than."

"What about steering?" Mal asked.

"What about stopping?" Inara asked.

"She humped us hard." Wash admitted and looked to Kaylee who, although she was beaming, nodded in agreement. "We're gonna have to do a lot "

"Do it." Mal cut him off. "Doesn't help me to see where I'm goin' iffin' I can't change course."

"At early morn the spiders spin, and by and by the flies drop in; and when they call, the spiders say, take off your things, and stay all day!" River laughed as she spun around in her chair.

"River?" Simon questioned.

"The spider will catch the firefly." She half-giggled. "It is the way of the world. Should have listened."

"What the Hell is she goin' on about?" Jayne asked.

"No one listens." River said sadly.

"It's got something to do with what's going on. She said it earlier right before she warned Riddick about Saffron." Simon said looking at his sister thoughtfully.

Riddick was glaring daggers at the boy. For the second time he found himself asking himself what exactly it was about the word discretion the Tams just didn't seem to understand. "Well we'll find out if we can't get the ship fixed." Riddick tried to divert the crew's attention.

"Riddick's right." Mal said. "Ain't got the time to play riddles, little girl, you got something to say you best come out and say it." Mal said sternly.

River snorted at him and spun back around in her chair. She did not appreciate being called a little girl nor did she feel the condescension in his tone was justified either. It might have been childish but it was satisfying nonetheless.

"River " Mal started angrily.

"Leave it, Mal." Riddick held back his growl. "Won't do you any good."

Mal looked from Simon to Riddick and back to River's back; something was going on. "When we're clear, I want answers."

"Please," Inara said coldly. "You're never clear of trouble Mal. It's always one thing or another. This time you've managed to be seduced by some tart and lead us all straight into a trap!"

"I wasn't seduced I was drugged!" Mal snapped right back.

"And the kiss?" Inara countered archly.

"That was well girl's some kind of professional and she was all naked and articulate. You woulda kissed her too!" He accused Book, who was shaking his head.

"Wash didn't." Zoe pointed out.

"Well that's 'cause he knew you could kill 'em with your pinky." Both Jayne and Riddick snorted a half-chuckle at that.

"Damn straight." Zoe smirked.

"Okay everybody _not_ talking about sex, bugs, and killing me here, everybody else go elsewhere!" Wash said in exasperation.


	29. Our Mrs Reynolds IV

"They're coming!" Bree looked up from his monitor as he yelled to Corbin.

"That girl is a wonder." The older man smirked. "How far out?"

"She is a wonder." Bree returned his grin."About twenty minutes or so, right on target, speed A-1."

"Prep the nets."

* * *

"Yes!" Wash cried as Serenity's monitors blinked back to life; well half of them.

"You got it?" Mal and the others who had been hovering just outside the door since Wash had dismissed them rushed back in.

"We got life. We got screens." He frowned a bit. "Well some. It's a yes. A partial."

"What about nav control?" Mal asked.

Kaylee rolled herself out from beneath the console and sadly shook her head 'no' before rolling back underneath.

"Do we know where we're headed?" Mal pressed.

Wash worked the monitors for a moment. "Coordinates she entered we're headed for something and it's not too far."

"Did she signal anyone?" Riddick asked.

"_Duh-ming nuh_ (hold on a second). She did, same coordinates, no ID."

Jayne leaned himself against one of the small port side windows, "Who's out there?"

"Let me see," Wash said as his fingers danced across a series of keys and switches. "I might be able to translate her signal wave to a visual; there might be a _aiya_ (damn), some kind of electrical interference. It's bouncing the signal all over the place. Look at it. It's like a circle."

Mal did look at it and it took less than a second for it to register. "It's a net."

"It's a web." Riddick corrected and even Jayne was able to piece together River's veiled spider reference. What it meant, he still had no clue.

"I don't get it. Where we headed?" Jayne asked.

"The end of the line." Book answered. "It's a carrion house, a scrap shop; they take ships, pull 'em apart or piece 'em back together."

"Well that doesn't sound so scary." Wash said hopefully.

"That pattern, that's an electromagnetically charged net. We fly into that, its game over. It'll turn the ship into one big electrical conduit; burn us up from the inside out." Riddick explained.

"There's the newer ones'll just hold you, and then the scrappers will override the airlocks, pull the O2, or just gas you. They're not looking for survivors." Book added as he stepped closer to get a look at the image.

"Kaylee " Mal started.

"I'm trying Sir but "

"Well stay on it. Any chance Saffron can tell us something that will help?" He asked her.

"I know what she did, Cap; don't make it any easier to fix." Kaylee admitted.

Mal's eyes restlessly scanned the room, "We need a Plan B." He turned to look to Zoe, "Get our suits prepped. Now." He turned to the others to finish speaking. "We got one shot. Wash I want a visual as soon as we get close."

"What do I do?" Jayne asked. He needed activity, sitting around and waiting to die wasn't his forte.

"You go get Vera."

**

Simon plugged his handheld into the bay computer, linking with the ship's outboard cams. "I've got it." Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Riddick hovered over the image.

"What am I aiming for? The window?" Jayne asked pointing to the cab which was position on of top of the huge circular ring.

"That might kill some folk, but it won't disrupt the net. See these six points where it's the brightest? Those're the breakers. Hit one and it should short it out."

"Whadda ya mean, should?" Jayne asked critically.

**

River had remained on the bridge along with Kaylee and Wash. She looked up when Kaylee slammed her wrench down in frustration; the mechanic was on the point of tears.

"Five minutes out, Kaylee, keep it together." Wash tried to keep her calm. "I need you working, we all need you working."

"There's nothing for it, Wash." Kaylee near cried. "Iffin' only I had a stupid conductor cap!"

River frowned. The Sunshine was turning, no longer was she yellow and orange; her skin was coated grey and sticky; despair was settling. This was unacceptable. She rose in one fluid movement from her chair and crossed the distance between her and Kaylee in two steps.

"She mustn't rain." River said soothingly, "The Sunshine doesn't rain."

Kaylee looked up at the girl forlornly. "It ain't doin', Riv. I just can't do it."

"She mustn't look at the whole; she must only see the parts; the whole is not whole, her image is irrelevant. She must see the pieces. Mother speaks to her, listen, evaluate, solve." River told her sagely handing her a pair of splicers.

Kaylee looked at her blankly at first and then seemed to shake herself. She looked back down to the mass of wires and bits in front of her; seeing the pieces before her, she might not have had a conductor cap but she had a broken regulator, miles of wire, a half useful circuit board, and a half dozen other useful parts. Her eyes began to move quickly from piece to piece and her hands followed without a thought. _If only I had_ She started to think to herself, but the thought was answered before she finished it as River handed her a coil of thread thin metal. Kaylee didn't stop to think about the implications of the answer; she had seen the parts and now the whole was clearly visible.

**

As Serenity approached the massive mechanical web, Jayne and Mal sealed themselves off in the air lock; the ramp opened and the sight that greeted them only hardened their resolve.

"You see it?" Mal asked him tersely through the link.

"Clear as day." Jayne answered flatly. It was only a shame no one was there to witness the hard set of his eyes; the steady calm of his hand as he raised his lady and sighted his target without the use of the scope. This calm and lethal precision was precisely the reason he had far surpassed the life expectancy of most men in his trade. Riddick might have been able to beat him hands down in an honest or dishonest brawl, but behind a gun, whether it be the distance of three meters, or three thousand, Jayne was as close to unbeatable as you could find.

His finger was less than a breath from the trigger when Wash's voice broke over their comms. "Kaylee did it!" He yelled excitedly. "We got it all, it ain't pretty but we can stop, we can steer, we can turn the hell around! Brace yourselves, this could get nasty!"

Jayne glanced briefly at Mal. "Hold that, Wash." The Captain ordered.

"What?" Came his confused answer.

"We ain't done here yet." The Captain nodded at Jayne.

With a wide smirk Jayne raised Vera once more. "Time people started taking us serious, girl." He whispered to her. His finger pressed the trigger.

* * *

"What the hell?" Corbin yelled at Bree as sparks began erupt from the consoles.

"We're losing power! It's a complete systems failure!" Bree panicked as he pulled out an extinguisher.

"Shut down the main drive!" Corbin ordered. "Begin emergency detachment sequence!"

Bree dropped his extinguisher and lunged for the large red lever. He was too late; no sooner had his fingers wrapped around it than gunfire tore through the window. The two men exchanged a look of absolute horror. Comprehension dawned and the glass exploded.

* * *

"Nice work, Kaylee." Mal grinned at his mechanic. "The best floatin', you are."

"Tweren't for River, I wouldn't have figured it." Kaylee admitted blushing.

Mal turned around to see the girl in question happily spinning in the copilot's chair. "Tokens of appreciation will be accepted in the form of apples or chocolate." She said simply and then rose and skipped off the bridge. Wash, Kaylee, and Mal watched her go, almost identical looks of confusion across their faces. River skidded to a halt in front of the looming form of Riddick halfway down the foredeck hall.

/_Where do you think you're going?/ _ He thought pointedly at her.

River glared at him.

"Riddick!" His head jerked up at the sound of Mal's voice calling him from the bridge stairs.

He repressed the urge to growl as he answered, however he did not look up from River."What, Mal?"

"Time we woke up Sleepin' Beauty." The Captain said as he came down the stairs. "Find Jayne and meet me in the Infirmary."

_/Later/_ He thought at her and then turned and headed back down the hall.

"You and me are gonna have some words too, little bit." Mal said as he came up to River from behind. "I don't know how you knew what you did, but we need to work on your communication skills."

River arched an eyebrow at him.

"You knew what that woman was up to." She nodded. "Why didn't you tell us?"

River offered him her patented _boob_ look. "You had her drugged."

Mal shifted a bit uncomfortably at that. "Well screaming and lunging for somebody's throat ain't exactly the best way to tell a body. Especially since you got a known history of screamin' and clawin' for no gorraam good reason."

"Never without a reason."

"Be that as it may. Next time a, 'Captain you got conned into marryin' a lying, thievin' bitch and she's plannin' on killin' us all and stealin' the ship' will work just fine. I don't care how or why you know, but if you know, your Captain should know."

River actually growled at that and placed her hands on both her hips. "Why does everyone assume she knows? She knows she does but what does she know? She doesn't know? She sees the A but never the N; she sees the petal but not the pollen. She reads the language but cannot always speak it. She warned you; it is not her fault you could not understand. It is not her fault she could not make the words fall together and everyone and everything insisted on spinning and pulling and being jaggedy. You want the painting, do not critique the artist. She manages as best she can." She spun around abruptly then; a wave of her hair hitting Mal indignantly as she stormed off down the hall. "Apples or chocolate!" She yelled before disappearing into the mess.

* * *

* * *

Saffron sputtered out the mouthful of water and shook her head trying to focus past the splitting pain. Blood caked her scalp on the left side and she couldn't feel her limbs to move them; upon further evaluation she realized she was tied to a chair. "_Cao_ (fuck)." She swore as she fully opened her eyes and the reality of her situation hit her.

"Evenin'." Mal said cheerfully as he pushed himself off the counter.

Saffron's eyes darted from him to Jayne and the big guy whose name she'd never caught but for some reason seemed vaguely familiar to her now. "You gonna kill me?" She asked.

"Unless you got some compelling reason for me not to, it seems to be the general consensus." He answered.

"I didn't kill any of you." She said with a cheeky smirk.

Fury rushed to Mal's face. "No, you didn't." The calm in his voice was eerily out of place. "But you turned me and mine over to those that would. Tell me, was the Elder in on this?"

"I work with a lot of people." She replied archly.

"And to think, I saved his gorram town." Mal said.

"Won't be saving it the next time we land dirt-side." Riddick rumbled.

"No," Mal grinned. "Had enough of playin' the good guy, next time we land there it'll be as bad guys."

"Why the act?" Jayne asked suddenly. "All this _gou shi_ (crap)? Callin' us in to save the town, handing us over to her, the wifey act, why not just take the ship while we were grounded? Why go through all the trouble?"

"That's a good question, Jayne." Mal seconded. "She could have flown the ship herself, killed us all. Why leave us floppin' around like fish outta water?"

"You're assuming stealing the ship was the point." She said contemptuously. "Wouldn't have been nearly as fun."

"Just a game to you, isn't it?" Mal asked. "We were just all the pieces."

"We all play games, Mal; we play roles and act out little parts. Good guy, bad guy, hero or villain, victim or savior, all just parts, and their roles change on your perspective. You know, you all did pretty well." Her face soured and she looked at Riddick. "How'd you figure me out? How'd that girl know straight off?"

"If I told you; we'd have to kill you." Riddick smirked at her.

"You're not?" She asked surprised.

"No one's said that. We ain't sayin' that, right?" Jayne asked heatedly. "Wasn't a vote yet."

"We don't vote on this ship." Mal snapped. "Ain't a gorram town hall."

Saffron laughed. "That's why, Mal. That's why you were such an easy mark. The heroic smuggling Captain with a heart of gold. Do me a favor, whatever rock you drop me on, make it one with the spaceport at least. Every wonder why the Brown coats lost?" She laughed at him. "Good guys finish last Mal."

"War's over, ain't a good guy anymore. Bring her." Mal said evenly.

Riddick grabbed the top of the chair and Jayne the bottom; they followed Mal out to the bay, ignoring Saffron's panicked questions.

"What's going on?" Book demanded as he watched them approach the airlock.

"None of your concern, Preacher." Mal said tersely as Riddick and Jayne set her down inside the hatch.

"Captain, that's murder." Book said harshly.

"Ain't a bit better then what she would have had done to us." Jayne grunted.

"Wait? What?" Saffron asked; the first trace of fear anyone had heard from her laced the edges of her voice.

"This is not the answer; an eye for an eye leaves the whole 'verse blind." Book said, his voice rising slightly.

"And what would you have me do?" Mal turned on him. "Turn her over to the authorities? Did you forget that siding with the law on anything ain't exactly in the interest of maintaining the freedom of any aboard my ship?"

"I wasn't.."

"Or maybe I'll set her free so she can try and come low at us again?"

"I... "

"This is how it is, Preacher." Mal slammed his fist against the hatch control and the doors closed; cutting off the screams of the now very terrified Saffron. He opened the ramp door. He clicked on the comm to the bridge. "Wash, turn us around. We got an appointment with an Elder on Triumph."

"And the whole Alliance thing I keep bringing up?" Wash answered back.

"Just get us within shuttle range. This visit will be short and quick."

"Killing a man of God, Mal?" Riddick asked as Mal closed the airlock ramp once more.

"Only when they try to kill me first." Mal answered simply as he headed out of the bay and to his bunk.

* * *

"River?" Kaylee's voice came softly from behind the door and she slid it open. "I um " Kaylee stammered. "Here." She said quickly as she produced the last of her fruit stash, a semi blackened banana and the very last piece of chocolate from the party on Sihnon from her pockets. "It's not an apple, but "

River grinned broadly as she set down her sketch pad. She rose and accepted gratefully the banana and chocolate. "Thank you."

"Listen, I... um... well " She wrung her hands, really not sure herself or what she was trying to say.

"She understands." River said.

Kaylee's frown broke into a smile. "Thanks." She noticed for the first time River's sketch pad on the floor. "Can I see?" She asked shyly.

River nodded eagerly and reached down; she skimmed through the pages quickly and finding what she was looking for she tore it from the book. "For you."

Kaylee took the offered piece of paper; her jaw nearly dropping over as tears burned at the corners of her eyes. Rendered on the page before her in near photo like quality was an image of her and Jayne; only in the drawing she wasn't looking at Jayne, she was tinkering with an engine bit. Jayne however was looking at her; and it was the look in his eyes which River had captured that brought the tears to the mechanic's eyes. It was a moment of unguarded admiration. "River I "

"You wanted to know what he sees." River told her softly. "This girl sees everything, through her eyes, his eyes, their eyes."

"It's beautiful." Kaylee breathed. "River, I'm sorry, I didn't understand before, I just thought you was... and... " Kaylee gave up trying to make herself understood and huffed out a breath. "Let's start over?" She smiled and held out her hand. "Name's Kaywinnet Lee Frye, everybody calls me Kaylee or Sunshine."

River giggled. "River Marie Tam." She shook Kaylee's hand.

* * *

"Zoe, I'm leaving the ship to you once we get in range." Mal said as the first mate dropped down into his bunk unannounced.

"The Hell you are." She snorted.

"Zoe."

"Sir?" She inquired.

Mal looked at her; a huff of air escaped him. "I'm different than I was, ain't I?"

Zoe actually took a step back; startled by his question. "Sir?" She asked again, but this time the tone was one of honest concern.

"Never mind." He shook his head.

"We do what we have to, Sir. We are what we have to be." A long moment of silence past between the two, before Zoe spoke again. "She coulda come after us again. Those boys runnin' the net bet my last coin they weren't top of the food chain. That equipment comes at a price. What woulda stop her from goin' back and callin' the big dogs on us for blowin' it to shit and ruining her little game? She got a good look at the Tams and Riddick, what woulda stopped her from callin' the Feds? We're already steppin' lightly to avoid Niska, can't afford loose ends. We look after our own. That's all you did Sir."

Mal looked back up at her, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "You're only saying that 'cause she kicked your husband in the head."

"She did try to kiss him too Sir." She said holding his gaze.

"Me and you Zoe, we'll go down to Triumph and we'll finish this." He said resigning himself as he stood.

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

* * *

Book stared into his cup of tea at the table in the mess. It had long since turned cold, but he had long since lost any urge to drink it anyway. He found himself facing the very same question he had left the abbey to answer. Who was he? A soldier playing at being a shepherd? Or a shepherd who was a soldier? He could have stopped them from murdering that girl; it might not have worked but he could have tried. His vows demanded that he should have tried; but the Captain had been right. The girl had every intention of killing them all; but she hadn't, but she tried. He hadn't tried, he should have tried. Did the fact he hadn't meant he wanted her to die? How could he be a shepherd and avert his gaze from murder? He hadn't looked away on Triumph. He'd prayed over the bodies but at the end of the day those men had been looters and rapists. He'd known even before the crew had left for the job that blood would be split that day and he did not protest it. Was this his punishment for not doing so? Or was this God's will? Had God given him this flock to watch over?

"A different world out here." Simon's voice startled Book from his thoughts.

"Excuse me?"

"They shouldn't have killed her." He clarified. "Every vow I took as a doctor tells me they shouldn't have." Simon paused as he sat down at the table across from the shepherd. His face was weighted with guilt and torn but indecision. "And then I think that woman would have caused the death of my sister, and I'm glad she's dead. Back home, before all this the worst thing I'd ever done sneak out with my father's hovercar and now " He looked up at him. "Now I knowingly stand aside to murder and theft, by breathing I'm breaking the law right now. In order for me and my sister to live I have to be a criminal."

"Son," Book started; he didn't think he was right enough with God himself at the moment to take a confession from another, but the look on the boy's face stopped him from saying so. "We do what we have to. I watched them do it too." He took a deep breath. "And I'm not even sure it was wrong. I've seen some things since I started to walk in the world again, done some things I swore I'd never do again... And while a part of me thinks I may have boarded the wrong ship, another part tells me perhaps this is exactly where I should be."

* * *

_/know you're not sleeping/_

River growled beneath the shield of her blanket. He was not in the room with her, he was in his and waiting. Someone was having entirely too much fun with his newfound ability. It was irritating. When he thought at her like that there was no blocking it out, nor ignoring it. It would hit her mind like a small shock of electricity; it was not painful, just incessant; like the buzzing of an alarm you could not ignore. River snorted to herself. She had been drugged, mocked, yelled at, belittled, and discovered she could be blocked. She was in no mood. She pulled the blanket around her tighter.

_/We need to talk/_

She could feel the trace of anger in his thought that time. She wondered why it was so easy to hear his distinctive thoughts over the others now. She assumed it had to do with the fact she couldn't hear anything from him now at all; so when something was there it was all that much more defined and clearer.

_/We've played this game before girl. You know I won't just go away/ _

She huffed and tossed the blanket off of herself. He was infuriating.

**

Riddick smirked when the door to his dorm slid open and a very irate River appeared silhouetted from the light of the hallway. It would have been easier to just go to hers but he wanted to make her come to him. In the end, he would ensure she always came to him; besides using his new little trick was all sorts of entertaining.

"He called." She rolled her eyes as she stepped in.

_/You saw the dream/_

"She is standing right next to you." River huffed, there really was no need to continue to think at her.

Riddick chuckled._ /What you don't like the idea of somebody forcing their way into your head?/_

"She doesn't like to be the only one talking. It makes her seem "

_/Crazy?/_

"Stop that." She glared at him in the darkness because she knew he could see perfectly well.

_/Try thinking back at me/_

River quirked an eyebrow. "It won't work like that. You are not her. You have just learned a stupid trick." She said coldly. "She could hear you think at her even before, he has just learned to stop everything else. It's not like you can think at any one else."

Riddick had actually been thinking about this ever since that morning when he had felt Saffron's mind through River's when she connected herself to him. _/I saw Saffron's head/_

"What?" River half-shrieked.

_/It didn't make any sense. It was raw, like it was written in a language I couldn't understand/_

"Will you stop?" She demanded.

_/No/_ He smirked. He wanted her to get used to hearing him.

River narrowed her eyes and growled.

_/Try it. You were tied or linked or whatever it is the fuck you do when I heard Saffron, if you're linked to me I bet I can hear you back/_

"You can hear her just fine when she speaks." River informed him.

/_Try/_

"No." She said firmly.

_/Yes/_

"No."

Riddick decided to switch tactics. _/We have a Contract girl. If we can talk back and forth like this, it will help me keep you safe./_ It was only partly true. His real reason behind it was the hope that it would connect her to him firmly. It would keep him in her head. What he didn't admit, even to himself, was that, much like River's scent, he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of her being inside his head now that he could recognize it. It would keep her close even when they were separated.

River, oblivious to his train of thought and thoroughly frustrated by it, had to concede to his logic. It would be a much more efficient form of communication; especially if she could show him what she meant rather than try to translate it into something he could understand. It hadn't escaped her the ease at which she had pushed herself into Saffron. It had been so simple when she was tied to his mind, which was so completely blank to her; so much easier than Tyrus. Then she had begun to get a headache and feel sick after forcing her way into so many minds while repelling the constant assault of the others.

She frowned slightly. What had happened? One moment she had been in complete control and the next it was as though a rubber band had snapped. Had the connection been too weak? Knowing now that she had been inadvertently passing imagery onto Riddick she wondered if it was ill-preparedness for it which had cause the break. If she could speak with him as well, they could learn to strengthen the connection, to ensure that it could not be broken. Her thoughts circled back around to why it had been different than on Tyrus. The obvious answer was that he was not a blank to her then. However, that answer produced the same question she had been unable to answer earlier. What had changed? The dream; was it just a dream though? Had he really been sleeping at all? She remembered reading once, before the Academy when she had realized she wasn't just reading body language, that certain religious orders claimed to be able to separate themselves from reality, or the physical plane, and go to a place that was in-between. Did Shirah exist in that place in-between? And if she did, how was Riddick able to access it so easily in his sleep? Was Shirah pulling him there? Could she be brought there to speak with Shirah as well?

Riddick waited patiently while River sorted through her thoughts. He was used to this by now. She just needed a few minutes to process; she never responded well to being rushed or pushed. The results were much better if you simply waited for her to understand things. At first this had been annoying but, having an inkling of the way her mind worked, he was even more fascinated. How many hundreds of things could the girl think of at once? To be able to function while listening in to several different people at the same time as yourself had to take an extreme amount of focus and skill. Both of which she didn't seem to think she had; but he knew she did. If she didn't, she wouldn't have been standing in front of him. They would have never of had a single conversation. He had felt the crushing weight of just one extra person and he'd only received it second hand, he knew the girl was stronger than she thought she was.

River finally decided there was only one course of action if she wanted answers. Despite popular opinion she was not omniscient; she couldn't get the answers if no one had them to give. She couldn't read what wasn't there to be read.

"Alright." She said slowly.

The psychic couldn't see the wide grin that broke across Riddick's face; it was too dark. She couldn't feel the sudden spike of satisfaction; Riddick was numb to her. It was probably for the best. They were on level ground. Most would be pleased to be on an even playing field with Riddick. River was not. She wasn't used to not having the advantage. Riddick, however, was thrilled. It meant he didn't have to worry about her finding out about his plan to take her with him. She hadn't taken it well the last time he thought it.

River folded herself cross-legged into the chair across from Riddick's bed. He watched her close her eyes and inhale deeply. He felt the slight push against his mind and he breathed in her mind like he would her scent. He welcomed her inside; he wanted her to feel safe. He wanted to be her sanctuary.

River wrapped the tendrils of her mind around Riddick. His strength poured into her through the connection. She felt it fill in the cracks and holes of her own. This time instead of just gripping the cords to ground herself; she wove herself into them, she melded with it and felt the edges fuse together. She was no longer holding the cords; holding implied a grip which could be broken; she was now fused to them, a part of them, they were an extension of herself.

_/It is infuriating to be proven incorrect/ _ She pushed to him.

Riddick's laughter echoed off the walls of his dorm. _/Get used to it, girl./_

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
_

Kaylee looked up at the knock on the doorframe of the engine room. "Jayne." A huge smile plastered itself across her face.

Jayne was considerably relived by the smile. "I got something for you, girl."

"For me?" Kaylee asked confused. "You didn't... I really didn't mean before that you had to give me stuff Jayne I was.." She stammered.

"I know." Jayne stopped her. "I'm a little thick sometimes, I didn't think I had to say nuthin' to you. I thought ya knew."

"I'm not River." Kaylee shrugged.

"Yeah... well... " Jayne shifted. He hadn't quite figured little Crazy out just yet and Kaylee's statement unnerved him slightly; but he forced himself to push those thoughts away. He had come down here with a purpose. He pulled a compact silver handgun from the back waistband of his pants. The gun had always been too small in his hands but he'd kept it anyway. "This is for you."

"A gun?" She was a little confused, but touched none the less. Jayne just didn't give away his girls.

"Yeah, well, back on Jiangyin I promised to teach you how to shoot proper, and I don't like thinkin' that iffin' we was to get in a pinch and I couldn't be there to protect ya, that ya couldn't do it yourself."

"You're giving me a gun so you know I'm safe?"

Jayne nodded. "'Sides," he tried to lighten the sudden atmosphere. "Don't look proper that Jayne Cobb's girl can't shot a gun."

Kaylee giggled. "What's her name?"

Any anxiety Jayne had been feeling about his gift dissipated instantaneously. "Betsy."

"Come here, you big lunkhead." She smiled as she threw her arms around his neck and crushed her lips against his. She stopped after only a moment and pulled away; tugging Jayne's arm for him to follow her further into the engine room.

If Jayne had thought his gift had earned him something special; he had been wrong, in one sense anyway. He looked at her confused when she stopped in front of an open panel. Kaylee giggled a little at his confusion. "Iffin' you're gonna teach me to shoot and share your girls, it's only right I share my girl with ya too. 'Sides," she grinned at him. "Don't look right iffin' Kaylee Frye's man can't tune an engine proper. Hand me that wrench there." Jayne was a little disappointed but happy Kaylee was over their fight handed her the wrench. "Okay, so this right here..."

* * *

**End: For those of you wondering why I cut the whole gun in the suit thing out here's why: The writers checked with a gun expert to make that scene right. The expert was wrong. Vera would have fired fine without the suit and I figured Jayne would know that.**

**Side note: Sorry if the scene breaks came out funny... for some reason I couldn't get them to stay put, don't know if it was FF or me.  
**

Til After Now.


	30. Interlude 6:He loves me he loves me not

**A/n: **

**I know, it was a bit OCC to for Book to be semi okay with Saffron's death but the series Book was retired (or at least that's the impression I got) this one is a fugitive, plus he's been crewing with Monty for a bit already so the criminal underbelly of the 'verse isn't such a shock to him. In the defense of my Beta he tried to talk me out of it but ya'll know me, I have an affinity for killing people off lol. (It's weird I lol'ed after that statement isn't it?)**

**Side note: For you RnR fans Adara pointed out one on ff . net that isn't listed in the crossover category, Some Kind of Crazy by Bigsciencybrain and Moody Muse has posted one as well Running, which is listed in the crossover.**

**Elliesmeow, Oppenhiemer, Hotagainstawall, idlejim, Julian Carax, sxevlbtch, DarkDreamer1982, librarywitch, serenitie1, ArtLightLove, Rachet forestreject, Adara, and Sabrina1204… You make me do happy dances. Thank you so very very very much :D**

**Thug-4-less is my superhero.**

**I don't own anything, please don't send me money, they'll sue.**

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
**

There was nothing overly impressive about the man who sat behind the computer screen. He was tall, wiry, and balding but otherwise utterly unremarkable in every way. He scanned through the latest security bulletins; his face devoid of emotion, they were grasping at straws. The Company was displeased and growing impatient; facts which did not bode well for either himself or his partner. The Company demanded results and accepted nothing less than flawless precision and efficiency. Thus far, the recovery mission had been neither.

A high priority alert caught his eye and he accessed it on the touch screen. A short description listed the alert for one Richard B. Riddick; having been presumed dead, video footage to the contrary had been reported from a Rim World. A private club had nearly been destroyed by Riddick and an unidentified female accomplice. It was sheer curiosity which prompted him to open the file. The holographic image phased into resolution and after a moment, the slightest hint of a smirk, the greatest display of emotion expressed by the man in the last six years, formed across his lips.

"Twelve." He called over his shoulder.

"Yes, Nine."

"I believe I have found something of great interest to the both of us."

"Is that so?" Twelve, a man startling similar but at least twenty pounds heavier than his partner Nine, asked as he rose from his own workstation.

"Oh, indeed it is." Nine replayed the video feed.

"It is fortunate for us the girl was not recognized."

"That it is. We will not give them the chance." Nine agreed as he brought up another sub-screen and entered a ten-digit clearance code. The feed downloaded to the ship's hard drive and was duly erased from the archives.

"Who is the man?"

"One Richard B. Riddick; a former Ranger."

"Fascinating."

"To be sure, Twelve. He was presumed deceased until this video surfaced. The owner of the establishment wished to contest the bounty paid out for his head."

"Greed is our greatest ally."

"That it is." Nine agreed.

"Do you see the way he looks at her?"

"That is an unfortunate complication. He will be an obstacle. I will pull his record, there can be no error."

"And now there is another." Twelve pointed to a slim red head that slid into the both with the pair. "He has passed them something."

"He will need to be silenced as well."

"Undoubtedly."

"I will adjust the course."

* * *

Simon hovered nervously on the catwalk. He was well aware of the fact that his presence was not unnoticed; he couldn't have cared less. Below him, his sister sat perched on crate sketching while Riddick and Jayne lifted weights; it was her incessant closeness to one of those men which caused him to hover so. Granted, he and Riddick had reached a sort of tentative truce; that didn't mean he approved of his sister spending nearly every waking moment with the man. In fact, it irked him to no end.

"Something on your mind, son?" Book asked quietly as he crossed the walkway.

"Hmm?" Simon looked up at the older man. "It's nothing really."

Book looked down on the scene below them. "Riddick seems to be rather fond of your sister."

"I've noticed." Simon replied tersely.

"It really is for the best."

"Excuse me?"

"Perhaps you would like to join me for a cup of tea?" Book offered.

"Um… no thank you." Simon cast another worried glance down.

"Wearing a rut into the grating will get you nowhere, son."

"I suppose you're right." Simon conceded.

"Tea it is then."

**

_/We have an audience./_ Riddick pushed the thought at River and she could almost feel the smirk in his words.

_/She is used to it. He worries./ _ River dismissed it. She had long since stopped caring when people watched or stared at her.

_/Brother doesn't like me being around you./_ River didn't need to be able to read him to hear the accompanying anger which came with his statement; it was blatant. The subtle changes in his body language told her more clearly than his mind could have; the shift of his position on the weight bench, the increased speed of his lifting; his grip on the bar. She had begun to observe him intensely; his body language was now the only clue to the thoughts inside his head; and she had learned to read him well.

Five days had passed since The Marking; and still they had no answers; they were locked away in Riddick's mind in a place neither he nor River could reach; she had remained constantly linked to him with the hopes he could carry her with him to the woman called Shirah, but she had been curiously silent. River was beginning to dislike her intensely. In the dream, Shirah had said she had no wish to hinder her own cause; what River couldn't understand was how concealing Riddick's thoughts from her did anything but. If she couldn't read him, how was she supposed to translate?

_/Inconsequential./_ She answered him.

Jayne, who was standing above Riddick found it a bit odd the man suddenly started smirking; but chose not to remark on it. Something strange was going on between him and Crazy and, in a rare moment of foresight, Jayne had wisely decided to just watch it play out.

**

"Will he hurt her?" Simon asked Book suddenly, as the Shepherd set down the tea.

"Excuse me?"

"You know Riddick better than any of us; can I trust him not to hurt her?"

"You assume because I knew the man he was, that I know the man he is now."

"What kind of man **was** he then?" Simon asked in earnest. He desperately needed to know whether or not he should trust this man with their secrets. He was an escaped convict; what would stop him from turning them in to clear his own name?

"It's no secret we are not overly fond of each other now but, in another life, things were different between us. We were both different men back then. Riddick was never a good man, but he wasn't necessarily an evil one either; he has a rather contorted sense of honor and loyalty. He's utterly fearless and more dangerous than you can possibly imagine."

"Honor? The man's a convicted felon." Simon scoffed at the idea.

"He wasn't always a criminal. I don't suppose he ever told you why he decided to try to expose The Company."

"Until you came aboard, I don't think any of us even knew he was a soldier."

"There was a girl on Sigma 3, the daughter of an indentured. Riddick had taken a liking to her and, unfortunately, so had one of his superiors. The poor child never had a chance." Book lowered his head. "When they found the body, she had been brutally raped and beaten to death by the other officer."

"What happened?" Simon asked anxiously, when Book was silent for a few moments.

"Riddick went AWOL for a few days; the officer went missing and a body was never recovered. Riddick was a different man when he came back. Spent a few days in the brig for disappearing but there was never an official connection to link his disappearance with that of the officer."

"But you know, don't you?" Simon asked.

"I have my theories." Book sipped off his tea.

"This was supposed to make me feel better?" Simon groaned miserably.

"It's all a matter of perspective, I suppose."

**

_/What are they talking about?/_

_/Who?/_

_/Don't play dumb, girl./_

_/It will only make him angry./_

_/Well?/_

_/It's none of his business./_

_/If it concerns me or you, it is./_

River could see his point; but she also knew very well it would do no good to tell him the Shepherd was speaking secrets which were not in his right to tell; nor would he appreciate very much that Simon was still trying to find a way to leave the ship and Riddick behind. _/Just because one can hear the thoughts of others does not mean it is her right to share their thoughts. There is no threat, and therefore no reason for the knowledge to be his./_

_/Shouldn't be any secrets between us./_ Riddick snapped into her thoughts. Jayne was on the bench and Riddick was spotting now; she could feel the weight of his gaze but chose not to look up to meet it.

_/There are thousands of secrets between us./_

River was a bit angry herself at this point. Why hadn't he told her of the girl? An unfamiliar emotion began to well in her chest; something she had never quite experienced before. Jealousy. As a child, before the Academy, she was the daughter of one of the wealthiest business men on Osiris; if she wanted something, it was hers. She was a genius; there was never anyone who succeeded at something above her capabilities. She had always been first in the minds of those that mattered to her. This other girl… she had been first to Riddick. This other girl had shifted the course of his existence. It was infuriating on a level she could not understand.

_/What do you mean there are thousands of secrets between us?/_

_/Exactly what she said./_

_/That would be a first./_ Riddick audibly snorted. _/You never say what you mean, it's always a riddle or some kind of nonsense./_

_/She always says what she means, just because you can't keep up doesn't mean what she says doesn't make sense./_

_/Who said I couldn't keep up?/_

_/He can't./_

_/You're avoiding the question girl. What about these secrets?/_

_/Why should she be made to tell? He doesn't tell./_

_/Tell what?/_

_/Anything! Everything!/_

_/Acting crazy, girl./_

"Crazy?" River said suddenly, out loud, as her eyes narrowed.

"What?" Jayne huffed from the bench.

"You heard me, girl." Riddick smirked. "Crazy."

"Heard what?" Jayne asked again. "I didn't hear nuthin'."

"_Cào n__ǐ__ z__ǔ__zōng shíbā dà__i_ (fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation)!" River snapped at him.

"Hey! Where the hell did that come from?" Jayne asked offended.

River stopped glaring at Riddick long enough to smile sweetly at Jayne. "Not you."

"Oh." Jayne rested the weight bar on its supports. "What'd I miss?"

Riddick and River answered in unison respectively.

"Nothing."

"Everything."

"Okay… I'm gonna just go and see what Kaylee's up to." He said, a bit uneasily. Maybe waiting and watching wasn't such a good idea; he was beginning to think that just staying the hell clear of it until the dust settled was the best idea.

"She is on the bridge." River informed him.

"How do you… never mind." Jayne grunted as he rose.

"She will come as well." River said as she set down her sketch pad.

"Alright, then." Jayne said nervously after shooting a wary glance at Riddick; who did not look pleased.

"We ain't done here, girl." Riddick said evenly.

"Yes, we are." River insisted.

"No, we are not." Riddick informed her.

"We are." River narrowed her eyes. Jayne took the opportunity to very quietly make his exit.

"We are not."

"We are."

"Not."

"Are." River said archly as she turned to leave. She was stopped by Riddick's hand wrapped around her arm.

"Not done here, I ain't gonna say it again." Riddick half-growled. There was no way in Hell he was going to allow her to walk away from him.

River glared at his hand on her arm. "Remove your hand or she will do it for you."

Riddick rumbled low in mocking laughter. "Is that a threat?"

"No." She turned her icy gaze on him. "It is a warning of a future occurrence if he does not immediately cease. She does not wish to be touched."

Riddick barked out a laugh which echoed through the empty bay and straight down River's spine. River narrowed her eyes.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Riddick smirked at her.

River abruptly dropped; her body falling into dead weight and Riddick, whose hold had been less than firm, released her. She spun low and kicked out his legs. Riddick blinked behind his goggles; he was on his back, looking up at the ceiling of the bay. River was immediately upon him, a wide smirk on her face as she raised her leg up to a 180 degree angle. Riddick knew what was coming and he had ample time to roll away from her next strike. However he found himself incredibly distracted by the sight of River as she raised her leg. She was wearing a skirt. Needlessly to say, when her booted heel slammed unmercifully into his chest, it came as a surprise he was wholly unprepared for.

The air rushed out of his body; his stunned shock wearing off at the sound of her laugh and her booted feet slamming down on the catwalk stairs. He was on his feet, a mixture of anger and excitement coursing through his veins. She had hit him. She had knocked him, Richard B. Riddick, on his ass and he'd never even seen it coming. A smirk twisted on his lips as he took the stairs three at a time in pursuit. She was good. He was better, and now was the time to prove that point.

**

"Be landing in about an hour." Zoe told Mal as they entered the bay through the lower level hall.

"Good. Inara will be ready to dock by the time we wrap things up with Bernoulli." Mal replied.

**

Riddick cornered River on the walkway above. "Cheap shot, girl." He chided her. "Won't happen again."

River snorted indignantly. "He is a non-threat."

"You sure you wanna say something like that to me?" His voice had lowered into a harsh and graveled whisper.

"She already has." River said smugly as she took a tentative step backwards and her hands gripped the rail behind her.

Riddick mistook her step backwards as one of apprehension and took a step forward. Here again he was wrong. "That a challenge?" He asked darkly.

"A truth." She took another step backwards pressing herself against the rail.

"That so?"

River laughed. "Can he keep up?"

Riddick lunged for her; a snarl escaping him as his hands met only air. River ducked and dropped herself down between a break in the rail. She released her hold on the bar, only to drop low enough to grip the edge of the walkway itself. In the same easy fluid motion, she reversed her grip, swung herself forward and somersaulted neatly onto a high stack of crates.

**

"What in the gorram Hell " Mal's head jerked up and around at the loud bang from behind him and Zoe. He turned in time to watch Riddick vault himself off the walkway and land on a stack of crates River had just flipped herself clean off of. "Why is my merc chasing my resident crazy?"

"Why is your pilot juggling dinosaurs for the amusement of your mechanic and other gunhand?" Zoe asked with a shrug.

"He's what?"

"At least it's not geese, sir."

Mal chose to ignore that and refocused himself on the pair in question who had already disappeared down a hallway. "Think they'll kill each other?"

"Haven't yet."

"Think they'll break my ship?"

"More than likely."

"Wanna flip for who gets to break it up?"

"You're the Captain."

"Yeah and you're the first mate, gotta do what I tell ya to."

A snorted chuckle escaped Zoe and Mal half-glared at her. "Sorry, sir." She did nothing to conceal the smirk on her face.

"See now, when you laugh before or after a Sir it makes me feel like you don't actually mean it."

"Think what you will, sir." A loud crash coming from the direction of the Infirmary drew their attention back to the issue at hand.

"Well, that'll be my ship getting broke." Mal grumbled.

"Good luck, sir." Zoe chuckled as she headed back up to the bridge.

**

"River?" Simon asked curiously as his sister came bolting into the infirmary. His confusion only grew when she ignored him and stuffed herself into a low cabinet. "Riddick?" He tried as the man came barreling in a second later.

"Know you're in here, girl. I can smell you." Riddick taunted as he stalked.

"Um… Riddick?" Simon tried again.

"Not now, Doc."

"What's going on?" Simon demanded a bit heatedly now.

"Not now, Doc." He dismissed him again as he moved silently towards the cabinet River had ducked into. He crouched down on his ankles and tore the door open; only to be thrown back by into the rolling cabinet by the unexpected force of River's feet to his chest. It took her less than a second to propel herself out of the hiding spot and over Riddick's body. This time however, he was not distracted by the sight of her legs, this time he was just pissed. As River leapt over his body, he snatched a hold of her boot and brought her down to the ground with him.

River landed hard but immediately flipped herself onto her back and twisted her leg viscously. She was going to regret that later, she had time to think, as something popped in her hip. At the moment however it was regulated to a distant part of her mind; as she twisted she yanked and her foot came free of the boot.

"Gorram it!" Riddick roared as River slipped away and he pushed himself back up and onto his feet; still gripping her boot tightly in one hand.

"Hey!" Simon yelled as he followed them both. "Don't hurt her!"

**

Mal was only partially finished with his mental tirade as River came running at full-speed down the hall. "Hey… oofffp." His protest was cut off as he found himself pushed out of the way. He was straightening out his jacket and muttering to himself when he was knocked aside by the huge form of Riddick followed closely by a yelling Simon. "What in the gorram Hell is going on on my ship?" He yelled, but the hallway was already empty.

**

Riddick lunged for her. She spun neatly out of the way and Riddick face-planted into the corridor wall as River giggled and ducked between his legs. Riddick growled and hurled the boot at her. She sidestepped and the boot caught Simon directly in his face.

"Son of a…!" Simon cried as he grabbed his bleeding nose.

"_**Enough!**_" Mal roared.

River froze immediately, Simon sputtered and Riddick seized the opportunity to grab River and toss her over his shoulder. She shrieked wildly and tried to kick him in his gut but he grabbed a hold of her calves and held them still.

"What in the Hell is going on here?!" Mal yelled.

Riddick smirked as River struggled and easily bent down to pick up the dropped boot. "Just a discussion on foot safety, Mal." He said, as he jammed the boot back onto River's foot while he held her over his shoulder.

"What?" Mal asked.

Riddick dropped River back to her feet; his fingers, seemingly of their own will strayed a bit along her thigh as he did so.

"_Fei fei de pi yan _(baboon's arse crack)!" River shrieked at Riddick; she kicked him solidly in his shin with her now booted foot.

"Fuck!" He snarled and made to lunge for her again but she swiftly hid herself behind the Captain.

"I said _**enough!"**_ Mal barked again. "I swear you'll all be on septic duty for the next six months!"

"Me?" Simon asked incredulously through a bloody handkerchief. "I'm the one bleeding!"

"Should learn to duck." Riddick grunted, eyeing River. _/Ain't over, girl/_

River stuck out her tongue.

Mal let out a growl of his own. "Riddick, we'll be dirt-side in less than an hour, get yourself geared up and ready to go. Simon, you take your sister back into the Infirmary and get your face cleaned up. This is my ship, not a rutting playground."

"Who said anything about playing, Mal?" Riddick said darkly.

"Well, I got a strict policy on killin' crew members." Mal snapped. "I ain't got time for this _gou shi_ (crap) and, if you all do, it tells me that you ain't got enough to do. So from now on, Little Bit, you'll be in the engine room with Kaylee."

"Really? He trusts her with Mother?" River's face lit up.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Simon interjected uneasily, though his voice was a bit muffled and his protest turned into a swear as River brought her foot down on his.

Mal had to grin a bit."Said it yourself, Doc; your sister's a genius and Kaylee told me how she helped fix the navcom. Everybody aboard this ship earns their keep and it's time your sister did as well. So go on, Little Bit, git yourself to the engine room. Kaylee should be along since we're landing."

"She will not let you down." River's voice was the epitome of seriousness.

"I don't suspect you will." Mal said, pleased with himself as he watched the girl take off with at a run towards the engine room. Riddick moved to follow but Mal stopped him. "You heard me, Riddick; go get yourself geared up, your bunk's the other way."

Riddick growled low in his chest and Mal shifted a bit uncomfortably. "That an order, Captain?" Riddick asked a bit threateningly.

"Got a job to do, Riddick, and if you wanna be paid, then you do the job." Mal answered, employing a tactic he had used quite often with Jayne. "Ya'll can kill each other next time you're on leave from the ship, 'til then we got money to make."

Riddick held the Captain's gaze for a moment longer before turning away to his bunk. His shoulder collided rudely with Simon's and the young man was forced to take a step back.

"I would appreciate it Captain-," Simon said after the killer had left, "- if you would refrain from giving permission to do bodily harm to my sister."

"He won't kill her." Mal shrugged as they both turned to head back to the Infirmary.

"Though I keep being told that, I have yet to see any evidence otherwise."

"Riddick ain't a man to be fucked with, Doc. If he wanted your sister dead, he would have done it already." Mal shrugged.

"What was this then?" Simon asked heatedly.

"Hell if I know." He admitted. "My guess, he's got an itch for your sister."

"What?" Simon sputtered.

"He was real keen on pulling the attention from your sister on the bridge when she started goin' off 'bout them spider webs. He does it every time somebody starts to talk on what it is that's goin' on inside her head. Means he's not willing to share. Means he's got an itch for her."

"What?"

"Hey, look on the bright side, kid, ain't many dumb enough to fuck with Riddick." Mal shrugged again.

"This is what going mad feels like." Simon said incredulously.

"I bet it is." Mal chuckled. "Thank God I ain't got a sister, I'd probably rupture somethin' if he was sniffin' around one of mine."

"But I'm supposed to be okay with it?"

"Perspective I guess, Doc. I imagine my sister wouldn't have the whole of the government out to get her or a bounty on her head the size River does."

"But…"

"Doc, you're bleedin' on my floor."

* * *

"Hey, Riv!" Kaylee chirped as she entered the engine room. "Cap' says I got me a new assistant."

"She will not let you down." River said as she reverently ran her fingers over the ship's engine.

"I don't suppose you could." Kaylee giggled. "Prob'bly show me up."

"Never," River shook her head. "Mother is her girl. She could never speak to her like Sunshine does."

Kaylee dismissed the mother reference, she was pretty sure there were a whole lotta things River would say and do that she'd never understand. "You stop that now." Kaylee blushed. "Ain't nothin' special."

"Jayne thinks differently." River giggled.

Kaylee blushed harder. "Really?"

"All the time he thinks of his girl."

"Really?"

"He wrote his mother about her."

"_Bi zu_ (shut up)! Really?"

River shook her head in the affirmative. She had never had a friend before and Sunshine's mind was warm and inviting. Her gesture after The Wife Incident had risen her opinion of the mechanic considerably. She felt warmer when Sunshine was happy and it was part selflessness she told her these things and part selfishness.

"Yes."

"Oh my God, what iffin' she wants to meet me?" Kaylee said suddenly panicking.

"Everyone adores Sunshine, she will be no different. It is suiting. Her name is Radiant, and her son loves the Sunshine." River said soothingly. "She will love you greatly."

"He loves me?" Kaylee asked shyly.

River repressed the urge to roll her eyes. She thought this was obvious. "He doesn't know it yet, but he does."

"How can you be sure?" This time River did roll her eyes. "Right." Kaylee giggled.

"Kaylee, we'll be hitting atmo in twenty." Wash's voice came over the ship's comm, interrupting the girls.

"Gotcha, Wash." She answered back. "Well, looks like we got work to do." She smiled broadly at River. "I'm really glad your brother picked our ship."

"As is she."

* * *

Despite Mal's orders, Riddick did not go directly to his bunk to grab his gear. Instead, he made a detour into the spare shuttle and clicked on the cortex.

"Miss me already, Riddick?" Andre chuckled.

"Need a job, Andre." He demanded brusquely. He was sick to shit of taking orders; the time was coming to kick on. He was going to need better money than what Mal was bringing in if he wanted to take the girl with him.

"Gee, I'm just great, yeah well… you know, same old same old. How's the 'verse on your end? Oh that's great, good to hear."

Riddick snorted. "You done yet?"

"Never were one for small talk."

"You're too ugly for it."

"That hurts." He feigned a look of offense. "Really, truly and deeply, man."

"You'll get over it. About those jobs, I'll be using the ship as a cover so I won't know where I'll be week to week. Gonna need a listing of what's being offered."

"You lookin' for quick and dirty or quick and clean?"

"Which one pays better?"

"Who said I got anything at all?"

"You done fuckin' with me?" Riddick snapped.

"You gotta let me have some fun. You're several billion miles away, the last time you were too close to my throat to let me have any. Why are you looking for work anyway, man? Thought you were going all straight and shit, crewing on a ship?"

"Need the coin. Ain't planning on playing gun-hand forever."

"Yeah, well, Rick Marshall ain't got the rep for what you're looking for. Nobody's gonna wait in the hope he'll be on their rock next."

"Been planning on rising from the dead."

"No shit? You sure that's a good idea? Johns' brother might be a little pissed on having to forfeit that bounty."

"You think that means anything to me?"

"Right . Well in that case, give me a couple of days to spread the word Riddick is alive and kickin' again. Old rates?"

"Fifteen percent finder's fee." Riddick agreed.

"You do realize this will unleash a flood gate of mercs and bounty hunters right?"

"The fuck if I care."

"My cred account thanks you." Andre grinned. "I'll set something up for you under the Marshall ident. Riddick might be back from the dead but let's not advertise it with a bank account and I'll assume the Richards accounts were drained."

"I'll be in touch." Riddick grunted in agreement and cut the wave off.

* * *

* * *

_Several hours later_

River was humming to herself as she skipped through the ship. It was not a song of Shirah's however as she had decided to stop singing her songs. It was petty yes, but River satisfied herself with these smaller victories. The others would be returning soon; she could feel the hum of Riddick's mind drawing closer to her.

"River." Her brother called her from the doorway of the infirmary. She released a deep sigh but halted in her movement and turned into the infirmary; she already knew what this conversation was going to be about.

"Yes, _ge-ge_ (big brother affectionate)?" She asked innocently.

"You really need to stop provoking that man." He said very seriously.

"He should take his own advice." River replied flatly.

"I'm being serious, River. He's a_ xiong meng de kuang ren_ (violent lunatic). He's dangerous."

"This conversation seems repetitive." River said, bored.

"Because you don't listen." Simon snapped. "I'm serious, River. I don't want you anywhere near him anymore."

"He won't kill you." River said simply.

"I actually highly doubt that."

"He won't." River insisted. "I will not allow it."

"River, that's not as comforting as you may think." He smiled bitterly. "But I guess you would know, right?"

"It is still unwise to provoke him." River said quickly. She didn't want to admit she couldn't hear Riddick and she wasn't entirely sure if what she was saying was accurate at all. She made a mental note to pay close attention whenever her brother and Riddick were together. "The body can withstand a substantial amount of pain before death."

"How kind of you to remind me." He deadpanned.

"She won't let him." River assured him.

"You let him throw a boot at my face."

"Negative." River shook her head. "The boot was meant for the girl, she is just smart enough to duck." She giggled.

"Brat." Simon snorted an action which hurt slightly, and caused River to giggle harder.

"Boob." She stuck out her tongue.

"River, I'm serious though." Simon insisted.

"And so is she." River replied the humor gone from her face as she turned to leave.

"River "

"Simon "

"We're not done here."

"We are." She corrected; her pleasant mood was officially spoiled as she stomped her way out of the Infirmary. She could hear and feel him following, intent on making his point. She broke into a run and, as she turned a corner, slammed into the chest of Book.

"River, I'm sorry…" Book started but abruptly stopped as he watched River take a step back, her face paling as she did so. "Child, what's wrong?" He asked with genuine concern.

River shrieked and ran for her life; shoving past Simon as she did so.

"River?" Simon called after her.

"I'm sorry, son, I think I did…" Book was halted mid-sentence again by the look on the boy's face. "What?"

Simon broke out into a laugh; nearly doubling over.

"What?" Book demanded.

"I'm so… sorry… your… it's just… your hair…" Simon managed between laughs.

"My hair?" Tentatively Book reached up; he had pulled his hair free and brushed it out intent on washing it.

**

River continued to shriek as she ran into the bay. She needed to hide. She had tried to warn them all about the hair and no one had listened. Now it was free to suffocate them all.

"River?" Vaguely her mind registered the presence of Wash and Kaylee in the bay. She was however, at this moment, to busy trying to yank a panel free from the wall. She slid into the secret compartment reserved for cargo and slammed the panel back into place without a word.

"What was that about?" Wash asked Kaylee confused.

"I have no idea." Kaylee said, puzzled. "Do you think I should…" She was cut off by Wash's sudden outburst of laughter. "What's so funny?" She looked up; following his gaze and burst out into a fountain of giggles as well.

"I think I know what she's hiding from." Wash chuckled.

"It's not that bad." Book protested as he past them.

"Hell, preacher, iffin' we didn't have stuff to do, we might just be in there with her." Kaylee teased.

"It can't be about my hair." Book defended. "It's just hair. I grew it because of my vows."

"_Mei-mei_, come out of there." Simon tried to yell through the closed panel. There was no response.

"It really can't be about my hair." Book continued.

"Let me help you there, Simon." Kaylee offered, as she did her best to stop laughing. "There's a hidden release for that door."

"I don't blame her." Wash laughed. "It's scarin' the hell out of me, if Zoe was here, I'd be cowering."

Kaylee popped the panel release. "River, honey, it's all right. Will you come out, if we make him put it away?"

"They say the snow on the roof is too heavy! They say the ceiling will cave in! His brains are in terrible danger! She warned you his hair is not to be trusted!"

"Oh, good God." Simon groaned. "River, please."

"No! It is safer in here, she insists you join her." She yelled out as she pressed herself as tightly as she could against the far wall of the compartment.

"River, I promise I will not allow it to cave in." Book said cautiously.

"It will lie in wait." She said suspiciously.

"Well, there you have it Shepherd, looks like we're shaving your head. It's a risk, I'll admit." Wash joked. "But if Riddick can pull it off I'm sure you can."

"I'm not shaving my head." He answered flatly.

The sound of the mule pulling up to the side diverted their attention momentarily.

"Why is it my whole crew is standing around in the hold when there's work to be done?" Mal snapped as he jumped down. He did a double take on Book. "Preacher, what the hell did you do to your hair? You get electrocuted or something? Kaylee, what'd I tell you 'bout loose wires?"

Kaylee giggled. "River won't come out 'til Book puts his hair away." She gestured to the hole in the wall.

_/His hair is watching, be wary/_ Riddick felt River push into his mind.

"What?" He made the mistake of speaking out loud.

"Well, it's like Kaylee said, and I'm really thinkin' the only real solution is to shave the Preacher's head." Wash joked.

Riddick ignored him and stormed over to the compartment. "Girl, you get your scrawny ass out of there." He growled.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Simon snapped at him.

"Ship is weird as all Hell." Jayne grumbled as he went to stand next to Kaylee.

"Watch your tone with me, Doc." Riddick growled in warning.

"Is this really all about hair?" Mal asked amused.

"I believe so." Book said as he pulled his hair back into his usual tight bun at the base of his skull.

"Girl, if I have to crawl in there to drag you out…"

"Don't you dare threaten her!" Simon snapped.

"Have you not heard? It lies in wait! We need snow shovels." River yelled from her hole.

"I told you to watch your tone."

"What are you going to do? Stab me? Shoot me? Not bloodly likely with the whole crew watching!" Simon yelled back with courage that was undoubtedly due to the fact the entire crew was there.

"You wanna test that theory, Doc?" Riddick snarled as a shiv appeared in his hand.

Mal, realizing this situation was about to turn bloody, decided it was time to intervene. "Now hold it there, Riddick. I have a strict policy against shivvin' crew members, we've discussed this already. You come out of there right now, Little Bit." He ordered as he bent down to yell into the compartment. "You're causing a mess of trouble out here."

River shyly popped her head out; sending the Shepherd a particularly wary glare. "It is watching me." She whispered her voice pregnant with paranoia.

"Be that as it may," Mal said stifling the laugh he felt wouldn't help this situation at all. "Riddick's 'bout to put a new hole in your brother and well, we can't have our doctor being poked full of holes; so you best finish crawling your way out here and put an end to this mess."

Cautiously she crept out; using Riddick's body to shield herself from Book's hair.

"How come you came out when Mal asked?" Simon asked, a bit exasperated.

"He's the Captain." She said simply.

A smug grin broke out across Mal's face. "See? Least somebody has a bit of respect around here." A collective snort sounded through the bay.

Riddick's shiv disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, somehow calmed by River's small hand on the center of his back. _/His hair? Really River? His fucking hair? This morning you had the balls to kick __me in my fucking shin and yet you run from hair. Are you fucking serious?/_

_/It cannot be trusted./_

_/And I can?/_

_/Absolutely./ _ She thought back without a trace of hesitation.

Her reply sent a wave of smug satisfaction rushing through him. Any irritation he had been feeling vanished instantaneously. His inward smirk faded abruptly however, as she removed her hand from his back. It didn't cross his mind that it was strange he wanted her to touch him; usually Riddick, much like River, didn't much care for being touched but this, as mentioned, didn't cross his mind. What did, however, was the sudden sensation of loss he could not explain.

"Well, now that that's sorted," Mal said, still grinning. "We got a job to do, people. Wash, get us in the air and find out where in the Hell Inara is at. We're expected on Higgin's Moon in two days. Kaylee, you and the Little Bit get to the engine room. Jayne and Riddick, get the mule secured. I wanna be in atmo within the next twenty, folks." He said.

"Where 'bouts on the Moon?" Jayne tried to sound merely curious. He hadn't been present for that part of the deal.

"Canton." Zoe informed him as she and her husband headed up to the bridge.

"Canton?" Jayne swallowed.

"Problem, Jayne?" Mal asked warily.

"Nope." He answered quickly; both River and Riddick eyed him suspiciously as the crew began to break up.

_/What's that about?/ _ Riddick asked her.

River narrowed her eyes and after a moment shrugged. _/Job gone south./_

Riddick snorted unsurprised. To be honest, he was surprised the crew managed to pull any job.

"Come on, Riv," Kaylee called as she turned for the engine room. "We can go through take off procedures now."

"I'll help ya, Kaylee, Riddick can secure the mule without me." Jayne offered as he tossed an arm around Kaylee and led her out of the bay.

"But Cap'n said…" Kaylee started as they turned down the hall.

"I know." Jayne cut her off. "There's somethin' goin' on 'tween those two and when she's tetchy, he's tetchy, and iffin' we're headed for Canton, I'm gonna need the guy watchin' my six on point." He said gruffly.

"What's wrong with Canton?" Kaylee asked.

"Job that went south is all, mighta made me an enemy or two, ain't nothin' unusual."

Kaylee frowned; Jayne never admitted needing help with anything. "There somethin' else you wanna tell me, Jayne?"

"Honest girl, just a job gone wrong."

"You sure?"

"Hand to God."

She decided to drop the subject for now, but not to forget about it. She wanted to ask him something else about what he had said. "What do you mean he's tetchy when she's tetchy?"

"Oh, come on, girl, tell me you ain't seen it."

"Seen what?"

"I'm telling ya, he's hung up on Crazy."

"Ain't no way," Kaylee dismissed him. "And don't call her that."

"Why? She is, ain't she? And I'm tellin' ya, watch 'em together. Why else would he put up with her _gou shi_ (crap)? She follows him everywhere. Iffin' he wasn't always wearin' them goggles, you'd see 'im watch her too."

"Ain't no way, Jayne." Kaylee argued but the wheels in her head were already turning. She was a sucker for a love story.

"Bet ya a twenty piece." He grinned down at her as he ducked to enter the engine room.

"You're on." She grinned back at him. "But if I win, I don't want money, you gotta get rid of the shirt."

"What's wrong with my shirt?" He asked confused as he looked down. He was wearing a red one with a gun logo across it; sure it was a little stained but so was most everything he owned.

"Not the one you're wearing." She rolled her eyes at him. "You know which one I'm talkin' 'bout."

It took Jayne a second before he realized which shirt she was talking about. The only piece of clothing he had that wasn't stained; the striped button-up he wore when he was going to get himself some trim. He had the grace to look sheepish.

"Alright, girl, you're on." He agreed, but only because he was positive he had this one in the bag.

**

_/What was that about?/_ Riddick asked River as Jayne and Kaylee left.

River frowned as she followed Jayne through the ship via his mind. Her gaze turned from the doorway to Riddick who was waiting expectantly for an answer. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of Jayne's assumptions; but she couldn't, as her thoughts were driven back to the purpose behind her and her brother's conversation. She hadn't looked beyond the surface of the protective feelings she had felt from him; they were always there. That emotion coming from him was as much of a certainty as him making himself look like a boob. Could he really think that?

She found herself at a loss. Was that why Riddick had been angry with her for dancing? She had felt surges of anger and jealousy from him the night on Triumph but the wine had poisoned her from caring for the reason behind it; she had only wanted to make it stop and it had... after she had stopped dancing and rejoined his company. There had not been an opportunity to examine his feelings afterward because, when the wine had run its course, he was silent to her.

A sudden realization hit her. Was that why Shirah had silenced his mind? Her confusion and surprise were evident on her face as she turned these questions over in her mind.

_/River?/_ Riddick pushed curiously at her.

She hesitated. She did not want to share this with him. She did not yet understand it enough to share it. Was this why she had become angry when she discovered he was keeping secrets about other girls from her? Did she reciprocate? How was it so obvious to others? Did the entire crew think this? She had never read it from him before he had gone quiet… had something in him changed that night on Triumph? Had he realized it then? How had everyone seen this before her? She was the Reader.

"River, come with me to the infirmary." Simon spoke suddenly and it startled her; she had completely forgotten his presence. "Riddick can secure the mule without you I'm sure." There was an edge to his tone and thoughts. She pushed herself into her brother's mind and dug deeper, careful to allow nothing to slip through her, and into Riddick's mind through the link. Her occupation with his mind did not stop her from noticing how Riddick took a half step closer to her when her brother suggested she leave him. It was to her utter shock that she realized her brother was, in fact, concerned Riddick felt more than he should. If it was obvious to even him, how did she never notice?

_/Tell him no./_

"River." Simon called her again expectantly.

River shifted her focus back to Riddick, who indeed looked quite angry, and then back to her clearly nervous and agitated brother. In that moment, she felt sympathy for the rope in a game of tug-of-war.

"She has duties in the engine room." She said quickly and fled before either man could reply.

It was unfortunate for her that Riddick did not however require her to be standing next to her while talking. _/Not done, girl./_

_/He says that often./ _ She replied as she ducked into her bunk instead of the engine room.

_/When you stop running from me all the time, I won't have to./ _ Riddick thought at her while he rigged the mule to the wench.

_/She is not running./_

_/Bullshit./ _ He audibly snorted in the empty bay as the mule was raised.

_/She needs to think./_

_/About what?/ _

_/He assumes he has a right to her private thoughts/ _

_/What I'd say about secrets?/ _ Riddick could feel his anger start to build.

_/And what did she say?/ _ River angrily stomped her foot in her dorm.

_/This about what Jayne was thinking?/_ He growled audibly to himself.

River hesitated. _/No./_

River's hesitation was enough for Riddick to know she was lying. He didn't bother to reply to her. He would go to the source.

**

"Riddick!" Kaylee yelled as the killer slammed her boyfriend into a wall in the engine room.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Riddick roared less than an inch from Jayne's face.

"What the Hell are you talking about?!" Jayne snapped right back. His one free hand went for his gun, but by the time it was drawn and pressed against Riddick, Riddick's shiv was pressed against his throat.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, Cobb." Riddick snarled.

"As a matter of a fact, Riddick, I ain't got a fucking clue." Jayne spat out.

"Stop it! Stop it right now! Please!" Kaylee yelled at them both.

"Right before you left the bay; you thought something that's got River all twisted up. What was it, Cobb?"

"That's what this is about?" Jayne chuckled, relaxing his hold on his gun. "So the girl really is up there?"

Riddick was a bit surprised by Jayne's amusement, but it didn't quell his anger any. Despite Jayne's lowering of his gun, his grip on either his shiv or Jayne did not relax in the slightest. "You got thirty seconds, Cobb."

"Aw, Hell, Riddick." Jayne complained. "Let me the fuck go and I'll tell ya, though you'll probably put me back up against the wall anyways."

"Riddick, please." Kaylee was near tears. "You're scarin' me."

Riddick really didn't give a shit that he was scaring Kaylee and he duly ignored her. "If I'm just gonna put you back up, what's the point in lettin' you go?" He asked Jayne darkly.

"You're crazier than Crazy." Jayne snorted, the sound was cut off as the pressure of Riddick's shiv increased. "Easy, boy." He said carefully. "I wasn't just thinking it, I was tellin' Kaylee."

"Telling her what?" Riddick growled.

"That you're all sorts of bent over Crazy and I was leavin ya'll to sort it out 'cause I don't want to get shot next job, 'cause your all twisted over some skirt. Girl must have heard me thinkin' you were sweet on her."

"What?" Riddick asked confused but his hold relaxed and Jayne was able to slip free.

"I ain't blind, Riddick, but 'pparently everybody else 'board this gorram ship is." Jayne muttered as he shook off the traces of almost brawl.

Riddick didn't answer; he simply turned, resheathed his shiv and walked out of the engine room.

"Could of at least said sorry." Kaylee huffed after he was gone. "Why you grinning? He almost killed ya!" She snapped.

"You owe me twenty bits."

"What?" She asked incredulously.

"Why else would he come up here all crazed-like pullin' shivs over something said that got Crazy twisted?" He grinned at her.

"You're still getting rid of that shirt."

"Hey, that ain't fair."

"Tough." She snorted.

* * *

Riddick dropped onto his bunk. The lights in his dorm were out and he tugged off his goggles. He snorted to himself over Jayne's words. He wasn't 'sweet' on River. Richard B. Riddick did not get 'sweet' on girls. He fucked them and left a few coins on the nightstand before leaving. River was not a girl, she wasn't some random skirt he wanted to use and be done with. No River was more and he wanted far more from her than just a quick screw. It honestly hadn't even crossed his mind beyond a random stray thought every now and again, but he'd always rationalized those thoughts; he had a thing for legs, and the girl had a nice set of them. There was nothing more there.

River was his. It had nothing to do with a screw or being 'sweet' on her. She was simply his. That was it. River was his. He didn't like to share with others. He was selfish and he knew it. He liked her smell and the feel of her hand on his skin. She smoothed out the jagged edges of his mind. He wanted River because there wasn't anyone else like her in the 'verse; she was a genius mind reader with a valuable skill set. This was business. This was a partnership. That's all it was.

There was The Contract too, in which he had promised to protect her; which is why he rationalized he got so tetchy when others got too close to her and why he'd gotten angry enough to put Jayne into a wall when he found out it was something the merc had thought that had hurt her. Which brought another question to his mind; why had the girl gotten all twisted over the thought that he might be 'sweet' on her?

_Girl should have taken it as a compliment_, he snorted to himself. It irritated him that she hadn't. He growled aloud without realizing he was making a sound; he was pacing before he'd realized he'd stood.

If she wasn't interested in him like that, did that mean she'd leave him one day for somebody she was? The thought ripped through him like a hot shiv and something tightened in his chest. She couldn't be allowed to leave him; he wouldn't let her leave him. She belonged to him. Nobody else had a right to touch her, in anyway. She had no right to touch anyone else. Didn't she realize it already? Didn't she realize he wouldn't let her leave? Didn't she realize she was his? A vision of her in the arms of another man seared its way into his mind. That thing beneath his skin clawed at his brain as a wave of possessive jealousy coursed through his veins.

_Holy shit,_ Riddick suddenly froze mid pace as the truth of the matter hit him like a brick wall. Richard B. Riddick was 'sweet' on the crazy ass, psychic assassin. "Oh, fuck me."

**

River knew Riddick was in his dorm. The thin sheet of metal which separated their rooms was no obstacle for her mind. Though she could not hear his thoughts, the soothing hum of his mind told her he was there. It set her on edge. She wanted desperately to be able to read him. She had listened in on the exchange between Jayne and Riddick through Jayne's mind. Why had he reacted that way? First it was a violent reaction to her distress, as illustrated by the lump on the back of Jayne's head Kaylee was busy kissing better. The logic behind which was flawed but she dismissed that line of thought because it was irrelevant to her current predicament. Violence was replaced abruptly by seeming indifference as he had walked away without another word. Did that mean Jayne's thoughts were false? Though, if it did why hadn't Riddick corrected him? Did that mean they were true? More relevant than anything else however was the question of her feelings.

Riddick made her feel safe, he was her Rock, he was the _shi rou_ (strength). That was it. Wasn't it? No, that wasn't it. He swam the current of the River. He knew her. He believed her. He trusted her. He relied on her. He had waited to proceed against Saffron until she had given the word. He had released her brother even though the thing had called for blood. He had stood alone against those that wished to burn her. She had screamed and cried and yelled for him to go away and he always followed. He always came after her; and she realized, he was the only one she wanted to come for her.

"_Shen sheng gou shi_ (holy shit)." River mumbled out loud almost awed by her revelation. The answer to her question did nothing to ease her mind however. How did she proceed from here? What if her affections were not returned? His actions would be her guide she decided. Since she could not read him to learn the truth she would continue to study him. Should he not, then she would move on. She would regulate that part of her heart like she did her mind. She needed him, he was the Rock. He made her safe. She could not lose that. A tiny voice in the back of her mind pointed out if he did not love her than one day he would find somebody else. What if Jayne had been wrong? One day he would eventually leave her for another.

_I will kill her._

River shook herself. Had she really just thought that? She had, and she had meant it with every part of herself. This was unacceptable. He had to love her. She would make him love her. She would make sure he never wanted to leave her. She knew he already felt she was valuable. She would use that. She would make herself irreplaceable.

Riddick slowly sat back down on his bunk. What did this change? Absolutely nothing, he told himself. River couldn't read what he didn't want her to see. She'd never have to know anything was different. He had already planned on bringing her along, as far as he was concerned she already belonged to him anyway. The only real difference was now he planned on making her his in every way imaginable. He did not stop to consider that perhaps she did not care for him. It didn't enter his mind again; all that was relevant was he wanted River and Riddick was a man that got what he wanted. As he rose to head up for something to eat, the matter was settled in his mind. He would make her need him, he would make her love him, and then he would disappear into the black with her; nothing and no one would stop him.

* * *

Twelve flicked the switch on the small wand in his hand; the two semi translucent ends snapped back into place; folding into a small neat palm sized rectangle. He stepped over the dead but still bleeding corpse. His partner Nine was seating himself behind a massive computer console. "He really should have had better security." Twelve chided.

"He was prideful." Nine dismissed. "Arrogant."

"He was sinful." Twelve replied with distaste.

"That he was." Nine agreed as his fingers worked the screens. "He received a wave the day the footage was taken. The frequency was encrypted."

"He was not as foolish as we hoped."

"That he was not." Nine conceded. "I will input a tracer in the system. Should anyone try to contact him again we shall be aware of it. We will cross reference the signal data with ships leaving and entering port the day of and the day after the assault."

"Can we assume she is still with him?"

"She is unstable; her instinct will be to attach herself to someone capable of keeping her safe. She has been programmed to ensure her own survival above all else." Nine replied.

"We will keep this information to our own counsel for now. A known retrieval failure will not be tolerated if they realize she is traveling with him."

"Failure to report this will be seen as active disobedience; but failure to retrieve the girl will be seen as grounds for final termination."

"We must move swiftly."

"We must move with caution." Nine corrected as he downloaded the contents of the computer's hard drive onto a hand held. "He was an extortionist as well; all of his forgeries are saved to the hard drive. Assuming Riddick requested registration for a ship as well it will take little time to locate them; retrieving the girl will prove difficult if he is with her. I have studied his military profile; if not for his betrayal, he would have joined our numbers. The Company will not tolerate a public apprehension. We will locate them and wait for the opportune moment."

"We are patient men."

"That we are, Twelve. Should we fail once the opportunity will not come again."

"We will not fail."

"No we will not."

* * *

**Endnote: Okay so the hair scene shows up in this Interlude because you guessed it River goes off ship during Jaynestown. **

**Much Luv, hope ya'll enjoyed**

**Til After Now.**


	31. Jaynestown I

**A/N: IMPORTANT- We are rewinding slightly; Higgins' Moon is a two day trip from Beaumonde. Jaynestown starts on Higgins' this episode begins in the early hours of the morning after they have left Beaumonde.**

**On a side note: I've done a bit of looking into on schizophrenia, it turns out it is possible to treat without medications; I'll be playing with that a bit in later updates.**

**Secondary side note: I screwed up in the last update, I used **_**shi ruo**_** for strength which is actually weakness **_**shi li**_** is strength. My bad.**

**Much Luv and appreciation to sxevlbtch, darkdreamer1982, librarywitch, Elliesmeow, hotagainstawall, forestreject, Oppenheimer, Rachet, pyrobabe7713, SusanMarieS, Sabrina1204, erinsailorditz, an unnamed reviewer (literally because there was no user name in the review), hana, ZenRyu, Hidden Relevance, and Amethyst246…. I do not deserve your praise, you make me blush and do happy dancers and send me obsessively back to my laptop to keep writing, it is I who am indebted all of you. Thanks for coming on this crazy ride with me.**

**I bow before my beta, Thug-4-less... He is the whetstone to my shiv.**

As the norm: don't own anything except a sprinkling of original plotline and some hopefully witty dialogue… if you send me money they will sue… please don't.

* * *

"Standing there and glaring at me isn't going to make this go any faster," Simon informed Riddick as he shined a small hand light into River's pupils.

"Neither is talking, Doc." Riddick grunted; he was still missing his boots and, though he'd gone back into his dorm for his goggles, he hadn't taken the time to get a shirt. When he had woken, it had been from a dead sleep. His eyes had opened and his world had narrowed to a single focus. River. He wasn't aware he'd moved from his bed until he was tearing open the door to her dorm. He hadn't left her side since he'd found her, less than an hour ago, seizing violently on the floor of her dorm.

"She is well." River said quietly, really quite unsure as to who needed to hear it more; Riddick, her brother, or herself.

"The fuck you are." Riddick snapped; it might have sounded angry, but it was as far from anger as one could possibly be. It was a shame River could not read him to understand the difference. As it was his words cut like a knife through her heart. She was broken; he'd said it himself.

"Not helping." Simon pointed out. "River, what was the last thing you remember?"

"She was dancing. Things kept spinning even after she stopped, everything turned orange."

"Literally or figuratively?" Simon asked, realizing full well it was a question which would only apply to her.

River exhaled deeply. "She cannot tell." There was an inherent sadness to her tone that was akin to defeat and dejection. The sound of it frightened Simon.

"Any muscle weakness or pain; especially in your joints?" He asked as he started with her ankles and worked his way up, bending each joint, forcing himself to focus only on the things he could control.

"When she wakes." She confessed bitterly. She was a liability and her depression grew in direct correlation to the growl which built itself in Riddick's chest.

Simon gently pressed against the glands in her throat. "Sore?"

"No."

"Swollen slightly though," he mumbled to himself. "Any nausea?"

"Sometimes."

Simon chewed on the tip of his stylus as he poured over the notes on his handheld. After a moment, he crossed the infirmary to the small fridge and removed a small glass vial with a yellowish tinted liquid and another vial of clear.

"Well?" Riddick tried to conceal his irritation. "What in the fuck is wrong with her?"

"Too much of one, not enough of the other," River released a soft sigh as she curled herself up into a ball and lay back down on the table. She could have told them that herself, but it comforted her brother to move through the motions as if what he was doing actually made a difference.

"River, I'm…" Simon stammered.

"She knows. He doesn't know, she doesn't know. Doesn't know what they took away; has to guess, trial and error." She produced her arm without being prompted. "Just do it."

"What do you mean, 'trial and error'?" The words left Riddick's mouth with jagged edges and he gripped the counter he was leaning against to keep himself still. He needed the doctor right now and throttling him would not help the situation.

"I've told you before." Simon said with just as much resignation in his tone as River's. "I have no way of knowing what they did to her. Without the proper tests, I can only guess."

"So, you're what, just sticking her full of whatever you got handy today? You could kill her with that shit!" Riddick snapped breaking away from the counter to pace. He wasn't, by nature, a man that fidgeted. His life had relied many times on his ability to obtain stillness. It was not a possibility after being confronted with the idea that River may, in fact, be too sick for him to take her along.

Simon very slowly set down the vial and syringe in his hands. "Despite what you may think, I am a good doctor; in fact, I'm a damn good one." Simon snapped and then took in a deep breath to continue more calmly. "This is paranoid schizophrenia; as well as post traumatic stress disorder tied together with a colorful assortment of chemical imbalances and irregularities. I can't just give her a shot and make it all go away, not when I don't even know what exactly they did to her."

"Your sister's not crazy, Doc." Riddick rumbled heatedly.

Simon snorted bitterly as he loaded the syringe. "You can say that all you want but whatever they did to her that made her 'see' destroyed her psyche in the process. These men had multi-billion platinum facilities, teams of chemists and scientists and specialists wholly devoted to destroying my sister's brain. I am a trauma surgeon working out of a Firefly-class infirmary. If you think there is anything more I could possibly do, by all means-" Simon tossed his handheld onto the rolling cart. "-good luck."

River cringed as she felt her brother pierce her skin with the needle. She buried her face into the examination table; hiding in a tangle of hair and letting herself cry. It was silent and still as the men argued above her and around her; as they spoke as though she was no longer present. She was broken. He would leave her. Her world had narrowed to disclude all else. She had lost him before she had had him.

_/Quit it./ _ Riddick snapped into her mind harshly.

_/Why?/ _ She thought back without looking up; not realizing that Riddick could not only smell her tears but he could feel the shift in her emotional state though his mind as well.

_/No reason for it./_

_/She's broken./_

_/The fuck you are./_

_/That was what you said when she said she was well./_

_/Because you ain't. Seizures ain't normal, but that's the side effects from the gou shi_ (crap) _drugs your brother keeps shooting you up with. You ain't broken, say it one more time, River, and I'm going to put you through a fucking wall./_

River sat up and arched an eyebrow at him. The streaks of dried tears below her red rimmed eyes tore at him in a way he didn't think was possible. _/He can try./_

A low rumble emitted from Riddick's chest, a noise which was somewhere between a chuckle and a growl. _/That's my girl./ _ He smirked at her.

River's entire existence lit up at the sound of those three words echoing through her head. _ His girl! His girl!_ She thought to herself privately. Did he truly mean it? Or was it just something to say? She reined in the smile which threatened to break across her face. Doubt crept around the edges of her mind, but a flicker of hope was forming; one which was small yet strong enough to keep the shadows away.

Simon had been watching the exchange with no small amount of curiosity. He watched his sister shift from despair to a quiet happiness in less time than it had taken him to clear away his instruments. He hadn't heard the two speak, but as he was learning with River, it didn't necessarily mean nothing was being said. His presence had been forgotten by them and for the first time it didn't bother him. This was one of the few instances he and River were alike in; curiosity tended to supersede all other emotions.

_/Waved Andre about getting a few side jobs, been thinkin' maybe you're sick of sitting around like a gorram china doll. Maybe it will convince you, you can't break like one./_

_ /You still trust her?/_

_ /Did I ever say I didn't?/_

_ /No./ _ She admitted.

_ /When I asked you, what was your answer to me?/ _ He questioned back.

_/She trusts him absolutely./ _ She answered him.

_/There, now you got mine. Only one in the 'verse girl. You with me or not?/_

_ /She is./_

River did not try to conceal her smile; the radiance which lit up her face seemed to warm the room. He trusted her. He called her his girl. While, these two revelations were not enough to quite convince her that Jayne had been wholly correct; they were more than enough to convince her all was not lost.

Simon watched the smile break across his sister's face; she was looking directly at Riddick. What could the Neanderthal possible have thought to make her smile like that? A sick feeling twisted in the pit of his stomach and he cleared his throat. "Um, Riddick… I'll need to ask you to leave, there are some questions I need to ask River of a private nature."

Riddick tore his gaze away from River to glare at the Doctor. He bit back his remarks on how there weren't any secrets between the two and how he better just go on and say it 'cause whatever he had to figure, it was his problem now too. He held his tongue only because he knew the implications of those words once they were said aloud. It was late, he was hungry, and would most likely put Core-boy through a wall should he give him any shit.

"Hungry anyway, Doc." Riddick drawled instead; he wanted the boy to know he was leaving because he chose to, not because he had been asked.

_ /Won't be far./_ He added to River.

River was already turning a bright shade of red. She knew exactly what her brother was going to ask her and her changing color only served to pique Riddick's curiosity. When he left, he did not go up to the mess; instead he remained on the stairs, crouched out of sight from the infirmary windows and listened.

"River," Simon started.

"The answers are, no, no, it is highly probably, and none of your business." She said quickly as she swung her legs off the table; she would have made a run for it but the world began to spin at her abrupt movements and she was forced to remain sitting.

"I haven't asked yet." Simon shook his head.

From his concealed spot Riddick fought against the urge to laugh. _Boy just doesn't get it, does he?_ He thought to himself.

"He doesn't need to; we've been through this." River said, annoyed. "She has heard them already and issued her answers. They will not change just because he asks them out loud."

"Actually, River, I do. These are important questions and I need to know you are hearing the right ones." Simon said firmly.

River rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated half growl. "Ask."

"Are you sexually active?" The question looked painful for the young Doctor.

"Are you?" She countered archly.

"River."

"No." She answered.

Riddick already knew the answer to that one; Wash was married, Jayne was with Kaylee, Mal was hung up on the whore, and Book, well even the thought of that was just wrong. He would have smelled another man on her anyway.

"Have you ever been sexually active?" Simon braced himself.

River closed her eyes and blushed deeply. "No."

Riddick's smirk grew so wide it actually turned into a full on smile; dark, sinful, and semi-disconcerting but a smile nonetheless. That was a pleasing development.

Simon released the breath he did not realize he had been holding. He really didn't want to ask the next two questions given her sequence of answers and he couldn't decide if it was the brother in him or the doctor that demanded he ask them.

"Do you plan on becoming sexually active?" He asked with his eyes closed and his back turned.

"It is highly probable." She squeaked out the answer. "She is an adult."

Simon swallowed hard and turned back to face her for this one. "Is there something I should know about you and Riddick?"

Riddick still crouched out of sight was actually impressed that the Doctor had the balls to ask the question and River's answer was of particular interest to him.

"It is none of his business." River answered flatly as her skin turned a brighter shade of red than she would have thought possible.

"River..." Simon prompted, not sure if he had any medical grounds at all to insist she answer him, but he wanted an answer nonetheless.

River pushed herself off the table slowly. "It is none of his concern as a doctor or a brother." She said firmly, echoing his own thoughts.

"River, please just answer the question." Simon said shortly.

River exhaled deeply and resigned herself to the inevitable. She could read clearly her brother's thoughts on the subject and he wasn't going to let it go until she answered him. Had she realized Riddick was so close, she would have walked away, but given the fog of drugs in her mind and her inability to read him, she had no idea he was waiting just as impatiently as her brother. "There is nothing conclusive, it warrants further examination and study."

Riddick forced himself to remain silent and still. _Nothing conclusive?_ What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

"No, Simon." She said heatedly; cutting him off before he had a chance to argue with her. "She will not hear it."

"The man's insane!" Simon said exasperated.

Riddick chuckled to himself, _Boy, you ain't got any idea._

"He is the Rock, the _shi li _(strength), and she will not listen to him being named otherwise."

Riddick smirked as he listened to her defend him. He was going to have to have another conversation with the good doctor sometime in the near future.

"River…" Simon tried again.

"No, Simon!" She exclaimed heatedly before taking a deep breath and then added, "She thanks you for your concern. _Hao shui, Ge-ge _ (Goodnight, big brother)."

Simon released a dejected exhale of his own. "_Hao shui Mei-mei._ (Goodnight, little sister)." He watched her walk away and back to her dorm as he dropped into his chair.

Sweet Jesus and Buddha, didn't he have enough to deal with already?

**

River was already asleep by the time the doctor had shut down the infirmary and Riddick was able to move without being seen or questioned. Whatever it was her brother had given her had knocked her out solidly as she did not so much as even twitch when Riddick slid the door of her dorm open.

_/River./_ He pressed, thinking that in her sleep the best chance he had with waking her up was to cut through her dreams. There was no response. He didn't fully trust whatever it was her brother had loaded her with and he wanted to be close in case of another seizure. He'd seen a guy in Slam bite through his own tongue.

The convict was no longer trying to convince himself it was The Contract which drove him to do such things. Riddick was a man of realities and he had already accepted the fact the River was now his reality. The fact that he had been woken from a dead sleep by the silent sound of her thrashing seizure was just another affirmation of the fact. It bothered him immensely that she did not realize this as well.

His eyes drifted to one of her bare legs tangled in the sheets; he knew how soft that skin was. He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent deeply. A satisfied purr escaped him at the knowledge that he would be the only one to ever touch her. She was too beautiful for the rest of the 'verse. No one but him would ever understand her; no one but him was capable of exalting her for what she truly was... no one could. He could almost feel that thing under his skin calling out to something in her and vice versa. It was the violence, the rage, he knew now. Riddick could smell it on her. He just needed a way to bring it to the surface. The girl was hiding from it. She was terrified of it and he needed to get her to embrace it.

Riddick caught sight of her handheld out on her desk and on a whim he grabbed it and dropped back down into a chair. He knew River was not truly crazy. She couldn't be, he had been witness to moments of startling clarity and, one-on-one with him, she wasn't like she was with the others. Still, he couldn't argue with her brother completely. While he knew the voices weren't hallucinations, the fact that she'd run screaming from Book's hair was another issue entirely. He powered up the handheld and for the next six hours, as River slept, he researched. Riddick read everything he could find on schizophrenia and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, including common medications and side-effects as well as alternate therapies. He didn't trust anyone with what was his, and that included the Doc; even if she was his sister.

It took River several moments, while she fought against the call of sleep, to realize something was off in her bunk. Her desk chair had been moved and her handheld left out on it. She knew they hadn't been there before she went to sleep. Curious, she powered up the computer and searched through the history. She knew that hadn't been her doing, nor would her brother require such information or the use of her handheld. It left only one other possibility. Had he been here watching over her as she slept? Had he really desired this information? Her mind was torn in two directions; the first was utter happiness at his acceptance of her and his desire to ensure her safety while she slept. The other part was fear and anxiety; what if, in his research, he had decided she was too much of a burden? Would his words from last night be taken back? Would he withdraw his offer to work with her? Doubt, however, was an irrational emotion and she pushed it back; it served no purpose other than to make her mind race. She would follow the logical course she had set for herself the previous night. She would let his actions be her guide and give him nothing until she was absolutely sure. In the end, hers or not, she desperately need her Rock.

**

River's lateness to breakfast came as no real surprise to anyone; mornings were not a particular strong suit of hers, given her meds. It was, however, noted by every crew member, though none remarked on it, that Riddick had filled a plate and placed it front of the empty chair beside him.

"So, Cap'n-," Kaylee broke the morning silence, "-'bout that compression coil..."

"Not talkin' about this again, Kaylee, save it. We ain't gettin' parts we don't have the coin for. Fuel and food, right now, everythin' else is a frill." Mal interrupted abruptly.

"It ain't a frill iffin' it stops us from explodin'." Kaylee huffed.

"I'd have to agree with her Captain." Wash seconded.

Jayne did as well, after Kaylee stomped on his foot beneath the table, that was. "Yeah, Cap, I'd rather be the one doin' the blowin' up, rather than be on the other side of that 'quation."

"Kaylee, is the old one still runnin'?" Mal asked pointedly.

"Yeah, but…"

"Then it's still a frill." He cut her off.

"You do realize when it stops workin' is when we blow up right?" Kaylee asked skeptically.

Mal set down his coffee. "I got me a certified genius and the best mechanic floatin' in the 'verse and you're tellin' me, 'tween the both of you, you can't keep my ship from blowin' up?"

"That coil goes, ain't even the Hand of God himself gonna keep us from blowin' up." She snorted bitterly.

"Replacement of the damaged coil will increase fuel efficiency by fifteen point seven-three percent." River answered cheerfully from the doorway as she entered.

Riddick had already poured a glass of water for the plate next to him as the conversation had drifted on around him. He'd smelt her coming the minute she'd stepped onto the stairs.

"See? It'll save us money in the long run and keep us from dyin' in the short. Its win-win, Cap." Kaylee said smugly as River took her place next to Riddick. She frowned at the glass of water in front of her plate and reached for the coffee.

_/Don't even think about it./_ She could almost feel the growl in his thoughts. She looked at him questioningly. _/Caffeine can make it worse./ _ Where River had been pleased before about his research; she realized quickly that he had the potential to turn into another Simon. She ignored his warning and poured herself a cup.

"There a reason why you're growling at the table?" Mal asked Riddick when the sound had become quite audible.

"Thought the Doc was supposed to stay away from the food." Riddick covered.

"Hey." Simon protested. "It's not that bad."

"Actually, Doc, it is." Jayne dug at him.

"Better than Mal's." Wash joked.

"Yeah, well, Captain's ain't supposed to have to cook." Mal grumbled into his coffee.

"There a decent market in Canton?" Riddick asked, redirecting the conversation.

"Not likely." Zoe answered. "Moon's mainly a quarry; they got worker supplies, not much else."

"Why? You lookin' for a new set of goggles? Or just thinkin' you should expand your wardrobe to something that isn't black?" Mal joked.

"I'm thinkin' he'd look good in floral," Wash said with feigned seriousness as he looked down at his own brightly colored button-up.

"Honey," Zoe said with real seriousness. "I hate that shirt."

"What's wrong with it?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"Everything, starting with the weird Chinese guy in a boat."

Riddick ignored them and the conversation that continued on around him. His actual purpose for wanting a decent market center was to load up on something better than protein solids. There was a going theory he'd read about last night that a diet which promoted healthy brain function could reduce the frequency and intensity of psychotic episodes.

It was a theory, and sounded like crap, but he was willing to give it a go. He wanted to ask River about it, but wasn't willing to tell her that he thought her brother was right. He hadn't really believed she might actually be crazy until last night; her brother just wasn't looking at it right. Insanity wasn't the girl's problem; it was a symptom of her abilities. If she could learn to control them, he figured it would cure the symptoms. Her brother was working backwards; trying to cure the symptoms and not the cause. That was why nothing he was doing seemed to help. Simon didn't get it though, he was a doctor. He treated illness and River wasn't ill. She was overwhelmed. It was all well and good for her to use him as a Rock; in fact, it did nothing but further his cause but, until she figured out how to fully control the flow of things moving in and out of her brain, he didn't think it was going to get any better.

The only thought he had towards that was forcing her to use it. He had been able to learn, over time, how to use his own enhanced senses. How to gauge distances accurately by scent and sound; to judge emotions by one's shift in smell and small reflexive body motions; but, more importantly, he had learned how to regulate them. He had learned to filter the array of sounds and smells to notice only the valid.

Riddick could hear the heartbeat of every crew member and identify each one's distinct smell separately even as they twisted and wound together when they sat in such close proximity; but his mind only focused enough for conscious realization of the sounds when it was relevant. Should the normalcy of any change, his mind would shift the focus from the whole to the parts without command. Should Jayne reach for his gun beneath the table, he would hear the snap of his holster and the sound of metal against leather above all others. He had turned ability into instinct. He would have to teach River to do the same. The first step was to embrace it.

Riddick repressed the near compulsion to almost purr as he felt River move inside his head. Everyday his awareness of her presence there grew. Since the moment he had made her try to connect to him, she hadn't retreated. He could tell when she was sleeping or awake; when the voices were too much because he could feel them like pinpricks across his brain. Right now he felt nothing but warmth, which meant River was content and in control. He figured Saffron's mind had hit him the way it had because River had been unaware she was passing the imagery along. It hadn't happened since and it was something he wanted to experiment with. If he could see and feel what she was experiencing, he could help her to interpret and process as well.

River, being oblivious to Riddick's train of thought, enjoyed her breakfast and the quiet hum of his mind. He had set her plate with only the foods she enjoyed or, in the case of her brother's cooking, could tolerate. She hadn't been aware he had noticed such things before and, despite his opinion of her caffeine intake, she was more than content. The crew's minds, although intrusive, were not screaming. Meal times, when the crew gathered as a family and not a crew were, almost pleasant times for her to be stuck inside their heads; or rather for them to be stuck inside hers.

Jayne was thinking about the previous night spent in Kaylee's bunk. It wasn't something she wanted to be listening to but was far less crude than after he had spent the night at a brothel. For that reason alone, she was grateful the mercenary was now paired with the mechanic.

Kaylee was overly occupied by the issue of the compression coil and River frowned slightly at that. The probability of unpleasant death by fiery explosion was ever increasing. She would need to monitor Mother closely. Perhaps, if she partially diverted the power supply through the emergency systems before running a circuit back to the coil, it would lessen the immediate surge. She toyed with a bit of bread. It would only serve as a temporary respite, but perhaps buy them a few extra weeks, if she didn't fry the emergency systems in the process. She pushed the train of thought away and decided to discuss it further with Kaylee. She had meant it when she said Mother would never look at her as she did Kaylee. It was why she thought it was so easy to be near Kaylee; machines spoke to her as minds spoke to River.

River's brother was annoyed by the close proximity of her chair with Riddick's. She did her best to ignore him and the inevitable confrontation. His thoughts were spiked with jealousy and anxiety. She realized that the closer she drew to Riddick; the more distant she became with her brother. She was frustrated by Simon's single mindedness. Is this not what he wanted for her; to be a normal and real girl?

Zoe was worried about her lateness; River wanted to relive her tension on that account. There was only one voice coming from her and, sadly, that was all there would ever be. A wound sustained in the war, and the black market medicine used to treat the infection which followed, had ensured that. It was a sadness River did not want to expose the strong woman to and so she remained silent on that account as well. It was not her secret to tell and exposing it unnecessarily would have been cruel.

Wash was having a mental discussion with his protein pancake; trying to convince it that, if it could just will itself to taste better, his stomach acids would be merciful as they digested it. His logic was flawed but amusing nonetheless. His mind, much like Kaylee's, rejected the darkness and sought only the light. There was pain hidden deeply in him but it was locked away in a place that he kept separate from himself.

The Preacher's mind worried over the weight of his hair. She sympathized and briefly thought about shaving it as he slept. He would be angry but his brain would thank her later. In the end, however, she resolved herself against it. No one else could hear his mind pleading for assistance and she was doing her best to convince everyone she was not, in fact, crazy; shaving someone's head while they slept would only hurt her argument. She would be watchful.

The Companion's voice was the faintest as she was noticeably absent from the table. River found it extremely odd how someone who wanted so desperately to be a part of Serenity kept herself so distant. The hypocrisy was annoying as was her incessant inner turmoil over the Captain.

The Captain's mind was an incessant flow of numbers, memories, and schemes which were unbelievably more flawed then the ones he audibly voiced. She was grateful he had the filter she did not; otherwise the crew would have been dead long before she and Simon could have taken shelter with Mother. Remarkably, his head was also full of poetry. The Captain read often. At this particular moment in time, he was staring down as his rehydrated eggs trying to remember the last stanza of a piece he had read several years ago on the subject of rehydrated food. The writer was not particularly skilled in his craft, but his musings were humorous.

River pulled herself, as best as she could manage, from the crew; forcing their voices to quiet whispers while she wrapped herself thoroughly into the soothing buzz of Riddick's mind. The voices did not disappear but they faded into the background and she silently prayed that the rest of the day would continue with the quiet calm of the morning. So long as their emotional level remained even, she had a greater chance with her own. She buried herself more deeply into Riddick until the background voices faded into traces of whispers which she could exhale in every breath. This was why the Rock was so important. She had wondered briefly if it would have been possible to do with another or if it was his unique genetics and neural patterns which made the connection possible to such an extent.

That was a question which only could be answered by the other woman inside Riddick's head; one which was infuriatingly silent still. River had kept herself inside Riddick's head with the hopes that, when Shirah next called him, she would be brought along also. A new thought danced along the edges of her mind as she thought the subject over. Had Shirah not called because she knew River would answer as well?

River had learned enough about Shirah from her echoes to enlighten Riddick with the basics of the knowledge of who he was and then she had closed him off. She knew about the dream only because Riddick had given it to her. She was angered by the possibility of Riddick having secrets with another woman; no matter how tangible said woman might be. She wasn't a fool. There would be secrets if Shirah made another appearance and River was not present. The woman may have trusted her with basic knowledge but River was not a Furyan.

As River drew these conclusions in her mind, she felt herself grow angry and indignant. She was after all a non-Furyan, and thought it was a particularly special form of _gou shi_ (crap) that she was to be deemed lesser due to obscure cultural differences and a warped sense of superiority. Riddick might have physically been her superior, but it had been speculated by the doctors that she could be taught to kill with her brain. She felt that potential ability vastly out distanced Riddick's inherent physical strengths.

Riddick was not oblivious to the shift in River. The warmth inside his head began to fade into something a bit more jagged. He wrongly assumed it was her caffeine intake and unfortunately felt the need to point it out.

_/Told you the caffeine was bad for you./_

Slowly River turned her head to look directly at him, her eyes narrowed and Riddick, now fully attuned to the meaning behind that look, started to think that perhaps he shouldn't have said anything at all. She picked up her coffee cup with the same deliberate slowness she had turned her head with. Holding his gaze over the rim of her cup, she drained it completely, ignoring the searing temperature. The angry young woman then leaned over his plate and finished his cup as well.

"_Gun kai_ (fuck off)." She said, very plainly, then stood and left the mess without another word.

Riddick blinked once, twice, and then turned his attention to the crew; who was waiting for his response.

"The fuck if I know." He half-growled as he shoved himself away from the table to follow her.

"Shouldn't you, you know, stop him from killing her?" Wash asked Simon when the doctor made no move to follow.

Simon sipped from his coffee. "I've been told quite clearly; it's none of my business." He answered spitefully. "Besides," Simon added a bit more generously than his previous statement, "I don't actually think he'll kill her." He was actually more than a little hopeful that Riddick would continue to anger his sister and she would lose interest. Either that or Riddick would decided she wasn't worth the trouble and move on to obsess over someone more appropriate.

"Frankly, Doc, I think that's the smartest thing that's ever come out of your mouth." Jayne chuckled as he rose to clear away his plate.

"Frankly, Jayne, I think you're a trained ape, but to call you one would be an insult to the animal trainers of the 'verse." The doctor replied in a very calm and matter-of-fact tone.

Zoe spat her drink out across the table; it was lucky for Jayne he had already walked away from his seat as he would have undoubtedly found the barb even less humorous covered in Zoe's discarded coffee.

"What'd you say to me?" Jayne snapped.

"Now, Jayne-," Mal said trying to bite back his own laughter. "-I've been talkin' 'bout my whole policy of not killin' crew members a lot lately. I shouldn't have to remind ya'll again. Don't make me have to invent jobs, 'cause the only ones I got left are the unpleasant ones."

Riddick caught up to River on the catwalk and, instead of grabbing her arm to stop her as was his first instinct, he remembered all too clearly her reaction to the gesture the last time.

_/What'd I say about walking away from me?/ _ He snarled through his mind, allowing traces of his anger to slip through their link.

_/He __**assumes**__ he has authority over the direction she walks in./_ River thought back as she whirled around to face him.

_/Don't assume shit. If you want to work jobs with me, your ass better stop walking away from me. What the hell was that about?/_

_/She has discovered the reason behind Shirah's silence./_

_/What does that have to do with cussing me off and stormin away like a gorram…/ _ Riddick checked himself before he let the word slip.

_/Like a Crazy?/_ River arched her brow at him.

_/Didn't mean it like that and you know it./ _

To the outside observer, this exchange would have appeared utterly ridiculous; as the pair stood on the catwalk silently glaring at each other. Though not a sound could be heard, it would be more than blatantly obvious that something was going on. One would have to assume it was some kind of angry staring contest.

_/She does not like secrets./ _

_/What the hell are you talking about?/_

_/Shirah has not spoken because she knows the girl is listening./_

_/What?/_ Riddick asked again, not quite sure he was following.

_/The girl is not a Furyan. Shirah assumes Riddick to be the girl's superior and will not reveal information he does not wish her to know. Therefore Shirah will not speak until the girl has pulled herself away./_ River purposefully avoided the use of the word Alpha.

Riddick readily believed himself to be superior to River. The feeling, however, was not regulated to only River. He felt vastly superior to just about everyone. One of the prison shrinks had called it a complex but, to him and perhaps a few others, it was just reality. It was the idea of River pulling back out of his head that fueled his response.

_/Then fuck her./_

River took a step back, visibly startled. _/What?/_

_ /_ _Fuck. Her._ _She wants to talk so badly, she can do it on my terms. Now that she's shut the Hell up I can actually get some gorram sleep. So fuck her. Don't need her shit anyway, we got enough problems of our own./_

River did not think that Riddick realized the depth of his words. It did not cause her to feel them any less. His willingness to discard his past and heritage if she could not be a part of it moved her deeply. Whether he realized it or not, his reaction to Shirah's deferral to him and his Alpha status would have been considered a heavy offense. It was the fact he had said _'we have enough problems'_ that erased her anger completely. She found it odd that such a small one syllable possessive pronoun could hold so much power.

_/She apologizes./_

It was Riddick's turn to be startled. He hadn't honestly expected it to be that easy. Nothing with River was ever that easy and he waited for the ball to drop. _/That's it?/_

_ /She apologized. What more does he require? Would he like it written or verbal? I suppose he would prefer blood./ _ She crossed her arms over her chest petulantly.

_ /Didn't think it would be that easy is all./ _ His stance relaxed a bit.

_/Neither did she./_ River admitted, every bit as relieved as Riddick was. They stood there for a few moments in silence, neither exactly sure what to do or say next. All-in-all the argument had been a bit anti-climatic. _/Shirah will not be pleased./_ River added as a literal afterthought.

_/Fuck if I care./_ Riddick shrugged.


	32. Jaynestown II

_The next day:_

_Serenity- Higgins' Moon outer orbit_

River sat in lotus position on Riddick's bunk. The lights were dimmed low enough for his goggles to be raised but bright enough for her to sketch. He sat in a chair directly across from her. Once more, to the casual observer, the scene would have seemed a bit odd. He was staring at her intently and she appeared oblivious as fixated as she was on her drawing pad and the speed at which her hand moved. If one was to take a closer look at what she was drawing, the scene might have made a bit more sense; perhaps even more so if you were one of the three survivors that had made it off of T2 after the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner. Complete understanding, however, would have been lost on anyone who wasn't either River or Riddick.

The Furyan wasn't just staring. He was purposely projecting an image which River was translating onto the page of her book with an accuracy which surprised even Riddick. It was a picture of one of the creatures that had devoured the majority of the crash survivors. They had spent several hours doing this and her book was nearly an illustrated biography of his life. River noticed, with only a slight amount of irritation, that the image of the mystery girl which had altered the course of his existence on Sigma Three was absent. She refrained from comment only because he did not know that she knew.

River had tried, at his insistence, earlier to pass him imagery from one of the crew's minds. She had only succeeding in passing him blinding pain and a migraine. It was at her insistence that they had reverted to strengthening the link from him to her.

Riddick's head jerked up at the sounds of a serious commotion coming from outside his bunk in the direction of the Infirmary. He looked at River inquiringly. He did not think the question. Riddick wanted her to start learning to interpret his needs without word, whether thought or verbal.

/_Jayne./_ River answered simply.

Riddick shrugged and refocused himself on the image he was projecting. He needed no further explanation.

**

"My God! You really are like a trained ape... without the training." Simon scoffed.

"Hey, there ain't no need for names!" Kaylee shouted, appearing in the doorway, as the noises had drawn her and Mal in from the bay. "Jayne?" His head jerked up at the sound of her voice. "Whatcha doin'?" She asked a bit worriedly as she took in the sight before her. She really couldn't blame Simon for being angry. She woulda taken a wrench to somebody's head if they had trashed her engine room as badly as the number Jayne had done on the Infirmary.

"Just givin' myself a Plan B is all." He said nervously.

"Thought I told you we were puttin' down on Canton, Jayne?" Mal asked with irritation as he noticed the gun half-taped to Jayne's stomach.

"Yep, that ya did." Jayne agreed as Kaylee took the roll of tape he had been fumbling with and peeled back the end. "Thanks." He said with an uneasy grin.

"You're welcome." She replied just as uneasily. He was really beginning to make her nervous over this job.

"Canton don't allow guns in their town." Mal pointed out.

"Yessir, that's why I ain't strappin' one to my hip, Plan B that's all." He grunted as he rolled another layer of tape around his stomach.

"No, that's why you ain't strappin' one anywhere." Mal corrected.

"Listen, Mal, I was in Canton a few years back. I mighta made me a coupla of enemies there abouts."

"Enemies? You?" Simon asked sarcastically. "I don't believe it."

"I just don't like the idea of going in empty-handed is all." Jayne continued ignoring Simon.

"Why we still arguing what's already been decided?" Mal demanded. "Now, we'll be dirt-side in ten; you get your ass geared _**properly**_ and down to the bay." He ordered before leaving.

Jayne growled low in his throat but grabbed an edge of tape on his stomach and yanked hard. A small, very unmanly, noise broke free from the back of his throat as a layer of skin and hair came off his stomach along with the tape.

"Oh, sweetie." Kaylee shook her head and winced a little in sympathy.

* * *

The assembled crew gathered at the top of the lowered ramp and took in the dusty expanse of partially cleared land which passed for a docking yard in Canton. The few people milling about were as mud-caked as the equipment and machinery scattered across the yard; perhaps even a bit more destitute.

"Well," Simon started as his face contorted slightly, "Canton really… stinks."

"That's what makes it a good drop point; no one comes here that don't have to." Mal explained.

"I vote we do this job really, really fast." Wash grimaced as he accidentally inhaled through his nose.

"Kessler's our man. He's holding the goods we're to deliver. We go in, make contact, and pick up the goods. Easy peasy." Mal turned back to his First Mate. "Ship's yours Zoe, call ahead to Bernoulli, and let him know he'll have his goods by the end of the week."

"Hey, don't I usually stay with the ship?" Wash asked.

"Don't you usually complain about **havin**' to stay with the ship?" Kaylee teased.

"Well… yeah, but this would be one of those times I'd do it with a smile on my face."

"I outrank you husband." Zoe pecked him on his cheek. "Have fun."

"Hey, shouldn't you take my place as a display of your undying love and affection?"

Zoe quirked an eyebrow at him over her shoulder as she headed up the ramp. "I let you keep the shirts."

Wash let out a sigh.

"So, this is a place where they make mud?" Simon asked thoughtfully. He had never actually considered that mud production would require an entire moon.

"Well, clay, actually." Kaylee clarified.

"There's a difference?" He inquired skeptically.

"You'd be surprised how many ceramic parts Serenity's got in her." She said as she ran her fingers lovingly across the metal.

"Four hundred and twenty-seven." River informed him.

"See?" Kaylee grinned.

"Not just parts either." Riddick grunted as he pulled a shiv from his boot. "Ceramic blades; only way to get passed a metal detector."

"Huh, a mud based economy. That's almost interesting." Simon replied.

"Where's Jayne?" Mal asked. "I thought I told him to be ready in ten?"

"He said he'd meet me down here." Kaylee shrugged, though the worry on her face was evident. She was convinced this was more than a simple case of a job gone wrong. "Hey, Cap'n, why don't River come with us?" She suggested as the thought came to her. If anyone could see trouble before it happened, it would be River.

"No. Absolutely not." Simon said firmly.

"Well, I'm just sayin', since she, ya know… knows stuff, maybe somebody wouldn't get shot all the time." Kaylee retorted hopefully.

"There aren't any guns on this moon, Mal said." Simon countered.

"Well, all the more reasons then. It'll be safe and she'll be able to get in a little outlaw field experience. You know, get her ready for the harder stuff." Kaylee pressed.

"Can't hurt." Riddick interjected. "'Sides, Alliance won't be anywhere near this shithole." He actually felt a bit bad about scaring Kaylee now that she had so cleanly, even though unknowingly, furthered his silent campaign.

"No." Simon shook his head.

"She is standing right here." River snapped, a bit annoyed. The crew's continued habit of discussing her like she wasn't present was getting old. Fast. "And she would be more than willing to accompany them and read for her Captain." She said pointedly. Riddick wanted her to work; she wanted to prove herself in control and useful.

Mal turned the idea over in his head; a bit surprised he hadn't thought of it sooner. Granted, the girl was a bit… unbalanced, but he'd take toting around a borderline Crazy over getting shot any day. It hurt almost as much as being stabbed.

_/You got your shivs?/ _ Riddick pushed.

_/Boot. Thigh./_

_/Good. What's he thinking?/_

_ /He is hesitant, but he will allow it. His desire to not be wounded outweighs the drawback of the girl being crazy./_

_ /You're not crazy./_

_ /Debatable./_

"I said no." Simon repeated himself and cut off the response Riddick was about to make to River.

"Believe we've talked about you givin' orders on my ship." Mal responded in a clipped tone. "I think it's a fine idea." Simon's defiance only furthered his resolve on taking River. "Everybody earns their keep aboard this ship; time you're sister did too."

"You've said that already." Simon shot back. "That's why she's in the engine room."

"Well," Mal shrugged with a grin. "We all pull double duty here."

"It's too dangerous." Simon insisted.

"Well, why don't you come too, Doc?" Kaylee suggested.

"That ain't a bad idea." Mal said thoughtfully, a slow twisting of a new plan forming in his mind. "We ain't goin' far and you just might make yourself useful as well."

"Fat chance of that." Jayne snorted as he made his appearance. Several of the crew did a double take, as he was covered from head to toe. A set of goggles and a hat completing his disguise, there was not an inch of skin visible on his body.

Mal shot him an odd look before continuing. "The management here don't take kindly to sight seein', and as such we'll be posin' as buyers. Ain't one of us that looks the part more than you, Doc." Mal said as he gave him an appraising look. "The pretty fits, the soft hands; definitely a moneyed individual. Rich and lily white; pasty all over…"

"Alright!" Simon cut him off. "We'll go. Just please stop describing me." He groaned.

"Since he's going now, do I still have to come?" Wash asked, looking wistfully back up the ramp.

"Sure do." Mal nodded.

"Oh." Wash slumped his shoulders.

"After you, Boss." Mal smirked as he waited for Simon.

"Oh great, he's the boss now, too?" Jayne snorted ruefully.

"You sure you ain't got nothin' to tell me?" Kaylee questioned him as they headed down together.

"Hand to God." He reassured her.

"Well, alright then." She answered uneasily.

_/Stay close./ _ Riddick pushed as they rounded out the tail end of the little company.

_/She is perfectly capable of defending herself./_ River did not mean to sound smug as she thought it back to him. She didn't want him to think of her as a liability. She wanted him to see her as an ally and an equal.

_/Know that girl. Just want you close is all./ _ He passed her another small shiv behind their backs. _/Waistband, where you can get at it quick./_

River accepted the blade and tucked it neatly into her back waistband; pulling her blouse out to cover the bulge in her back. She couldn't help the smile which plastered its way across her face. He wanted her close. Bits of an unfamiliar song drifted into her mind; there were no lyrics, just an offbeat folksy melody she began to hum lowly to herself as they walked.

**

**"Area's for employees only!"** A gruff voice, magnified through a collar-like bullhorn, greeted the crew as they passed through a high chain-link security fence. **"You best be headin' back to the Landing unless you got business here!"**  
Mal nudged Simon, discreetly, but none too gently either. "Yes! Um, yes. I'm looking to buy some mud. I'm a buyer, and these are my employees."

Wash and Mal exchanged a quick glance over the boy's enthusiasm; things were not looking smooth.

The foreman, however, had stopped listening after the word buy had left the dandy's mouth and greeted them with a smile. "Well in that case, you came to the right place." He clapped a hand on Simon's back and left behind a muddied handprint. River cringed for her brother. "If you'll follow me, I'll give ya the tour." He said as he turned to lead the way. "We can handle just about any volume here. We got over two thousand workers, mostly indentured, pay them next to nothing so's we can pass the savings on to you." He grinned.

River noticed the almost imperceptible shift of Riddick next to her. _/Calm./_

Riddick's head noticeably jerked. _/Thought you couldn't read me./_ He tensed further.

/_Don't have to. She knows him./ _

The tension in his stance melted; pleased beyond reason by her words.

"Savings, um… excellent. I plan on buying, because I'm a buyer." Simon stuttered.

_/Your brother is going to get us killed./_

_/Your opinion is tainted by your dislike./_

"Yup, the best of its kind." The foreman rambled on. "We mix it and brick it raw on premises, but you add the right catalysts, kiln it proper, and the stuff is stronger than steel; ten times over."

"Yes, I've heard good things. People are talking about it. The mud, I mean."

"Doc's gonna get us killed, Mal." Jayne whispered furiously to Mal and, unknowingly, echoed Riddick's sentiment.

_/See? It's not just me./ _

River ignored the smug smirk on his face.

The foreman turned to look at the boy skeptically. "What kinda business you say you were in again?" He asked.

"Um…business, my business… well its buying mud." Simon stammered.

"'Scuse me, Boss," Mal cut in quickly. "I'm thinkin' we might have taken enough of this man's time, and I know you had a few waves to make to set up the deal. Why don't we finish up lookin' around, take a look at the product for you, and report back in."

"Yes… um… that sounds…" Simon looked around nervously.

"Right then, Boss, we'll see you back at the ship." Mal said pointedly.

"Yes the ship… um…Riv-Anna," Simon fumbled as he nearly forgot their cover identities. "I'm sorry I dragged you into the mud." He chuckled nervously and stopped as he realized no one else was laughing. "Let's head back to the ship and let these men finish the tour."

"Boss," Riddick said, keeping with the cover though the word in reference to Simon just tasted wrong on his tongue. "It wouldn't do any good if the analyst wasn't around to look at the product."

Simon hardened his glare at the killer. "Yes, of course… how foolish of me." His tone shifted as he turned back to the foreman. "Very well, it was nice to, um…" he held out his hand but withdrew it quickly as he noticed the mud caked onto the other man's. "I'm sure we'll be able to strike a deal." He turned quickly to pick his way through the mud pits back to the ship.

River could hear him screaming at Riddick in her head and she winced ever so slightly.

The foreman looked skeptically at the crew. "You'll have to excuse him," Mal shook his head. "'Bout to take over the business for his old man, ain't ever left the Core 'fore this little trip. Fancy schoolin' and such."

The foreman snorted. "Seemed a bit sissified."

"His old man ain't so bad, self made and such." Mal replied easily. "Well, we'll letcha get back to work."

The foreman looked at his watch, "Yup, 'bout time for shift change. You boys need anythin', you just holler for Big Joe."

"Right then." Mal waved him off.

"Well, that was damn near a mess." Wash added after the foreman had walked away.

"He's learning." Kaylee offered generously.

_/You sure you're related?/_

River audibly sighed.

"Well, let's head over to the worker town, find our man Kessler, and make the deal." Mal ordered as he started to head off.

"Captain." River called out to him.

"What's it now?" Mal asked in annoyance.

"That way." River repressed her giggle as she pointed off to the opposite direction.

"Right then." Mal corrected his course. "See, Little Bit? Already provin' your worth." River beamed at him.

"Stupid cover's gonna get us nabbed, Mal." Jayne complained as they started walking.

"Yeah, well, his disguise wasn't half as funny as yours. What the Hell you supposed to be, anyway?"

"Ain't funny." Jayne grunted as he tugged down on his hat.

"Sweetie, it's been years, I don't think anybody's gonna recognize you… oooff… Hey." Kaylee protested as she collided into Mal's back.

"Oh, I think it's possible they might." Mal said slowly as he shook himself to make sure the sight before him wasn't just the heat and the smell playing tricks on his head.

"Tell me that ain't Cobb?" Riddick asked as his eyes rested on the twelve foot clay statue before them.

"I thought juggling geese was as weird as it got." Wash said thoughtfully as he blinked a few times.

"Jayne?" Mal asked.

"Yeah, Mal?" He answered, swallowing hard, as he was having a much more difficult time than the crew, digesting the new development before them.

"You wanna tell me how come there's a giant statue of you starin' at me like I owe 'im somethin'?"

"Wishin' I could Cap'n."

_/You didn't see this?/_ Riddick thought to River.

River tore her eyes away from the statue and shot him a pointed look. _/The situation defies logic./_

_ /You're tellin' me. Why don't you go digging?/_

River nodded her head and pushed herself outward. There was no longer a need to tighten her grip to Riddick, as she was confident their cord could no longer be so easily broken.

"How come you never told me you had a statue?" Kaylee asked, more than a little confused as she looked back and forth between the two. The resemblance was really quite remarkable.

"Hand to God, I had no ruttin' idea." Jayne muttered as his eyes darted off worriedly around his surroundings before he adjusted his hat again.

"No, Jayne, seriously-," Mal started. "-what in the hell is this…"

"Look, Mal, I ain't got no ruttin' idea!" He snapped in a hushed whisper. "I pulled a second-story here years back, stole a lotta scratch from the Magistrate up on the hill, but the job went south; had to cut and run. They don't put you on a pedestal in the middle of town square for that!"

"Yeah, 'cept I'm lookin' at some fairly compelling evidence they do." Mal countered.

"I think they've really captured him, you know? His essence and all." Wash said after a moment of silent contemplation.

"He looks kinda angry." Kaylee said.

"That's kind of what I meant." Wash replied, to which Kaylee shot him a look.

_/Anything yet?/ _ Riddick thought to River; hoping this wasn't some kind of elaborate wanted poster.

_/You wouldn't believe her if she told you./_ River was grinning from ear to ear.

_/Try me./_

_/The hero of Canton; the man they, call Jayne./ _ She thought-sung to him.

Riddick turned his body to look at her completely. _/Are you fucking with me?/_

_ /It is a world gone mad./_

A loud whistle sounded across the square and nearly caused Jayne to come undone. "Shift four, on duty. Shift four, on duty." A loud speaker announced; though it did nothing to ease Jayne's mind.

"Hey, I got an idea," Jayne whispered furiously. "'Stead of hanging 'round playing art critic 'til I get pinched by The Man, how's 'bout we move our asses away from this eerie-ass piece of work, and get on with our 'creasingly eerie-ass day?" He grabbed a hold of Kaylee's hand and started to drag her away.

The others, however, remained transfixed. "He's watching me." River frowned as she leaned slightly to the left.

"You're not the only one." Riddick said as he leaned to the right.

"Those eyes do seem to follow a body, don't they?" Wash remarked as he leaned sideways as well. "Where ever I go, they just seem to follow."

"Come on! Gorraamit!" Jayne snapped. "We got a job to do, don't we?"

"I don't know," Mal said thoughtfully. "This here is a spectacle that seems to warrant some consideration." He leaned uneasily to the left. "I'll be damned; it's like he always watchin' me."

"Somebody tried to make a statue outta me once." Riddick smirked.

"Really?" Wash asked. "Why's it you guys get statutes? Everybody always forgets about the pilot." He grumbled.

"I don't have a statue." Mal seconded Wash's grumble.

"Didn't say it was a statue of me, said they tried to make it outta me."

Mal quirked an eyebrow.

"It is best not to ask." River shook her head.

"Right then…" Mal said returning his gaze to the statute that was fixedly glaring down on him.

"I crossed the Magistrate of this town, gorramit!" Jayne whispered furiously. "Don't that mean anything to anybody here? Man's not exactly tha most forgivin' type."

**

"Magistrate Higgins, I presume?" Inara asked as she gracefully approached the older gentleman.

"You may." He bowed his head slightly. "But I only make the people I _**own**_ use my title. Mr. Higgins will do just fine." He chuckled to himself.

Inara swallowed back her distaste and smiled sweetly. "And you may call me Inara, Mr. Higgins."

"It is a rare pleasure... your visit to my little moon. I hope the journey wasn't too taxing." He flattered.

"Not at all." Inara assured him. "I am refreshed and ready. Shall we begin at, let's say, six o'clock?"

"Perfect. I have a feeling it will take all of your considerable arts for this particular problem."

"All problems are just opportunities in disguise." She replied, though it took a great deal of her considerable skill to keep the smile plastered across her face.

**

"Back already, son?" Book asked as he shielded his eyes from the glare. He had been reading his bible while seated on the ramp.

"It seems my services were no longer required." Simon replied tersely as he climbed the ramp.

"Your sister?" Book asked.

"It seems hers remain." He answered just as evenly as before.

"I see." Book said slowly.

"It's my job to protect her." Simon blurted. "How am I supposed to do that if he keeps putting her in danger?"

"Are you referring to the Captain or Riddick?"

"Take your pick." He snorted bitterly.

"She's not a little girl. If I'm not mistaken, she is a grown woman."

"She may be numerically grown, but she's sick. What if something sets her off? There's no telling how she'll react to the kind of violence they attract." Simon argued.

"You can't shelter her from a world that wants her." Book countered. "Just because you've been lucky so far doesn't mean it will hold out. Sooner or later, running and hiding will cease to be an option."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, son, that those who are looking for her are not the type of men who give up, nor do they tolerate failure. There may come a day when you're not there. She must learn to function properly despite her obvious handicaps." He said as closed his Bible. "We all have to learn to stand on our own."

"She's not ready yet."

"You assume I was only talking about her."

"I'm not following." Simon furrowed his brow.

"Devotion can turn to dependence, son; just something to think on."

"No offense, Shepherd, but it's my sister that needs me." Simon scoffed.

"Is it? My apologies." The Preacher replied with a small bow of his head. He rose and headed back into the ship to leave the young man some time to think over his words.

And think on them Simon did; whether he wanted to or not.

**

The crew huddled around a small table in the back corner of what passed for a bar in the worker town. It, like so many of the other buildings they had passed, was made of hard packed mud. Every surface left a trace of it behind on one's skin's when touched. A lone guitar player sat off in the opposite corner on a busted stool; fiddling with strings that no longer had any hope of remaining in tune. Two dozen or so dirty faced women and men huddled over mugs of beer. The crowd was slightly rowdy but not overly so; indifferent despair had a way of dulling a person's natural spirits. River found the atmosphere somewhat stifling and fought to remain distant.

Jayne poured himself another drink from one of the several clay bottles scattered across the table. "Can't be a ruttin' statute of me; don't make a lick of sense. Flies in the face of reason, it does." He muttered quietly, more to himself than those at the table with him.

"Won't argue with that." Wash smirked as he threw back a swig of his beer. He promptly spit it out on the floor. "_Zhe shi shu me lang dong xi _(what is this garbage)?!"

"They call it Mudder's Milk." Jayne grinned as he took a healthy swig. "Got all the vitamins, proteins, and carbs of your Grandma's best turkey dinner, plus fifteen percent alcohol. It'll put a nice coat of hair on that sissified chest of yours."

"It's awful." Kaylee grimaced after tasting it.

"Takes a bit of getting' used to." He shrugged at her.

"Time honored recipe." River made a face as she peered into Riddick's mug. Since the strawberry wine incident, she had lost all inclination to ever ingest alcohol again and the smell of the liquid was doing nothing to convince her otherwise.

"What's that?" Jayne asked.

"The Egyptians on Earth-that-was." River clarified though it did nothing to clear up Jayne's confusion.

"You'll find it on any moon even half like this." Riddick rumbled distractedly since he had his eyes on a man a bit too well dressed for their current location. "Keeps 'em healthy 'nough to work and too drunk to bother with an uprising." He nudged Mal and jerked his chin in the direction of the man.

"Now what's a gussied up fella like that doin' in a place like this?" Mal asked as he made eye contact with the man in question.

"Shake yer head, boy! Yer eyes are stuck!" Jayne snapped at a little blonde boy, no more than ten, who had been staring quite openly.

"Jayne, be nice." Kaylee scolded and then smiled at the boy reassuring. "He ain't as mean as he looks." She told him.

"Git!" Jayne snapped again and the boy took the hint.

"You wouldn't be looking for a Kessler, would you?" The well dressed man asked as he stopped in front of their table.

"Just havin' a drink is all." Mal answered easily.

"I knew a Kessler once." The man replied.

"Knew?" Riddick asked.

"He was a good middle-man; low profile, didn't filch. Last week the factory foreman and his prods found out he was moving contraband; gave him a peck of trouble over it."

"What kind of peck?" Mal asked uneasily.

"The kind where they hacked off his hands and feet with a machete and rolled him into the bog."

Wash forced down another swig of his milk. "They peck kinda hard around here."

"I got a client off-world waitin' for his delivery. Now, if his goods are gone, we got all sorts of problems." Mal informed him.

River abruptly erupted into a fit of giggles and quickly clapped her hands over her mouth as she realized she had done it aloud. Needless to say, the table's focus shifted.

"Nothing." She snorted through a smirk.

"Little Bit?" Mal asked nervously.

"Nothing. He is solid."

Mal nodded slowly and turned back to the man in question. "Name's Reynolds."

"Macintosh." The man replied eyeing the girl uneasily. She didn't seem like trouble and so he pinned the outburst on the Mudder's milk.

"Good to meet you, let's do business." Mal gestured to a seat. Macintosh took one look at the dirty quality of it and shook his head to politely decline.

_/You wanna share?/_ Riddick asked as the conversation around the table resumed.

_/ Needs to hear it for himself./_ She thought-replied as she began to hum that same folksy tune again.

"Your man's goods are still safe in Kessler's hiding place. Getting it across town without being noticed by the foreman or his prods is the hitch. Only road runs straight through and Kessler had it stashed in the bamboo forest. I'd advise we just lay low for a moment; give me a day and I'll be able to work something out." Macintosh glanced nervously around the room, anxious about being seen talking with this crew. "I'll be in touch." He finished hurriedly and turned away from the table.

"Why is it nothing every goes according to plan?" Mal asked. One, or rather a few, of his crew were about to voice their very decided opinions on the subject but all conversation was cut off as the lone guitarist belted out the first few words of a new tune.

"_**Jaaayyyyynnnnneeeee! **__ The man they call__** Jaaaayyyynnneee!"**_The guitarist suddenly belted out and the bar's focus shifted towards him.

The Jayne in question snorted his milk through his nose along with a stream of unintelligible Mandarin. River fell over into Riddick's lap as she collapsed in a fit of giggles. Riddick utterly stunned by both the lyrics of the song and River's new position could not form a response. The rest of the crew however mirrored Jayne's horrified reaction as the entirety of the bar joined the singer for his opening chorus:

"_He robbed to the rich, and gave to the poor,_

_Stood up to The Man, and gave him what for,_

_Our love for 'im now, ain't hard to explain,_

_**THE HERO OF CANTON, THE MAN THEY CALL JAYNE!"**_

The voices of the assembly faded, leaving the guitarist to the beginning verse as the crowd around him thickened.

"_Our Jayne saw the Mudder's backs breakin',_

_And he saw the Mudder's laments,_

_And he saw the Magistrate takin',_

_Every dollar and leavin' five cents,_

_So he said, 'can't do this to my people,_

_Can't crush them under your heel'_

_Jayne strapped on his hat, _

_And in ten seconds flat,_

_Stole everything there was fit to steal-"_

The crowd joined in once more for the chorus and Mal was able to shake himself free. "Um… Jayne?"

"Yeah, Mal?" He asked even though he knew full well what the question was.

"You got any light to shred on this development?"

"Wishin' I did, Cap." He said uncomfortably as he slunk further down in his seat.

"Jayne, you got a statute and a song." Kaylee whispered in disbelief.

"'pears so."

"Why?" She pressed.

"Ain't anybody been listenin'?" He snarled. "I ain't got a damn clue!"

"River?" Mal tried.

"Like great men, Jayne brought the rain." She giggled. "The Elder was wiser than he knew."

_/You have got to be shitting me./ _ Riddick smirked as an odd rumbling laugh shook through his chest. _/How the Hell did this happen?/_

River straightened herself and pushed the hair from her face. Her cheeks were flushed brightly and her eyes alight with amusement. _/Best to hear it from the source. He is assembling the parts as we think./_

_ /I'm all ears./ _ His eyes, however, were on her and the hand that still rested against his thigh. Not for the first time, he was grateful she could only read what he let her.

"_And here's what separates heroes, _

_From common folk like you an' I,_

_The man they call Jayne, turned 'round his plane and let that money hit sky,_

_He dropped it onto our houses, _

_He dropped it into our yards,_

_The man called Jayne, stole away our pain,  
and headed out for the stars."_

"Gorramit! That's what happened to the cash." Jayne groaned as he let his head thud against the table a few times. "I stole that money from Higgins like the song says, then I lifted me one of his hover-planes, but I got tagged by anti-aircraft; had to dump the strong boxes of money just to stay airborne." He took another hard swig. "Sixty thousand in untraceable an' I dropped it square in mud farm central." He groaned. The song ended to roaring applause and cheers just as Jayne finished his explanation. "Now that they're off the subject of me, Cap'n, I think it's 'bout time we got the Hell outta here."

"I think that's a reasonable request." Mal granted though Jayne was no longer around to hear it. No sooner had the Captain opened his mouth to reply, than Jayne had already yanked Kaylee from the table and was already halfway out the door.

Riddick rose but was stopped by River's hand on his arm. He looked at her questioningly. She silently shook her head and Riddick retook his seat, unnoticed by Mal and Wash who were already following Jayne out.

"Why are we staying?" He asked.

"Because they will just be returning." River said simply as she risked a taste of Mudder's Milk. Her face scrunched and she choked a little.

"Shouldn't be drinking anyway." Riddick smirked at her. "Not good with your meds."

It was pure spite which drove River to pick up Wash's abandoned mug and down it in a single slug. The mug cracked slightly as she slammed it back down against the table. It took a considerable amount of effort to do it without making a face though, inwardly, she was convulsing.

_/You really enjoy pissing me off, don't you, girl?/_ Riddick was afraid if he spoke the words it would have been at an attention drawing volume.

_/She could say the same./_

**

"Jayne! Jayne! Jayne! Jayne!" The crowd outside the bar was massive. They were holding torches and, for all accounts, could have been there to lynch a man. That was the only experience Jayne had with crowds chanting his name and his eyes widened in utter panic. When the shock wore off, he turned immediately on his heel and made a break back for the shelter of the bar. Kaylee was nearly sent into the dust from the speed at which he suddenly yanked her back around. Luckily, Mal and Wash were there to break her fall and Jayne shoved past them both.

"I just can't get enough of this local color." Wash said chuckling. They hadn't exaggerated when they said that the milk was strong, he was already halfway gone, and just about the only one besides River and Riddick who still found this situation amusing. Zoe didn't know what she was missing. This was worth the stink.

**

"Gimme some Milk!" Jayne snapped at the bartender and a portion was indifferently splashed into a dirty mug that had been left behind on the counter.

"Sweetie?" Kaylee questioned nervously as a boy who had been sweeping excitedly dropped his broom and pointed open-mouthed at them. In Jayne's rush, his hood had come down and he'd discarded the goggles when they'd first entered the bar.

"Not now, Kaylee." He grunted as he went to down his mug.

"Don't you all see?" The wiry boy yelled when he could find the words to speak again. "It's Jayne! He's come back!"

Jayne froze mid-swig. The bartender's eyes widened in recognition and he slapped Jayne's mug away.

"Hey..!" Jayne started to protest.

"The Hero of Canton don't drink that _shiong mao __niao _(panda urine)!" The man yelled at him. Jayne could only stare back in confusion. "He gets the best stuff in the house!" The bartender cried as he pulled a jug of genuine New Huntsville Whiskey from behind the counter and the crowd roared.

Jayne, for his part, was utterly at a loss as dozens of people fought their way towards him to try to shake his hand, clap him on the back, or buy him another round. Kaylee pressed herself more firmly against him as the crowd tried to jostle her away; setting a death glare on one particularly frizzled-haired brunette.

**

Mal and Wash had just made it back inside the bar when Macintosh reappeared.

"This is your idea of laying low? The whole town is in an uproar! Do you have any idea what that man did?" He grabbed the Captain's arm. "Now you listen here, _p__eng you_ (friend), I came here to do business and make sure the deal stayed solid; not to be chopped up by the foreman and his prods!"

Mal shook off the man's grip, more than a little riled by the contact. "Now you listen, _p__eng you__-," _he replied tersely, trying to maintain his cool, "-I understand your concerns, but this is all a part of the new plan; so don't you worry, the deal will go smooth."

"It better." The man stayed long enough to glare hard at the Captain and then turned on his heel to make his exit. He wanted to be nowhere near Jayne Cobb when Higgins found out he was back on the moon.

"Um, Captain," Wash said, "Just how exactly is this part of the new plan?"

"I'm workin' on the details still." Mal spat through gritted teeth.


	33. Jaynestown III

Inara looked up from the tea tray she was preparing at the sound of her shuttle door opening. She refrained from commenting on the rudeness of entering without knocking and plastered a well-practiced smile across her face as Magistrate Higgins entered, followed by a much younger and far more handsome man.

"Inara, this is my son, Fess Higgins." The Magistrate introduced the boy.

"Hello, Fess." She smiled genuinely. "Mr. Higgins, this shuttle is a place of union. I'm sure you can appreciate…" She started, unsure as to why the older man had entered at all.

"What is this?" Higgins cut her off, gesturing to the tea tray. "I brought you here to bed my son, not throw him a tea party." He snapped.

"Sir," Inara said with the utmost of patience. "The Companion Greeting Ceremony is a ritual with centuries…" Again Higgins cut her off.

"My son is twenty-six years old and not yet a man." He said harshly and the young man in question shifted uncomfortably behind him. "Twenty-six and, since he can't find a willing woman himself,…"

Inara had heard enough and, this time, she cut him off. "Mr. Higgins, you are not allowed in here." She said firmly, yet softly as she guided him towards the shuttle door.

"What?" He asked in outrage. This was his gorram moon! No one told him where he was allowed and not allowed to be.

"As I said before, this is a consecrated place of union. Only your _**son**_ belongs here."

"Well, I'm…"

"Why don't you go on and let us begin our work?" Inara continued, guiding him to the door.

"Now, you listen here, young lady…" Higgins began and, again, Inara cut him off. She was tired of this man's foolishness.

"Goodnight, Mr. Higgins." She told him with finality as she not so subtly finished pushing him out the door. "Well, that's a bit more peaceful now, isn't it?" She turned to face the younger Higgins. "Will you sit?" Fess nodded nervously. He was not his father's son. Soft-spoken and reserved, there was a gentleness to his features which were absent in his father's face. Inara liked him immediately and any regrets she may have begun to feel after meeting the elder Higgins dissipated quickly.

**

"You know, I pulled a Crazy Ivan with Reavers on my tail, inside atmo, at full burn and a mechanic with a bullet hole in her belly. Why ain't I got a statue?" Wash complained, with more than just a hint of a slur. "Where's my crappy town with a catchy folk tune?"

Mal drained his mug. "This whole thing is just so wrong, on so many different levels, I don't even know where to begin."

"Could be worse," Riddick smirked as he refilled his and Mal's mugs. "Could be getting shot at instead of free booze."

"The man makes a very valid point." Wash chuckled.

"So yer Jayne's men?" A scruffy older man with mud caked into the white of his hair and beard asked as he sidled up to their table.

Mal spit his sip out across the table. "What?"

"Oh, it just got worse." Wash snorted a mouthful of his milk through his nose.

"Or better." Riddick leaned back to watch this little conversation play out.

"Must be a real honor workin' for a man like him, the man's as strong as a draft horse and a heart as big as all outdoors, I wager." The man continued oblivious to the rapidly changing color of the true Captain's face.

"We're just happy he lets us stay." Wash raised his mug.

"Wash…" Mal warned.

"To Jayne!" Wash toasted, ignoring his Captain.

"To Jayne!" Riddick raised his mug chuckling.

"The Hero of Canton!" River yelled.

A loud chorus of, "To Jayne!" answered them.

"To me!" Jayne cried from the bar and Mal repressed the urge to throw a bottle at him.

The old Mudder drained his glass dry on the toast and let out a burp which seemed to rattle the bottles on the table. "I wanted to ask, seein' as you're his people and all, iffin' maybe perhaps, you could convince him to say a few words to folks. Been a good long while since we had anything to celebrate 'round these parts."

"He's talkin' plenty now." Mal rumbled.

"Mean a sober word, boy!" The older man roared. "Do it proper like; in the town square."

"Like a Jayne Day?" Wash asked, barely able to repress his laughter.

"Wasn't thinkin' on namin' it, but now that you mention it..." The man said, more to himself than the others.

As ridiculous as Mal found the idea, it started a furious turning of wheels inside his head, "I think he'll be agreeable."

"Good! It's settled than, tomorrow at noon, when they call the meal break. I'll spread the word." The man grinned broadly to reveal a set of green and yellow misshapen teeth before turning away.

"Are you serious, Mal?" Wash asked.

"Sleight of hand. It is an acceptable plan." River agreed.

"What'd I miss?" Wash asked, confused.

"Gonna use it as a distraction." Riddick clarified, understanding River more so than Mal.

"Oh, Zoe's gonna love this." Wash snickered.

"Speaking of which-," Mal said as he drained his glass, "- we got plannin' to do, let's get out of this nuthouse 'fore we catch it."

River frowned. "Insanity is not contagious."

"Be that as it may, I ain't taking the chance."

"What about hero boy?" Riddick asked with a smirk and a jerk of his head.

"I'm leaving you and the Little Bit to keep your eyes on him. Make sure he don't blow his hero status by being, you know, Jayne."

Riddick swung his head around and located Jayne at the bar. His crowd of fanatic admirers had dwindled down to a devout few. Jayne Cobb he may have been but the Mudder's had morning shifts and the consequences of being late outweighed the thrill of drinking with their hometown hero. "No promises, Mal."

"Riddick's got Jayne; Little Bit you're staying to keep that brain of yours listening to the tone of things. You hear them _huang cheng_ (pretend) lawmen start to get riled you get on the comm. Remember our chat, what you know, I know, _dong ma_ (understand me)? Last thing I need is any more surprises."

"_Shi lao, zhang_ (yes, sir)!" River mock saluted, the half mug of Milk she'd drunk out of spite was becoming apparent.

Mal gave her a skeptical look. "You been drinkin'?"

"No." River answered solemnly.

"She's full of shit." Riddick scoffed.

"Well, no more of it. I need your head straight, girl, and your brother will rupture somethin' iffin' Riddick brings ya home drunk again."

_Home._ The word struck River with a quiet intensity; Serenity was home. Warmth moved through her that she could not attribute to the alcohol. "She will not let you down."

"I know you won't." Mal nodded absently unaware of the effect his words were having on the young girl. "Just keep a low profile, Kaylee will keep 'im outta the worst of trouble."

**

"Honey! We're home!" Wash yelled as they stepped back on ship.

"Where you guy's been?" She asked as she came down the stairs. "Bernoulli's chompin' at the bit; says he wants his merchandise yesterday."

"Yeah, well, we got a few wrinkles to work out in that regard." Mal groused.

"Did you know Jayne's a bona fide folk hero? He's got a song and everything!" Wash exclaimed, his body tilting slightly off to the left.

"_Hoo-tsuh _(shut up/get out)." She eyed him, "Husband, you been drinkin'."

"Don't make it any less true." Mal shook his head; still unsure if he really believed it all himself. "One hell of an eerie-ass statute of him right in the center of town, too."

"Excuse me? You're telling me Jayne's got a song and statute?" She arched a brow in disbelief. "Our Jayne? As in Jayne Cobb?"

"How many other men you know named Jayne?" Mal asked. "It's true enough to use, that's for sure. There's gonna be a little Jayne Day celebration in the town square tomorrow. I figure it will rustle up enough of a distraction to sneak those goods 'cross town right under the foreman and his prods noses."

"You're really going to have to start that again." Zoe shook her head. "Jayne Day?"

"Where's River?" Simon asked as he entered the bay.

"Back in town keepin' an eye on Jayne for me." Mal answered. "Don't worry, told her she ain't to be drinkin'."

"You left her back there?" Simon asked incredulously.

"Sister's perfectly safe. Riddick's with her." Mal assured him.

"Anybody find it odd that Riddick's name and the word safe are being used in the same sentence, but I guess anything is possible these days. Riddick's a bodyguard; Jayne's a folk hero…" Wash chuckled leaning against a crate for support.

"Wash, you ain't helpin' here." Mal moaned.

Simon blinked. "Jayne's a what?"

"Bona fide hero, song, statue, a drunken mob of admirers." Wash waved his hand haphazardly as he spoke.

"How much have you had to drink?" Simon asked skeptically.

"Doesn't change the facts." Mal shrugged, "I know, it boggles the mind."

"You're serious?"

"Hand to God!" Wash swore between laughs.

"Somebody start at the beginning." Zoe shook her head.

**

"It's just… well my father's always been so controlling, of everything; I could never be like him, no matter who he pays to…" Fess' words died quickly as his face reddened. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to… This whole thing is just so embarrassing. I guess he's right."

Inara put down her tea cup and smiled at the young man gently. "Fess, your father is not right. There is nothing wrong with being a virgin; it's just another state of being." She soothed him. "As for your father bringing me here, Companion's chose the people they are with very carefully. For example, if your father had asked me here for himself, I would not have come." She said sincerely.

"Really?"

"Really. You're not your father, Fess, you're different and-," as she spoke she tenderly stroked his cheek, "-sooner you realize this, the stronger you'll become." Her lips met his in a slow and tender kiss, effectively ending any further conversation.

**

"So the Magistrate let you keep all that cash?" Jayne asked the dark-haired boy who'd announced his presence in the bar earlier. He had introduced himself as Meadow; Jayne had poured him a drink in sympathy.

"That he did and it pained him somethin' fierce. When he found out, he sent his prods down to take it back, but us workers resisted." He said proudly.

"Fought the law, eh?" Jayne grunted with approval; a dark smile on his face.

The boy nodded eagerly. "If the Mudders are together on a thing, there's just too many of us to be put down. In the end, he just called it a bonus."

"One Hell of a bonus." Jayne chuckled ruefully.

"And then, when we put you up in the square, he rolled in and tried to tear it down. The whole town rioted."

"A riot?" Jayne froze mid-sip and lowered his glass. A God's honest tear welled up in the corner of his eye. "Ya'll rioted on account of me? You hear this, Kaylee? They had a riot on account me, my very own riot."

"Told you, Jayne," she smiled up at him. "Shiniest of shiny."

"I can't believe you're back!" Meadows continued on excitedly.

Jayne, however, was stuck on the riot. "Ya'll had violence in my honor… that's just the nicest thing…" He threw the arm not around Kaylee across the boy's shoulders and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "How could I have stayed away?"

**

_/He's hugging people again./_ Riddick thought, a look of vague distaste crossing his face. /_What kinda criminal goes around hugging people all the time?/_

_ /Inebriated ones./_

_ /Ain't an excuse. Find anything? I'm getting bored as Hell sitting around this joint watching Jayne be worshiped. All sorts of fucked up./_

_/Sunshine is about to burn./_

Riddick swung his head around and back to the bar; where Kaylee was quite clearly glaring daggers at a frizzy-haired brunette who was speaking to Jayne with her hand on his shoulder. He watched with amusement as Kaylee snapped at the girl and smacked her hand of off Jayne. "Oh, this is going to be good." He chuckled as the brunette took a threatening step forward.

**

"Magistrate Higgins," Joe the Foreman called uneasily as the valet lead him into the study.

"My son's out there now, and I pray to God he's losing his cherry." The Magistrate said more to himself than the foreman as he stared at the Companion's shuttle which was parked right outside his hacienda.

Big Joe cleared his throat, part nervousness and part unease at the Magistrate's honesty. He really didn't think he should have been privy to such details. "There's a problem in the worker town, sir."

"What's that?" He looked up from the window.

"Jayne Cobb's back, sir." The foreman rushed out quickly and braced himself for the inevitable fall out.

"_**What?!**_"

**

"_Húli j__i__ng_ (bitch)!"

"What did you just call me?" Kaylee's hands balled into fists at her sides as her face began to change color.

"You heard me! Ain't good 'nough for Jayne." The brunette sneered.

Jayne was torn. On the one hand, no one should talk to his girl like that. On the other, he was drunk and the possibility of a girlie fight over him was more than just slightly appealing.

Kaylee looked the woman up and down and snorted. "You best be on your way."

"Or what? 'Fraid I'll take your man?" The woman snorted, as she wasn't threatened by the little chit.

"You might wanna step in, Mr. Jayne," Meadow whispered to him. "That's Fanny, and she's laid out men with her right hook."

That did worry Jayne a bit. He hadn't ever asked Kaylee but he was pretty sure she had never been in a fight before. As fun as a girlie fight sounded, he really didn't want Kaylee getting hurt over him. "Hey, now," Jayne started. "This here's Kaylee and she's my girl; ain't interested in 'nother's company."

Kaylee shot the brunette a smug look as she curled herself into Jayne's side while he wrapped an arm around her.

"That's a real shame," Fanny said seductively as she reached forward and traced a finger along Jayne's chest. "You get tired of that girl, come see me and I'll show you what a real woman tastes…"

Fanny never got the chance to finish as mid way through her sentence Kaylee reached back and landed a solid punch directly in the center of her face. Fanny dropped.

"_Bia ozi _(whore)." Kaylee spat out as she shook her hand furiously; nearly positive she'd broken a knuckle.

"Holy shit!" Jayne gaped, open mouthed.

"Oh God, that hurt." She hissed as pain flared through her hand.

"Holy shit." Jayne repeated himself as he turned his gaze from the woman on the floor to Kaylee; his eyes hungry.

"What? What's that look for? She deserved it!" Kaylee huffed defensively.

"You got rooms?" Jayne growled to the bartender.

"Ya-huh." The man grinned at him knowingly. "Upstairs; take your pick."

"Rooms?" Kaylee asked confused. "What'd we need a room…" Her voice trailed off as Jayne scooped her into his arms and carried her towards the stairs; taking them two at a time in his haste.

**

"Holy shit." Riddick breathed out; genuinely impressed by Sunshine's right cross. He turned back around to face River, who was idly tracing circles in mud dust on the tabletop. She was frowning. _/What?/_

_ /Something has changed./_

_ /What's that?/_

**

The Magistrate picked his way carefully over the partially rotted bridge across the mud bog in his prison field. Big Joe led the way; a lantern in one hand and a gunny sack in the other. Small rusted steel crates, riddled with roughly created air holes, were propped up on stilts at intervals along the bridge; the men stopped in front of the sixth box down the row. The foreman fumbled with a set of keys and, after a moment of juggling between the lantern, keys, and sack, he opened the lock.

Higgins grabbed the lantern from his man and cautiously leaned forward. "Stitch Hessian." He called in a voice used to giving orders.

"What do you want from me?" A voice raw and scratchy from disuse hissed from the darkness of the crate.

"Nothing. You've done your time. Paid your debt. Its time you were on your way." Higgins informed him and took a step back.

Cautiously, a head crept out from the shadows. It was mass of tangled and matted hair, crowning a face marred by burn scars and absent one eye. The one eye regarded both men suspiciously for a moment. Then a body followed the head, stumbling slightly on legs unused to supporting his weight.

Higgins nodded to Big Joe, who tossed Hessian the gunny sack. "I believe those were your personal effects."

He snatched the bag eagerly; startled beyond belief when he removed his own shotgun from it. He checked the chamber. "Four years. Four years you keep me locked up in the stink and the heat and now you set me free with a loaded gun?" He snarled.

"I'm sure you've got the urge to use it, but I'm not the one that brought you in on that robbery. I'm not the one who partnered up with you, then turned once the job went south. How high was that shuttle when he pushed you out? Thirty feet? Jayne Cobb cost you four years of your life and a perfectly good eye as well and here's the poetical portion; he's back in town, this very day."

The tension that shot through Hessian's body was visible and startling for one who had not stood on his own accord in the last four years.

"Best of luck in your new life." Higgins said simply as he watched with satisfaction the rage rise on Hessian's face. "Might even have an offer to help you along on it."

**

_/River?/_

_/Repetition does nothing to help your cause./_

_/Answer me then and I won't have to fuckin' repeat myself./_

_ /She can't give you an answer she does not have./_

_ /What do you know?/_

_ /Bi zu(shut up)! She is trying to listen. Translation is not instantaneous; she feels the wrong but has to find it. There is rage coming from somewhere and she must follow the path; but it winds and twists and sometimes is not a pull but a push. Instinct before emotion, emotion before idea, idea before thought, thought before action. Remember the letters? A and B, but not C, sometimes C looks like X, sometimes D is forgotten, the mind is a scattering of parts converging on a whole. The River collects these parts, it is left to the girl to put them together and he is making it extremely difficult with his incessant prodding!/ _

Riddick growled at her.

_/That doesn't help either./_ River snorted.

**

"_Wao__ kào_ (Well, fuck me)." Zoe said quite simply. "Jayne's a gorram folk hero. I gotta see this statue."

"No, you really don't want to, Mal's right; it's one eerie-ass piece of work." Wash chuckled.

"You know, I reattached a girl's leg once, her whole rutting leg; she named her hamster after me. I get a hamster; Jayne drops a box of money and he gets a town." Simon said in disbelief.

"And a song." Wash pointed out.

"And a song." Simon snorted.

"So, we're gonna let Jayne get up and give a speech in front of a town that he robbed the Magistrate in, while we smuggle the goods across it."

"Yup." Mal leaned back in his chair.

Zoe shook her head. "You know there's a real good possibility that man Higgins ain't gonna let Jayne walk away from that right?"

Mal frowned slightly. He hadn't actually thought about that. "Well, they let them folks keep a statue up."

"A statue and the real live man are two completely different things, sir."

"_Gou shi_ (crap)."

"If I may, sir?" Zoe arched her brow.

"By all means, it's why I hired ya."

"Wash and I will take the Doc and Kaylee to pick up the goods. You and Riddick will stay behind to mill about the town square and keep an eye on Jayne, wouldn't be a bad idea to bring River along. She'll be able to sniff out trouble 'fore it starts."

"Absolutely not." Simon interrupted her. "Today was one thing, but to put her in that situation, are you kidding me? It's far too dangerous."

"That's the whole point, Doc, River being there makes it safer for us all. If something's brewing, she'll be able to pull them all out 'fore it starts." Zoe argued.

"You're resting a lot on the assumption that she'll be able to. All of you seem to be forgetting that River's completely unstable. A good day today means absolutely nothing tomorrow." Simon reminded them.

"We leave it up to River then." Mal decided firmly.

"She doesn't know the difference." Simon pushed back.

"You so sure about that?" Mal asked. "'Cause I ain't. She handled herself real well tonight."

"A good day today means absolutely nothing tomorrow." Simon repeated himself.

"Girl's gotta learn to make her way. She's a grown woman and she's got more stacked against her than most. She wants to work as a full-time part of my crew, I'll let her. I'm not saying I understand the girl or what's going on in that head of hers but she knows things Doc; and her knowing things can keep my crew safe. Safer we are, safer you and your sister are."

"Less than three weeks ago, you told me to gag her if it meant shutting her up and now you honestly want her to work jobs with you?"

"Funny how the 'verse works, ain't it?" Mal smirked at him. "Ain't talkin' anymore on the subject."

**

_/The German comes./_

_ /The what?/_

_ /Job went south, money wasn't the only thing he dropped./_

_ /Try again./_

_ /Dropped his partner before the money/_

_ /The German's his partner?/_

River nodded. _/Lost an eye but sees well enough to find. Trapped in the darkness, madness found him in the heat and the stink. The Hero of Canton is a lie and he means to vanquish him./_

_ /Where's he now?/_

_ /In the shadows of town, one thousand four hundred sixty days without being able to freely move his legs, he shouldn't be able to walk, but he does, fueled by raged./_

_ /He's riding on adrenaline?/_

_ /Correct./_

_ /You ready for this?/_

River hesitated; she was a part of Serenity, Jayne was a part of Serenity, Serenity was home. The German meant to strike down Jayne; to strike at a part was to strike at the whole. She was a part of whole, therefore a strike at Jayne was a strike at her. The German was a threat to her survival.

** Reality shifted.**

_/Yes./_ She leveled her eyes on Riddick's as she rose fluidly from her seat; holding his gaze as she moved around him.

Riddick felt the shift in River inside his head; it was like a surge of electricity. The intensity of her gaze held him transfixed and he found himself following without the knowledge of movement. Once free from the light and the noise of the bar, Riddick removed his goggles as he inhaled the night air deeply. A controlled tension rippled through his muscles as he watched River. She had closed her eyes and tilted her head to the left. A light breeze stirred her hair and brought her scent to his nostrils. It didn't surprise him that it had changed ever so subtly. He'd seen this girl before him once, very shortly after she'd popped out of the box; the night in the mess when he first learned her secret. She was an entirely different creature. This was the weapon; this was the animal. Riddick exhaled deeply and, as he did so, he tried to move himself across their link; as he would pass her his thoughts, he passed her strength and focus; allowing fragments of his enjoyment and anticipation to slip through as well.

Slowly she opened her eyes and rested them on Riddick; the corners of her lips drew up in a wicked smile. _/Can he keep up?/_

_ /Try me, girl./ _ He smirked darkly at her.

River held his gaze for a moment longer before spinning without warning and taking off into the shadows.

A growl of approval escaped Riddick and then he was moving.

**

Every few moments Simon found himself checking his silver pocket watch. He chewed his stylus nervously. His sister was out there with the 'verse's most wanted serial killer. Granted, new information had come to light on Riddick's true character but it didn't make Simon any calmer. His sister was in a very malleable position, wholly unstable, and susceptible to suggestion. It had crossed his mind that leaving out the behavioral programming his sister had undergone was probably a poor choice, but he hadn't wanted to give Riddick or anyone any ideas either. Nor did he want the crew to be afraid of his sister. She hadn't shown any violent tendencies aboard the ship, with the exception of the night Riddick had said she had gone after him, and he really couldn't blame her for that. He was pretty sure Riddick could drive a monk to violence given the opportunity; which made him all the more nervous.

**

River led the way through the small Mudder town; moving through slanted alleyways, not hesitating in the slightest as they came to forks or breaks in the alleys. In less than ten minutes, they had crossed through town and were moving through the mud fields. Here, even the little ground which was solid was riddled with sinkholes.

_/Keep to her footprints./_ River pushed to him and Riddick complied silently.

They hit the thick bamboo forest and the pair moved in tandem with one another. Not a branch was broken nor twig snapped beneath their feet. Riddick knew they were close when she began to slow her speed. The bamboo was thinning and she came to a stop on the edge of a small clearing less than a half mile outside of the town.

_/Where they plotted./_ River informed him.

Riddick nodded his understanding as he inhaled the man's stench. Distinctly, and through the makeshift walls of the glorified shack, Riddick could hear raspy breathing and vague muttering.

_/Is waiting to expose the hero; the Magistrate has offered him a ride off-world for a public execution./_

_/He armed?/_

_ /Shotgun, two shots and he'll have to reload. Has shivs, forty seven items in the shack may be used as makeshift weapons./_

Riddick looked at her in absolute awe. There was no way in Hell he was ever going to let her leave him now. _/Then we draw him out./_

River smirked at him. Her mouth opened and she released an ear piercing shriek. Riddick stumbled backward in utter shock and confusion. _/What the fuck are you doing?!/_

River ignored him and raced into the clearing just as Hessian kicked opened the door to his shack.

"Help! Please help me!" River sobbed hysterically and threw herself at the man.

"What in the fuck?!" Hessian yelled as he grabbed River roughly by her arm and shook her. "What the Hell is going on?'

"Th…There's a man out there… he... he tried to hurt me!" River sobbed.

Riddick gaped in utter disbelief. The animal was gone and, in her place, a frightened little girl had emerged. Not for the first time, Riddick realized just how valuable she was. He remembered once vaguely thinking that he'd never give the girl more than a glance if he passed her in a dark alleyway. Her seeming fragility was in all actuality her greatest advantage.

"Calm the fuck down, girlie!" Hessian snapped as his eyes darted through the trees. He pumped off the two shots from his gun out into the darkness of the trees. "Got plenty more!" He roared to the shadows.

Riddick pressed himself closer to the ground and repressed the urge to growl as he watched the man wrap his hand around River's upper arm.

Hessian turned back to the girl once he was sure the threat had been scared off and let his eyes wander down her body. She had a pretty nice set of legs. He chuckled a bit darkly. It had been a long time since he'd had a woman and, on top of all his other good fortune; the fates had seen fit to throw a pretty little bit right in his path.

"That should scare him off." He said brusquely.

"Thank you." River whispered timidly as one hand slowly slipped behind her back as her eyes drifted to the ground.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing way out here? Didn't your Momma ever tell you it ain't safe to be in the forests at night?" He leered down at her. The smile on his face served only to distort his already disfigured features further.

"I was so scared, I just ran." River kept her eyes on the ground as her fingers wrapped around the handle of the shiv Riddick had given her earlier.

Riddick was practically snarling inside his head. His fury boiled over as he watched that filthy piece of shit pull River closer. He didn't give a shit if the girl had a plan or not. The man had five seconds to get his fucking hands off Riddick's girl.

Hessian yanked River roughly against him. "Why don't you show old Stitch just how grateful yer are?"

Riddick was on his feet, a feral growl tumbling from his throat. His progression halted immediately as he watched River spin herself. Her arm arched up, followed by the other, a shiv in each hand. He heard the very distinct sound of sharpened metal slicing through flesh. The Furyan watched with shocked wonder as her shivs passed one after another; barely kissing the man's throat. A trail of blood followed behind the motion like dancer's ribbons, illuminated in the moonlight. Her spin ended in a low defensive crouch as Hessian's body crumpled to the ground. Blood gurgled from his throat as his body convulsed in the dust.

Riddick didn't see the body however. His eyes were locked on River; crouched low to the ground, her weight focused on one bent leg while the other stretched to the side; her arms arched, a bloodied shiv in each hand.

"Fucking beautiful." He didn't mean to speak the words out loud.

Those two words however shattered through River's existence.

**Reality shifted.**

The focus in her eyes dissipated as she collapsed from her crouch and she furiously scooted herself away from the bleeding corpse. Absolute horror filled her as she realized that she had two blades in her hands. She dropped them and kicked them away. "_Ren ci de shang di, qing dai wo zou_ (Merciful God, please take me away.)"

Riddick felt the shift in River the moment it happened; he didn't understand it. To him, what she had done was art in motion. The clean slice, the liquid movement; she was magnificent. He approached her slowly, like one would a frightened animal.

"River-girl," His voice rumbled low and soothing.

River jerked her head away from the corpse and looked up at Riddick. Her eyes were wild with fear. Her breath was coming in great heaving gasps. She tried to calm herself; to focus past the smell of death which was heavy and thick in the air. It swirled around her mind and threatened to suffocate her.

"River." Riddick called again, more harshly this time.

"He's still alive." She whispered horrified. "Ninety seconds for the heart to stop, three minutes for the brain to die. I can hear him. I can hear him screaming." She brought her hands up to clutch at the sides of her head.

Riddick didn't hesitate with his next action. A shiv appeared in his hand and he drove it through the good eye of the corpse. "He done screaming now girl?" He said simply as he withdrew his shiv.

River slowly nodded and lowered her hands. "Take her away." She pleaded again, unable to look at the dead body any longer.

Riddick crouched in the dirt before her; she refused to meet his eyes and it pissed him off beyond measure. "Look at me, girl." When she refused to look up still, he grabbed her chin none too gently and forced her head up. "He woulda killed Jayne."

"Action and consequence; it is the way of the world. Switch the position, Riddick would have killed Jayne as well. She has interfered in the natural order; betrayal demands vengeance. It was not her right. She has changed the course of things."

"I asked you before we left the bar if you were ready for this. You told me yes, but you hesitated at first, why? What were you thinking?"

"Serenity is Mother. Jayne is a part of Serenity. The girl is a part of Serenity. To attack the part is to attack the whole. It is to attack Serenity herself. It is to attack the girl. Therefore The German was a threat to the girl's survival."

"That's what did it? That's what forced the change?"

"The change?" River blinked at him.

"I knew the moment you made your decision. You even smelt different." Riddick realized he was digressing from the subject at hand, but there was a purpose to it. He didn't want to take her away from the body and the sight and smell of death. He wanted to make her immune to it and so he kept the conversation going with the corpse in her line of vision still.

"She is not what they made her, but she is; just as he is not what they made him, but he is."

_That's it girl, me and you, we're the same kind of people. _He thought only to himself.

"I'll tell you a secret girl." He smirked wickedly at her as he let his fingers trail from her chin down the smooth line of her neck to the hollow where her collar bones met. "Think you got the same kind of animal underneath your skin that I got. That thing that itches. That tells me about the sweet spot, tells me where my target is the weakest, the thing that calls for blood. I know you've heard it, girl." His tone was more of an invitation then a threat.

"She has." River swallowed hard; surprised she'd been able to answer at all. His close proximity was jarring her ability to think properly. His mercurial eyes held her immobile.

Riddick leaned in close and removed his fingers from their spot between her collar bones. He pressed his face against the skin of her neck there and inhaled deeply. "I can smell it on you." His voice was a graveled whisper; hypnotic and terrifying. "Blood, death, insanity, the good kind of crazy." He smirked against her neck; savoring the feel of her skin against his lips. He made no other advance though; he wanted her distracted and wholly unsatisfied. "It's fucking intoxicating, you know that? Like a drug I can't get enough of."

River managed a vague murmur as she closed her eyes against the searing sensation he was causing to course through her veins.

Riddick chuckled slightly as he scented the change in her; as he listened to the racing of her heart. "You ain't broken, girl. You're better; we're better. We're stronger and smarter and faster than all the other fucks out there. Universe is ours, River-girl, ain't nothing or nobody capable of standing in our way. You proved that tonight, girl."

Riddick couldn't lose this moment. He needed to set resolve in her now. If he let her run from this, she'd never stop again. This was the first time she had killed of her own free will and she had done it to protect. He could use that; he would use that. It was with the upmost of self control that he pulled himself away from her skin; enjoying how her body reflexively moved forward as he pulled back.

The Furyan rose and held out his hand to help her to her feet. Silently, she accepted and followed as he led her back in front of the corpse. She did not resist as he pulled her in front of him. His arms wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on the top of her head as he forced her to look down on what she had done. It was a cage, but it was one she belonged in. She felt the truth of it vibrate through her bones. Standing there, facing death, her mind still as she soaked in the feel of his skin, the warmth of his body; she could feel traces of his pride emitting from his mind.

"He was one of the Takers River-girl and he woulda taken Jayne. You stopped that. You stopped a Taker, girl." Riddick kept his voice low as he spoke and his head lowered to rest on her shoulder where he could whisper in her ear. "Everybody's got a line, River, we draw it in ground with the tip of a shiv and we dare someone to cross it. Where's your line, River? You gonna let them keeping crossing it? You gonna let them keep taking? Or are you gonna draw a line in the sand?" He kept talking to keep her listening; to keep her from processing anything that wasn't the sound of his voice in her head. "You killed this man, River. The Taker. He would have taken the sunshine from Kaylee right along with Jayne's life. He woulda taken a gun from Serenity; she would have been defenseless. You know Jayne sends money home to his family. He would have taken that; they would have gone hungry. You stopped that. You kept Sunshine safe, you kept Serenity safe. You stopped the Takers."

Riddick's words blocked out all other sensation. She felt him on her skin, she smelled him, his words filled her ears and silenced her lips. It was though she could feel him move inside her mind and his voice was not to be denied. His words were not to be debated. This was _Dao_(truth). If she let them take, they would take everything.

"What's it gonna be, River-girl?"

River turned her head to look at Riddick slowly; her eyes were clear and he could almost feel the pieces falling into place inside her mind. She was rebuilding. "She will draw a line."

"That's my girl." He smirked wickedly at her before forcing her head to turn once more by guiding it with his own. He inhaled deeply and his words dripped like honey from his mouth. "Nothing in the 'verse, River. Let them try and come, girl. This is what happens when somebody tries to cross us."

"She is not stable." River confessed, though it tore at her to do so.

"Not yet." Riddick told her firmly as his nose lingered in her hair.

"Not yet." River affirmed.

**

Jayne watched Kaylee sleep. The contrast of her dark eyelashes against her pale cheek was a point of particular interest to him. He should have been asleep. The amount of alcohol he'd consumed alone should have ensured it, but he wasn't. Jayne wasn't a man prone to self reflection. He made no apologies for the way he lived his life and he made a point of not dwelling over his choices. However, there was a slight prick in the back of his head which was telling him that right now he was just about the lowest scum in the 'verse.

He was reaping the rewards of being a hero; won by cowardice. If he could have found a way around it, he would have kept that money, every last coin. Hell, he'd dumped his partner off that skiff even before the money, and these dumb shits were worshiping the ground he walked on. They _**rioted**_ on his account. He didn't deserve a bit of it and he especially didn't deserve the woman burying herself against his chest in her sleep. She'd punched another woman out over him tonight and he'd be damned if it wasn't the sexiest thing he'd ever seen.

Ever so gently, Jayne lifted up Kaylee's right hand. The skin on her knuckles was broken open and two were swelling already. With a tenderness none would have ever expected the hulking merc to have possessed, he kissed both of the knuckles and placed the hand reverently back against his bare chest. She deserved something better than him and the thought of her realizing it scared him shitless. He'd be proud as Hell to bring her home to his Ma, but could she say the same about him? He didn't think so. Of course she would if he asked her, and she might even mean it, but that was only because she was Kaylee. She thought he was the shiniest of shiny; he wasn't. He was absolute shit and he knew it.

Jayne didn't give a flying gorram what the rest of the 'verse thought of him; but Kaylee, he now realized, what she thought meant everything to him. What would she say if she knew the truth of what happened? He turned on Stitch just as quickly as he'd shot the last man he'd worked for to jump to Mal's side. He was the worst kind of man imaginable; one that would go back on his word so long as he got the better end of the deal. He'd done it more times than he could count. Jayne was a man who could be bought; relatively cheaply as well.

When he was still a kid, before his Pa got sick and died, he had told Jayne a man's word was everything. Money came and went, in the end a man had only himself to offer. Then, after he'd died, Jayne learned what it was like to go hungry. He'd had to listen to his Ma cry herself to sleep at night when she thought nobody knew and he'd watched Matty get sicker and sicker without the meds he needed. Something in him had gone hard. Being a bad man was a small price to pay for knowing the coin he'd earned by it kept them fed at home and paid for Matty's doctors and meds. He'd written every dirty deed off and disguised it as a good one. The ends justified the means. He'd been able to sleep at night; until now that was.

Kaylee sighed against his skin in her sleep; it tickled his chest and he wound a hand through her hair as he tried to pull her even closer. Inhaling the scent of her deeply, he vowed to become the type of man his Pa would have shaken hands with. The kind that didn't have to lie to his Ma in his letters home. The type that deserved a song and a statue. The kind of man Kaylee deserved to bring home to her folks.


	34. Jaynestown IV

"You already know what I'm going to ask you, don't you?" Mal asked River with a tiny smile as he came down the catwalk stairs. She was watching from her perch upon a crate as Riddick hooked the trailer up to the ATV.

"She does." River affirmed. "And she has informed Riddick, as well, of his part to play."

"You ready?" He asked. "You be honest with me now, Little Bit. Ain't no shame iffin' you're feelin' …um... off." He couldn't think of a gentler way to put it.

River looked at Riddick once before looking back at Mal, "She is."

"Good. Riddick, where's Jayne?"

"Him and Kaylee spent the night in town." Riddick grunted as he threw the bolt down on the locking mechanism.

Mal repressed the urge to shudder as he walked over to the comm. "Let's get a move on it folks; the Great Jayne Cobb is waiting."

_/Shivs?/_ Riddick pushed to River.

_/Boot, thigh, waist./_

_ /Good./_

"It really isn't fair I miss the Jayne Day speech," Wash grumbled as he and Zoe came down the bridge access ladder.

"I'm sure it will be riveting." Simon snorted as he caught the remark walking in from the lower hall.

"Let's quit our bitchin', people." Mal ordered as they piled onto the ATV's trailer. "Let's get this done and get the Hell off this eerie-ass rock."

**

"Over here, Mal." Jayne called from the bar where he and Kaylee were sitting over two plates of eggs. He'd noticed a bit guiltily that the other patrons were eatin' some kind of oddish colored mashed _gou shi_(crap) and he'd tried to turn them down but Kaylee had gone over the moon at the sight of real eggs. "Where ya'll been?"

"Working; unlike those I'm payin'. Are those real eggs?" Mal found himself distracted and, oddly enough, jealous.

"Nothin' but the best for the livin' legend." Kaylee beamed up at Jayne.

"Yeah, well…" Jayne cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Let's go, the livin' legend's got an appearance to make and, Kaylee, you got cargo to haul."

"He does?" Jayne asked.

"She does?" Kaylee asked, a bit dejectedly as she looked forlornly at the partially eaten plate.

"Yeah, they does." Mal snorted. "This job's gone on long 'nough."

**

"You're very quiet." Inara remarked to the young man lying next to her.

"I'm sorry… I just, well… I just thought I'd feel different. Aren't I supposed to be a man now?" Fess asked.

"A man is just a boy old enough to ask the question. Our time together, it's just a ritual, a symbol. It has only the power you give it. It obviously means something to your father and I do hope it hasn't been entirely forgettable to you." She smiled at him, "But it doesn't make you a man, only you can do that."

Fess opened his mouth to speak but was cut off abruptly by a loud banging against the shuttle door. A moment later his father's voice could be heard as well.

"Fess! Fess Higgins you get out here right now boy!"

**

"Morning, kids." Wash called brightly as Mal walked out of the bar with Jayne and Kaylee in tow.

"Is that Jayne? Is it really?" Zoe said with a fake squeal and her accent thicker than it had been in years. "Pinch me, baby, I must be dreamin'!"

"I'd watch it there, Zoe," Riddick warned. "Little Kaylee knocked the last woman on her ass that looked at her man like that." He smirked as Kaylee blushed.

"What?!?" Mal spun around. "Nobody told me that. You been fightin', girl?" Mal grabbed Kaylee's right hand and examined the cracked knuckles. "Holy Hell." He grinned at her. "I think our boy Jayne is rubbin' off a bit on you."

Zoe made a face in sympathy as she caught sight of Kaylee's knuckles. "Looks like it hurt."

"Yeah, well, I suspect girl's face hurts Hell of a lot worse." Jayne chuckled.

"Jayne's got a town, Kaylee's punchin' people, we got a mind reader on the crew, whole 'verse is going all _mo ming qi miao_ (ridiculously nonsensical). I think I'm gonna start juggling geese just to bring a little normal back to the crew." Wash joked.

"Kaylee, I can wrap those for you on the ride." Simon offered, stepping down off the mule to take a closer look.

"It ain't so bad." She said shyly.

"Wait, ridin' where?" Jayne asked suddenly.

"We got this whole Jayne Day celebration planned and you're due to give a few words to the folks. Wash, Zoe, Kaylee and the Doc are gonna take the opportunity to collect the cargo while you got the whole town hangin' on your words."

"Hang on a sec, Mal, you're gonna put me on a soapbox up in tha town square in a town I robbed the Magistrate in? Aw, Hell Mal, I ain't lookin' to get dead. What's goin' stop 'em from picking me off?"

"That's where Little Bit comes in," Mal grinned. "Me, Riddick and her are gonna be in the square with you. Somebody gets the itch to splatter your brains." Mal lowered his voice and opened up his jacket slightly to reveal his sidearm. "We'll splatter them first."

"Feel better iffin' I had one myself." Jayne grumbled, still not wholly comfortably with the plan.

Riddick stepped in between Jayne and the ATV; kneeling as if he was tying his bootlaces he slipped a small handgun from his boot and jammed it in to Jayne's, tugging the leg of his cargo down to cover it.

"Happy?" Riddick shook his head slightly as he rose.

"Not entirely." Jayne scowled and turned to face River. "Listen here, Little Bit. You promise to keep me from gettin' shot and I promise not to call you Crazy no more. Deal?"

River eyed the merc skeptically; from the corner of her vision she could see Riddick struggling to keep a straight face. Little did the man named Jayne know that she had already fulfilled her part of the bargain. She refrained from pointing out the flaw in his offer as she and Riddick had decided it was best not to mention last night's events to the rest of the crew. The crew had adapted surprisingly quickly to the knowledge of her mental capabilities; having seen a use for them and a way to work it to their advantage. Her mental abilities did not threaten their safety. A mentally unbalanced, trained assassin would. It was to her advantage that they thought her fragile, as irritating as it could be.

"She is agreeable." River nodded with a forced smile.

"Happy now?" Mal snapped.

"Not hardly." Jayne groused. "It'll do."

"Alright then, we'll meetcha back at the ship." Mal nodded at Wash as Jayne helped Kaylee onto the trailer.

"You have the Doc take a look at that hand, girl." He grunted low.

"Don't get shot." She ordered pointedly.

"Ain't no guns on Canton."

Kaylee shot him a look. "Iffin' ya'll carryin', it means others prob'bly are, too. Maybe not the workers but you can be sure that Magistrate got some stashed up somewhere. I mean it, Jayne Cobb, you get yourself shot, I'll be right mad at you." She pecked him on the cheek and the ATV jerked forward.

**

"A criminal hearing?" Inara asked Fess as she cleared away the tea tray from the previous night. "What could possible happen on this moon which would require such a thing?" She asked carefully.

"It actually happened when I was growing up. You see there was this man. He stole a ton of money from my father and gave it to the workers. They've turned him into a kind of folk hero."

"Go on." Inara pressed as she set down the tray she was holding.

"Apparently he landed here yesterday."

"Yesterday?" She groaned, paling slightly.

"Inara?" Fess asked with genuine concern.

"I know this man. He's… he just has this idiotic sense of nobility. He can just never let things be. He likes to think he's some kind of hard hearted criminal but he's really …he's really just…"

"Wait, you actually know Jayne Cobb?"

Inara's jaw dropped open in a very unladylike manner and it took her a moment to recover. "Jayne? We're talking about Jayne? Jayne Cobb?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Jayne Cobb, the Hero of Canton and the only man who ever stood up to my father." The look of admiration in his eyes could not be concealed.

"I…wha…" Inara stammered over her words for one of the first times in her life. _Jayne Cobb?_

"My father traced him back to his ship and had Port Control put a lock on it. Jayne will get back to his ship and realize he's been grounded." Fess frowned slightly. "I kind of hate the idea of him getting caught."

"Yes, that would be bad." Inara agreed as she took a seat on the small sofa next to Fess. "A man would be strong enough to stand up to his father." Fess looked at her questioningly. "This moon, after all, will be yours one day. Will you lead as your father does?" She smiled encouragingly as she watched her small suggestion take root in the young man's mind.

**

"I just don't know, Mal." Jayne said with a huff of air as he, Mal, Riddick and River headed into the center of town. The streets were mostly deserted as the majority of the population were at work in the pits and the quiet did nothing to ease his mind.

"About what, Jayne? I think the plan is pretty simple."

"Ain't ever simple with you, Cap'n."

"Man's got a point." Riddick smirked.

Before Mal could snap at either man, Jayne continued. "It's just, I don't know iffin' we should be usin' my fame to hoodwink people."

"You better laugh when you say that." Mal looked at him, a bit stunned; maybe he'd been wrong, maybe it was Kaylee rubbing off on Jayne, after all.

"No really, Mal, I think there's something to this, you know, like I really made a difference to them here; me, Jayne Cobb."

"I know your name, jackass." Mal snorted.

"They rioted on account of me." Jayne continued. "I mean violence, on my account; ain't never had a riot in my honor before."

"And just when I think you're goin' all honorable and soft on me, you say somethin' like that, and I know the old Jayne's still in there." Mal joked.

Jayne did not find it amusing. The problem was, the old Jayne was deteriorating rapidly, though no one aside from River was aware of it. There were new colors to his mind; new twists and threads being formed. The usual linear quality of it was lost among the chaos of emotions he was attempting to deal with; many of which he was experiencing for the first time in a very long time; guilt and remorse, chief among them.

**

"This is it?" Simon asked skeptically as they climbed off the ATV. The road ended a mile ahead of them and, as far as the eye could see, in any direction there was nothing but acres of muddy bamboo.

"These are the coordinates, off in the woods a bit." Zoe nodded as he hopped down. "Looks like we got a bit of trudging to do. Macintosh said it was a bit off the tracks."

"Great, I'm missing the Jayne Day speech to slop through stinkin' mud." Wash complained petulantly as he kicked a small stone.

**

Jayne shifted his weight nervously as he stood in the shadow of his own glaring visage. The crowd was massive and chanting his name. The boy, Meadow, had shoved his way to the front of the crowd and his voice was one of the loudest. There was something in the kid's features which reminded him of Matty and he forced himself to stand a little straighter. His eyes sought out Mal and Riddick; positioned on opposite sides of the crowd. It took him a moment longer to locate River and then it was only the top of her head, not but five or six feet from Riddick. She seemed to realize he was searching for her and her face appeared through a break in the crowd and she nodded silently.

The foreman and his prods were on the outskirts. They didn't appear to be armed but that fact did not comfort Jayne in the slightest. He didn't appear to be armed either, but he was. Unconsciously, his eyes darted to sniper positions he would have taken had he been given the job of offing the hometown hero. It was only after he'd assured himself they were vacant that he could breathe just a little easier.

River nodded to Jayne; it was what he needed, not the truth. The foreman and his men were jumpy. They were expecting a surprise guest but, little did they know, he was unavoidably and permanently detained. She frowned as she stared at the ground. Her actions had turned the situation chaotic. There were no set orders for what to do it the man never showed. They were, however, discreetly armed and under strict orders that Jayne Cobb was not to leave this square a free man; alive or dead was inconsequential.

_/Trouble./ _ She warned Riddick through their mind-speak.

_ /Where?/_

_ /Not yet./_

_ /When?/_

_ /Soon./_

_ /You want to be anything besides annoyingly vague?/_

_ /It is the best she can offer. She is not omniscient./_

_ /Those fucks armed?/_

_ /Lightly. Non-lethal stun batons, smoke bombs and flash grenades. The foreman is the only one with a gun; twenty six in the clip, concealed beneath the bulk of his tool belt. It is expensive to replace workers. He is ordered to use it only if necessary./_

_/Stay here./_ Riddick thought at her as he casually began to move himself around the edges of the crowd. He left enough distance between himself and the foreman to go unnoticed against the glare of the sun as he listened. River reading thoughts was all well and good, but even she admitted sometimes things got lost in translation.

"Why don't we take 'im now?" One of the younger men asked heatedly.

"No, Magistrate says we hold. Ain't no need to rile up the grunts. We wait. Cobb ain't leavin' this rock though, that's for damn sure. Lost my brother in that riot he riled up over that gorraam eerie-ass statue o' his."

The younger man shuddered ever so slightly. "It's the eyes, they just glare 'atcha, makes a man feel like he owes 'im somethin'."

"Don't owe that shit nothing. Mark my words, boy, come mornin' that statue be as good as dust."

**

"What's in these things anyway?" Simon grunted as he and Wash lifted the last crate on to the ATV's trailer.

"Rule one, Doc," Zoe told him as she gave Kaylee a hand up. "They don't tell, we don't ask."

"Isn't that how that the train job you pulled went so wrong?" Simon asked as Wash fired up the engine.

"Best not to dwell." Zoe smirked. "We came out clean for now anyhows."

"For now?" Simon asked nervously.

"Best not to think about it," Wash said turning his head back to look from the road. "That's how I haven't cracked." He said jovially. "I find sarcasm to be an excellent coping mechanism."

"Captain always gets us out of it somehow, though." Kaylee said cheerfully.

"After getting us into it, that is." Wash pointed out helpfully and even Zoe had to laugh at that.

"Why is it you all fly with him, then?" Simon asked with genuine curiosity.

"Who wants to be anywhere else but Serenity?" It was Wash who answered without hesitation.

**

"Might have us a bit of trouble, Mal," Riddick rumbled as he came to a stop to the Captain's left.

"River?"

"The foreman's men are geared with riot suppression, means only one thing."

"Their expectin' on causin' one." Mal finished.

"How you wanna play this?"

Mal went to answer but it was cut off by cries for a speech. "Way it plays out I suppose."

_/Shit goes down, you run./ _ Riddick pushed to River.

River refused to dignify that with a response.

**

"Drop me here." Zoe told Wash and he slowed the ATV to a stop. "Get the cargo secured and get our girl ready to fly, if need be we can meet Inara in atmo."

"Are you expecting trouble?" Simon asked quickly.

"No more than usual, Doc." She grinned at him.

"River's out there." Simon said angrily.

"Don't you worry." Zoe said as she started to walk. "Riddick won't let anything happen to her."

"Why is everyone so sure of that?" Simon asked, more to himself, although Kaylee replied as Wash started the engine again.

"If you ain't noticed, he's gone sweet on her."

"What?" Simon had noticed the attention he paid her but had been living in a state of self-inflicted denial since the other night.

"Ain't a bad thing at all." Kaylee assured him. "First, I thought he was more like to kill her, but you shoulda seen him the other day. Jayne thought somethin' that upset her and Riddick nearly killed him; made him tell what he'd thought." Kaylee choose to leave out what said thoughts were.

"What?" Simon asked in disbelief.

"You sure ask that a lot for a genius, Simon." Kaylee laughed at him. "It's a good thing; ain't no one better to protect your sister from them that's lookin' for her then him. Look at how long he's been on the run, even when they catch 'em, they can't keep 'em. Jayne told me that's why he'd never turn 'im in. He'd be too afraid Riddick get out and come lookin' for 'im. You know somebody's rough iffin' Jayne admits to bein' scared of 'im." Kaylee blushed suddenly. "Don't tell Jayne I told ya that. He don't like people to think he's scared of anything."

"This is what going mad feels like." Simon said in a slight daze. He never thought, in his wildest imaginings, that his sister would wind up attached to a serial killer and it could be considered advantageous.

**

Jayne cleared his throat nervously as he awkwardly shifted his weight. Public speaking ranked right up there with having his eyeballs burned out to him.

"I'm no good with words, don't ever have much use for 'em myself…" He paused as a quiet chuckle moved through the crowd, it bolstered him slightly. "But I want to thank ya'll for bein' here, and for thinking so much of me."

Big Joe began to get nervous. Hessian should have made his appearance by now. His eyes restlessly darted through the crowd as his hand nervously ticked at the bulge behind his tool belt.

"Far as I can see it…" Jayne continued. "You people have been given the shortest end of a stick ever offered a human soul in this crap-heel verse, but you took that end, and… you know, well you took it. Well, that's… I guess that's somethin'." He managed to get out. The weight of their eyes was crushing him. All of these people, well they thought he was something, and he wasn't. He didn't deserve it. He didn't want it.

_/Wasn't half bad./_ Riddick thought to River; he had moved himself back around the crowd and was standing a few feet behind her and to the right.

_/He's breaking./_

_ /What?/_

_ /He sees./_

_ /Sees what?/ _ Riddick demanded through their minds as his head turned to try and see what Jayne was looking at. It was the ground. He was missing something and he knew it.

_/Look beyond. To see how she sees. Jayne is seeing how she sees now. He is seeing Dao./_

_ /Not making any sense, River-girl, and I really need you to start making sense./_

_ /It's not The Man we have to worry about. It's the man named Jayne./_

"It's done, sir." Zoe said quietly behind Mal.

"Good, let's get the Hell off this rock. It's makin' me itch." He whispered back as he tried to catch Jayne's eye; however his merc's eyes were focused on the statue of himself. "What the Hell is he doing?" Mal muttered.

_/What?/_ Riddick pressed River again. _/Talk to me girl./_

River hadn't heard him. She was listening intently to the turning of Jayne's mind. Resolution was forming, rolling, building, solidifying and becoming set. River saw the only possible outcome.

_/Find the foreman. He shoots to kill./_

Riddick did not question her. He slipped back into the crowd.

Jayne looked at himself. Literally. He glared right back up into the eyes of the man this town thought he was. The sun illuminated the head of the statue; giving the false image a halo. It was a lie, all of it. The man immortalized before him was a righteous man and he was anything but. This man stood tall and proud. Looking into his eyes, Jayne saw one thing above all others; defiance.

"Gorramit!" Jayne finally snapped from his pedestal. "What the Hell's wrong with you people!"

Murmurs of confusion came from the crowd and they looked at one another for an answer. No one had any to give and so they looked back to Jayne.

"You don't sit around and wait for somebody to drop money from the sky! You want somethin', you take it! You don't set a statue of a man who'd sooner sell out his soul for a bag of coin than drop it from the sky! I ain't had no choice! You hear me? Wasn't no other choice!"

"What in the Hell is he doin'?" Mal snapped to Zoe.

"He is becoming the Hero of Canton." Mal and Zoe both jumped at the sound of River's voice behind them.

"What?" Mal demanded. "He's gonna blow the whole thing!"

"They landlocked the ship." River said calmly.

"What?" This time the demand came from both Zoe and Mal.

"Do not worry, the painted lady is more than a decoration." She paused but quickly added, "Repetition is irksome." She knew full well what they were both about to repeat. "Do not wait for the smoke to clear; when she moves, they move." River instructed as she took one of their hands in each of hers. "Sshhhh." She shushed their protests before they could be spoken. "It is worth listening to."

"You don't wait to riot 'til they pull down a statue of some _hun dan_ (bastard) gun! Look at yourselves! Waitin' for a hero is a long wait that don't come! You want more, you take it! Ya'll livin' like dogs takin' scraps from the table!"

The crowd was growing increasingly restless; with every word from Jayne their anger grew a bit more. Meadow's face changed from admiration to outrage as he listened to the words of his hero. Hadn't he said it himself? If the Mudders were together on a thing, there were too many of them to be stopped.

"Big Magistrate on the hill is eatin' off golden plates; you're down diggin' in the pits workin' for crusts and gruel!" Jayne roared at the crowd. "How many of yer are hungry right now?" He was answered by a chorus of angry yells. "Well, what the Hell are yer waitin' for? Ain't got a box of money to drop on yer heads this time and, if I did, I wouldn't!"

Jayne could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He looked up at himself once more and, with a yell, he shoved down the ceramic statue. The head broke free from it's body and rolled to a stop at Meadow's feet. Its eyes bored into the young man's mind.

"Ain't a gorram hero!" Jayne shouted at them. "Ain't here to save ya!"

"He's right!" Meadow stepped away from the crowd to yell. "What are we doing?! Look at us! Ain't no better than slaves, none of us! And we let 'em do it! We don't say nothin'. We keep swallowin' it with a smile. I'm done smilin'! I'm done begging for scraps!"

The crowd began to yell; a few risked enough to toss large stones into the pack of overseers. For the first time, they looked down at their picks and shovels and saw something more.

Big Joe didn't like where this was headed. Hessian must have gone back on the deal. He'd told Higgins the man couldn't be trusted. The crowd was fixing to riot. It was time to nip this in the bud like they should have the minute Cobb had landed. He lowered his goggles to signal to his men.

Riddick's body tensed as he watched the foreman lower his goggles. The other men noticing it lower theirs as well. A shiv appeared in his hand and, as three smoke canisters flew into the air, Riddick was moving. Time seemed to slow as several things happened in the next few minutes; all occurring simultaneously. Jayne's ears had caught the hiss of a smoke bomb and his head jerked up and around to catch a glint of sunlight off one of the silver canisters as it flew through the air.

He whirled around to trace its source just in time to see the foreman level a gun. Riddick grabbed the man by the throat with one hand and dragged a shiv across it with the other. The gun had time to fire. Three more smoke canisters spewed and, as the smoke closed in around her, River jerked Mal and Zoe into motion; leading them through the panicking mob. The bullet fired had been aimed for Jayne's heart. Riddick had jerked the man's body and subsequently his gun arm as well. When the trigger was pulled it had been aimed elsewhere.

Jayne dove for Meadow, there was no thought to the reaction, in that boy's face he had seen Matty. The bullet ripped through the muscle of his arm and, as their bodies hit dirt, time seemed to slam into itself.

"_Liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi _(stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey)!" Jayne swore as pain rippled through his arm.

"You saved me! Jayne, you saved my life!" Meadow informed him, in case the bullet wound was not apparent enough.

"Stay the Hell down!" Jayne snapped at him. "Kaylee's gonna kill me." He groaned, looking down at his arm. Around him, the smoke had thickened despite the breeze. He couldn't see more than a foot in front of his face. He did the best to cover his mouth and nose with his good arm to keep from choking on the smoke.

"You saved me." Meadow repeated himself; the shock of his near death experience addling his mind.

"Just don't go building 'nother ruttin' statue over it, boy!" Jayne grunted as he tried to inspect his arm. He couldn't see shit in the smoke. He could however hear quite clearly.

"You goddamn idiot."

"Riddick?" Jayne twisted his head around.

Riddick reached down and pulled Jayne up. "Time ta get the hell off this rock."

"A-fucking-men." Jayne groaned.

"Hey wait! You're just gonna leave us?" Meadow said suddenly.

"Told you kid, ain't a hero." Jayne said gruffly. "You want somethin', get it for yer damn self." He turned his back on the boy. "Can you see through this shit?" He asked Riddick trying to wipe the burning from his eyes.

"Don't need to see." Riddick smirked as he inhaled deeply. "Follow me."

**

River was waiting impatiently with Kaylee at her side as the two men came into the view of the ramp. She was a bit annoyed she had gone through the trouble of stopping Jayne from getting shot only to have him throw himself in front of the bullet.

"It is entirely his fault." She said pointedly to Kaylee.

"What is?" Kaylee asked squinting.

"His arm. He did it to himself." She huffed indignantly.

"He got himself shot?" Kaylee asked incredulously. The answer to her question was evident as the man stepped onto the ramp. Jayne was doing his best to hide his arm.

"All on." Riddick said into the comm as he closed the ramp door.

"Jayne Cobb!" Kaylee yelled at him."What did I tell you 'bout getting' yourself shot?"

"River was supposed to warn me!" Jayne tried to deflect the blame as Kaylee smacked him in his chest.

"She cannot stop him when he insists on purposely diving into the trajectory." River huffed as Riddick's chest rumbled with poorly concealed amusement.

"Kid woulda gotten hit!" Jayne defended.

"It would not have been mortal." River retorted, for she had allowed for that in her calculations. "He must still refrain from referring to her as Crazy. She kept up her end of the deal."

"You jumped in front of a bullet for somebody?" Kaylee asked, her tone softening.

"That boy Meadow." Jayne grunted and, still in defensive mode as he was, was wholly unprepared for the kiss Kaylee planted on him. "What was that for?" He asked. "Not complainin' but thought you was mad."

"The kiss was 'cause the Hero of Canton deserved it." She smirked at him. "Now come on, you're bleedin' all over the floor ,and I got to get to the engine room so's we can get off this rock."

"She will go." River volunteered.

"Thanks, Riv." Kaylee smiled at her gratefully as she tugged Jayne off into the direction of the infirmary.

**

Wash was swearing on the bridge as his hands flew across the controls. "Anybody in that engine room?" He snapped over the comm.

"She is present." River's voice chimed pleasantly back.

"Yeah, well, how about some power?"

"Wait for the green light." River scolded.

Wash's confusion lasted only a second before the main flight monitor suddenly flashed red. The words LAND-LOCK flashing across it in ominously large letters.

"No, no, no! _Gao yang zhong de gu yang_ (motherless goat of motherless goats)! Don't you do this to me."

"Is there a problem?" Inara asked as she calmly entered the bridge.

"Problem?" Wash cackled in a slightly unhinged fashion. "Is there a problem, you say?!" He swore again as he beat his fists against the console. "Why would you…." Suddenly the land-lock warning disappeared and was replaced by a flashing green launch approval. "No… no problem." He said in bewilderment as he fired up the thrusters.

Serenity rumbled beneath their feet and a moment later they were airborne; headed once more for the safety of the big, beautiful black.

**

"You did what?" The elder Higgins roared at his son who sat calmly in front of him.

Fess removed his glasses and polished the lenses. He smiled easily at his father as he spoke. "I sent an override to Port Control."

"I oughta tear that smile off your ungrateful head!" The Magistrate snarled as he came around his desk. "How dare you defy me you…you…!" He sputtered incoherently in his rage.

"You wanted to make a man out of me father. I guess it worked."

**

"How is it you manage to get shot on a moon where there are no guns?" Simon asked Jayne with more than a little condescension in his voice.

"Shut it, Doc." Jayne grunted as he leaned back on the table. "Just stitch me up, ain't lookin' for conversation."

"Jayne be nice." Kaylee scolded. "His sister saved your life, lest you can do is be nice to him."

"What do you mean River saved his life?" Simon asked, a bit astonished.

"She said she set it up for Jayne not to get shot. He jumped in front of the bullet so's somebody else wouldn't get shot."

"Ain't no provin' she saved me." Jayne argued indignantly.

"Shut it, Cobb." Kaylee smacked his good arm. "Be grateful, I am."

Simon tuned out the bickering of the couple as he plucked the bullet fragments from Jayne's arm. His sister had saved him? He wasn't quite sure how to digest the information. It went against all of the assumptions he'd made in terms of her sanity and ability to function on her own. Not to mention, if it was true, there was no way he'd be able to stop Mal from taking her on other jobs. Working jobs meant more time away from him and, undoubtedly, more time paired with Riddick.

He dropped the last of the fragments into the metal pan and began to thread the needle. Kaylee and Jayne were still arguing back and forth so his presence was required only superficially and he was glad for it. He couldn't decide if River working upset him more because of the obvious dangers inherent with criminal activity or because she would be spending even more time with Riddick. The Shepherd's words to him echoed in his head. They were the only reason he had to think about the answer at all.

**

"Thinking of makin' River a permanent addition." Mal informed Zoe and Wash as he stepped onto the bridge.

"Won't hear an argument from me. Coulda been a lot worse if she wasn't there." Zoe agreed.

"Coulda been worse, too, even if she was there. Not to be the voice of reason when it comes to adding a psychic to the crew, but her brother had a point last night." Wash said as swung around in his chair.

"Thought 'bout that too," Mal replied as he ran a hand through his hair. "We keep a close watch on her, keep her weaponless, keep her paired with Riddick."

"Who woulda thought the killer and the psychic?" Zoe smirked. "Should work a fair bit to our advantage, keepin' one step ahead."

"Who woulda thought my pilot and my first mate? Or Jayne and Kaylee?" Mal snorted. "Seems this boat is Hell bent on disobeying orders over onboard romances."

Both Wash and Zoe decided through some silent form of communication known only to married couples not to remark on the obvious tension between their Captain and the Companion renting their shuttle. "Her brother's not gonna be happy 'bout this." Zoe pointed out the next obvious.

"Riddick's not my concern." Mal said absently as he dropped into the copilot's chair.

"Not talkin' 'bout him, talkin' 'bout his sister workin'."

"He'll get over it." Mal shrugged. "He can puff and preen all he wants but bottom line is River wants to work. She's a grown woman and the choice is hers. 'Sides, might be good for her; give her a purpose, might not have time for crazy if we keep her busy enough. We wave Bernoulli yet?"

"Yes, sir." Zoe answered. "He's a bit ruffled we'll be a day or so behind schedule. Ain't much in the way that can be done about it though."

"We got the fuel for a full burn?" Mal asked Wash.

"If you're feelin' lucky." Wash joked.

"Ya know what? Today I am." He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up the console. "Think our luck just might be changin'."

"Is that optimism I hear, Captain?" Wash arched an eyebrow.

"Husband, I believe it is, alert the crew." Zoe chuckled with feigned disbelief.

"_Bi _zu (shut up)." Mal grinned at them. "Captain's allowed to have a good day."

"We incited a riot and a worker revolution on a Company moon." Wash pointed out.

"Like I said Wash, it's been a good day."

**

"Got grease on your nose." Riddick said with a smirk as he leaned against the door frame of the engine room.

"It cannot be helped." River shrugged as she wiped her hands on her skirt.

"What's running through Mal's head?" He asked, curious as to how the Captain had digested the day's events.

"He plans to keep her working, thinks he can keep the crazy away by giving her purpose. Thinks she is useful. Thinks in orange and yellow."

"Good." Riddick grunted. "We headed straight for Beaumonde?"

"Full burn." River nodded.

"How long?"

"Travel or stay?" River questioned, feeling a reflexive twinge of annoyance that she needed him to clarify at all.

"Stay."

"One to complete the job, an additional three for Inara's business which will require we remain within range. The Captain plans to seek employment. If he can find nothing he will head to Greenleaf as it is the within direct line of the journey to Haven. He has promised the destination, just not the date to the Preacher."

"So four days on Beaumonde?"

"Correct."

_/I'll be sending Andre a wave then./_ Riddick switched to their mind-speak to avoid being overheard.

River set down her wrench and looked at Riddick. _/She does not wish to be made to kill. You ask too much./_

_ /Not looking for that kind of work./_

_ /He's lying./_

_ /Thought you couldn't read me./_ Riddick shifted his stance from relaxed to alert.

_/She doesn't have to. Your reaction supplied the answer./_

_ /You were bluffing?/_ A half-smirk formed on his face.

_/She must use what she can./_ River shrugged as she picked up a coil of wire and began to strip back the plastic coating.

_/Seem awfully sane./_

_ /As he has argued, she is not crazy, just confused./_

_ /And right now?/_

_ /There is an acceptable level of clarity. Purpose brings focus. He is, however, changing the subject. She will not kill again. Seventeen is enough. Blood doesn't wash off. She altered the course by ending The German. People are dying./_

_ /Nobody died, except The German./_

_ /Ours did not die. They are dying down below, the ones we left behind./_

_ /Not our problem./_

_ /She can hear them screaming./_

_ /How's that even possible?/_ He audibly snorted._ /We're already several million miles away./_

_ /Death echoes. Energy does not die, it simply goes elsewhere. The River carries The Flow. The dead return to The Flow. /_

_ /That how you knew what happened on that wreck?/_

_ /She doesn't wish to speak about that place./ _ River visibly shuddered. _/__**They**__ were too close./_

_ /Mean the Alliance? 'Course they were, they were crawling all over the gorram ship./_

_ /Two by two, the Hands of Blue./ _ River's hand trembled slightly as she named them.

_/You feel 'em now?/_ Riddick asked as he knelt down in front of her.

_/She doesn't know. She can feel someone looking, but they are always looking. They find the scraps we leave behind./ _ River tried to ignore the rise in her heartbeat and the sudden heat that washed through her body at his proximity.

_/Andre had a friend, weird little guy that called himself Mr. Universe, when I wave Andre I'll ask him to get in contact. He's some kind of hacker; from what Andre's told me he's the best. Wouldn't hurt to see what the chatter is. If there is any about the both of us. Riddick's coming back from the dead. be nice to know which mercs won the bids./ _ He absently reached over and picked up a piece of her hair as he spoke; savoring the changes in her body which she could not hide from him. He carefully repressed the smug smirk which he felt internally from spreading across his features. After a moment of quiet between them, he forced himself to tuck the strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers dawdled along her cheek for a moment before he rose and turned to exit the engine room.

He had already decided he wouldn't rush anything with her. He wanted her completely, not just the pieces she managed to string together at the time. He was a very patient man. Denying himself now would only make it more gratifying in the end. When she was ready she would come to him and then he would never let her go again.

_ /He is still changing the subject./ _ River thought at him. She had pulled it out of air after the shock of his calloused fingers against her cheek had worn off. It wasn't what she had wanted to say, she wasn't sure what she wanted to say, but she knew she didn't want him to leave her company.

_/I won't make you kill, River, I won't be a Taker./_ Riddick used the term purposely. _/But if the time comes, I gotta know you're with me./ _ He thought, turning back around. _/I gotta know you'll come after my ass, just like I do yours./_

_ /She will./_ River said as she held his gaze and without a moment's hesitation. She knew it with everything she was; so long as there was breath in her body, no matter how far she had drifted. _/This is Dao./_

* * *

**Endnote: Whew, these episodes just keep getting longer and longer don't they? A point I want to elaborate on that I couldn't fit into the story as direct dialogue or as narration but I hope came through as implied or at least was able to give you the drift.**

**River obviously is not a Furyan, even if Riddick was not an Alpha it would place her below Riddick to Shirah. Shirah's silence is the result of this. Though River and Riddick are dancing around it Shirah has accepted River as Riddick's mate and will not speak to her without Riddick's consent (her fate lies entirely with you) unfortunately River has not unplugged from Riddick long enough for Shirah to communicate this to Riddick, as River has accurately guessed being plugged into Riddick as she is she would be taken along for the ride the next time Shirah calls him. She will eventually get sick of waiting, but that is for another Interlude.**

**Hope ya'll enjoyed. TIl After Now.**


	35. I:7 Broken Bits, Boredom, & Blue Hands

**A/N:I have recently discovered a wonderful bit of Epic Firefly achievement: it's called The Verse in Numbers and is the result of absolute painstaking flawlessness on the part of J. Chris Bourdier. It is the most comprehensive attempt to make sense of all the contradictory information given by Whedon and writers. I applaud and bow before this man. If you want to check it out for yourself the link to the free adobe pdf is**

**http : // www . quantummechanix . com / The _ Verse _ in _ Numbers _ v 1 . 1 . pdf**

**You know the drill, just take out the spaces, I will be referencing this work from now on as it applies to the location of planets and their moons, the timeline is pretty much out for me, but will be used in future stories aside from the ones I have running now.**

**I apologize a hundred thousand times for the length of time it took for this to get published. Real life called and I was unable to avoid it.**

**TO: sxevlbtch, CGandJaz, serenitie1, SusanMarieS, Rachet, Oppenheimer, librarywitch, Darkdreamer1982, Elliesmeow, Dericof Diname, ArtLightLove, Hidden Relevance, Hotagainstthewall, ZenRyu, Sabrina1204, and DorySquishy**

**I seriously do not deserve your praise. You guys rock.**

**Sabrina1204, my dear you have reviewed every single update I've _ever_ posted. :D I can not express the depth of my gratitude, I think I've mentioned it before but you are fabulousness defined.**

**Check out the link to ArtLightLove's graphic for The Firefly Chronicles on my profile. Your tribute humbles me and you saved this Interlude. :D**

**Once more I bow before my beta Thug-4-less, you can all thank him for the for the spar. :D Seriously though, this story is better because of you. Thank you.**

**Okay... So now I'm shutting up. Enjoy...Oh yeah, none of it belongs to me. *sighs***

*T*F*C*

**_Comm Link Station 1- Orbital Link_**

**_Red Sun System_**

"Nine." Twelve called as an odd twisting of his lips turned up the edges of his mouth; it could not directly be called a smile but it was a valiant interpretation of one.

"Yes, Twelve?" His counterpart replied without so much as looking up from the array of holographic screens before him.

"Our red-haired associate has received another signal request."

"Another of the more than twenty dozen or so he has received already?" Nine asked, disinterestedly.

"This one may serve a particular interest." Twelve remarked, as he enlarged a screen from the upper right-hand corner of his set and dragged it into central focus. A 3-D frequency wave lit up in electric blue and, with a flick of his wrist, the screen rotated and expanded.

Nine paused in his own investigation to reach across the console; he pinched the corner of the image and dragged a replicate of it into center focus in his set. "What am I looking at?"

"This particular signal has eleven different points of origin; our deceased associate's one of seven destinations." Twelve brought up a series of seven smaller windows beneath the main image. "These,-" he highlighted all but the second from the left, "-are coordinates for astrological anomalies."

"And the origins?" Nine asked, thoroughly interested now.

"Are, unfortunately, much better plotted." Twelve admitted reluctantly. "It will take time. The signal itself is embedded and being filtered through several private commercial channels. He is clever."

"The signal has been terminated." The corners of Nine's mouth turned down nearly imperceptibly as the frequency wave on display before him died.

"It is of little consequence. I have recorded what was transmitted." Twelve assured him.

*T*F*C*

_**Kalidasa System**_

_**Beaumonde**_

"Come on, baby; talk to me." Kaylee muttered to herself as she tore open the press regulator. Serenity obliged her angrily as sparks erupted above her head. "_Gou neong yung de, qiang bao hou-zi de, wuh de ma,_ (son of a bitch, monkey raping mother of God)!" She swore viciously. "Riv, need you to amp them hydraulics!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Rerouting power through auxiliaries; stand by for charge." River answered the mechanic as her fingers flew across a control panel.

"Core Overload Imminent Core Overload Imminent...." Serenity scolded first in English and then again in Mandarin.

"Heard you the first time!" Kaylee growled back.

*T*F*C*

"Kaylee!" Mal barked through the comm. over several dozen screaming alarms on the bridge as the ship shuddered violently.

"We're shiny, Cap!" Her perky voice snapped back.

"Yeah, that ain't what my pilot's tellin' me. He's sayin' we're all gonna die. All burnin' and fiery like, too." Mal retorted as he grabbed a hold of an overhead console to steady himself.

There was a moment of silence on the end of the line, which was broken by a sudden stream of incoherent Mandarin, before Kaylee shot back over the comm. "River says he's bein' dramatic; ain't but an eighty-seven percent chance we're gonna die."

"Kaylee, don't you dare crash my ship! You hear me?!" Mal practically screeched again. "Get me some gorraam power!"

"I wouldn't worry about a thing, Captain," Wash said with a slightly manic chuckle. "Whoa!" He refocused his attention back to the controls. "Either they'll get me power or we'll die screaming. Either way, we'll be landing."

"Just get us on the ground." Mal growled out as he stormed off the bridge.

"Oh, that I can guarantee! How many pieces, that's the questionable part!"

*T*F*C*

"Got a ten-piece that says we lose main thrusters." Riddick offered, looking up as he tightened the gun holster on his thigh.

"Nope, feel that?" Jayne asked as the ship shuddered again. "That's a choke in the A-line." He informed him as he slammed a full cartridge into his LeMat. "She's been shudderin' like clockwork."

"Both wrong," Zoe smirked as she grabbed a hold of the doorframe when Serenity took another hard lurch to port. "That's a vent failure."

"You got the bit to back up that theory?" Riddick challenged.

"The Hell she does!" Mal bellowed as he crossed into the mess. "Tell me ya'll ain't bettin' on what ruttin' part's gonna fall off our ship next?"

"That would just be lying then, Mal," Riddick dead-panned as he adjusted the shiv in his boot and watched as Zoe flipped a coin out with her right hand and caught it with her left; behind her captain's back.

"Just tryin' to take the edge off inevitable doom." Jayne snorted.

"We ain't crashin'." Mal snapped, a bit heatedly as he grabbed a hold of the counter to keep from being thrown to the ground. "Least I think not." The ship shuddered again. "I hope not." They lurched violently to starboard. "Zoe, gorramit it, get on that bridge and give that husband of yours some incentive to keep us flyin'!"

"I'll do my best, sir." She smirked.

"See that you make it real convincing like too; feminine wiles and such," Mal suggested with a small smile. "And Jayne, ain't no need for Vera, you know she makes Bernoulli nervous."

"Aww; Hell, Mal that's the whole point. Men we're doin' business with aught to be nervous." Jayne chuckled darkly. "Make sure they don't go all Badger-like on us."

"I would think the four other guns you got strapped to your body would do the trick."

"Yeah, well, I just like to have my options; leave no room for doubt." Jayne shrugged.

"Jayne, Vera stays. Ain't expectin' a gunfight." Mal ordered with finality.

Both Riddick and Jayne snorted in near perfect unison.

*T*F*C*

"Opening port and starboard emergency vents!" River yelled over the scream of the alarms. "Manual thruster shut down in three, two, one... " She slammed down the center lever and yanked up the leftmost. Serenity shuddered violently and lurched hard to starboard.

_/ I got a ten piece on the thrusters. /_ River heard Riddick think at her.

_/ Kuai qu hen yuan de di fang _(go away, very far, very fast)! / She thought back harshly as she ripped a panel open and patched the core regulator directly to the auxiliary hydraulics.

"Thrusters! Thrusters! Thrusters!?" Wash's manic yell blared over the comm. and managed to drown out the combined shrieking of the emergency sensors.

The frantic pilot was duly ignored by the two women in the engine room; who each grabbed a side of the turbine crank and threw their combined weight against it. The resounding thud of the shifting gear echoed above the alarms as Kaylee dove for the aft alternator and threw it into reverse; rebooting the main thrusters and forcing power through the A-line and into the press regulator. The massive turbine kicked off for one heart stopping moment before whirring back to life. Serenity gave a final shudder as if she was resettling into her own skin, the shrieking alarms silenced, and Kaylee and River exchanged slightly hysterical giggles.

"Well, we fried the A-line." Kaylee groaned as she tossed down her socket wrench.

"The catalyzer is wheezing." River informed her as she attempted to huff a strand of hair from her face.

"Well, we ain't dead." Kaylee offered optimistically. "That's something."

River didn't appear nearly as impressed. "Mother is aching." She said ominously; but it was the best answer she had to give.

"I know she is." Kaylee said softly as she gently ran her fingers along the metal. "Just a bit longer, girl, and I promise I'll make it right."

*T*F*C*

"See, Mal?" Wash said cheekily as Serenity coasted through the blue skies above Beaumonde. Technically they weren't blue, there was a bit of a smog issue on Beaumonde, but they were blue if you squinted. "Told you we'd be fine."

"I believed the phrasing you used was, 'We're going to die screaming.'" The captain dead-panned.

"Tomato, tomatoe." Wash shrugged as he reached for the comm. "This is your pilot speaking." He announced over the ship-wide. "I am pleased to inform you that the fiery explosion previously scheduled as inevitable and unavoidable has once again been expertly postponed. Your flight crew would like to announce their superiority and their non-aversion to material tokens of gratitude that will be all."

"We got the location for drop-off yet?" Mal turned to his first mate; choosing to ignore his pilot and the several remarks that were practically jumping off his tongue.

"That we do, sir." Zoe nodded, mapping it out for him on a smaller cortex screen as _Serenity _gave one final lurch when Dock Control took over their landing. "Warehouse District Five; east side of Central Docking."

"_Serenity_, this is Shuttle One requesting green for breakaway." Inara's voice filtered through the comm.

"Shuttle One, you are green for disembark." Wash flicked several switches. "Three, two, one clear. See you in a few days."

"Try not to let the Captain get you into too much trouble." Her amused voice came back.

"She does know I'm standing right here, right?" Mal snorted.

"More than likely, sir." Zoe pressed her lips together to bite back an amused grin at her captain's expense.

"Least, now that she's gone, we can be criminals." He grumbled. "Wash, while we're gone, you get on the horn and find out iffin' we can't hook up with Mathis or Rueben; or try Peter and his boys."

"Didn't Peter shoot you?" Wash asked skeptically as he leaned back in his chair with a yawn.

"No, he shot _**at**_ us; nobody got hit." Mal defended. "And we deserved it that time."

"We, sir?" Zoe arched a brow.

"Thought we learned our lesson over second chances and gunfights?" Wash asked as he swivelled around fully.

"Fine! Try Chio Jion, or Hendricks then." Mal called over his shoulder as he turned to head down to the engine room. "Anything that pays cashy money and gets us back here in time to pick up the Ambassador. Zoe, I wanna be ready to hit dirt soon as I figure what the Hell them girls are doin' to my engine."

"Yes, sir." Zoe nodded. She waited until he was out of earshot before adding to her husband. "Skip Hendricks. Jayne's lookin' for a reason to shoot that man."

"Who's Jayne not lookin' for a reason to shoot?" Wash inquired as he rolled his eyes.

*T*F*C*

"Push." River said absently as she sorted through a pile of scrap wires.

"Huh?" Kaylee looked up, confused, from her tool box.

"Means we were all wrong." Riddick scowled from the doorway as he and Jayne entered.

"'Bout what?"

"What fell off your girl this time." Jayne answered as he tossed himself down onto her hammock.

"You're betting on how hurt _Serenity _is?" Kaylee asked, affronted.

Riddick shrugged as he leaned against the wall.

"You weren't wrong." River corrected him as she rose from her wires muttering to herself.

"Thought it was a push?" Jayne asked confused. "How was he right?"

"All three bets were correct." She clarified.

"You're tellin' me the thrusters, the A-line, and the vents all went?" Jayne looked a bit incredulous. "How the Hell did that happen?"

"Along with the Pert-line and damn near everything else." Kaylee shook her head in disgust as she pulled off a piece of casing. "All goes back to this itty part right here." She pointed to the catalyzer on the compression coil. "We got two of those pieces, one for port and one for starboard, this here is the port, and she's what's ailing us now."

"Don't seem like much of anything." Jayne's face scrunched slightly as he leaned over to see what she was pointing out. "How's it cause so much trouble?"

"She could explain, but she would require assorted visual aids that she does not have time to aquire in order to make him understand." River called over her shoulder as she dug viciously through a pile of spare bits in the corner of the engine room.

"River, honey, you lookin' for something?" Kaylee asked as she dodged a discarded length of pipe River tossed over her shoulder.

"Perhaps." She answered in a dismissive tone.

"It's like the stop-tension spring on your LeMat. Bit part, but it busts " Riddick shrugged.

Jayne's face lit with understanding. "See? Wasn't so hard." He muttered a bit indignantly to himself.

"What in the sphincter of Hell happened in here?" Mal yelled as he stepped into the engine room.

"Space monkeys, Cap'n." Kaylee replied mockingly. "What do you expect? I been tellin' ya for months we need that new catalyzer for the compression coil. This-," she gestured wildly around the room at bundles of wires which hung like streamers, sparking occasionally amidst open panels and twisted pieces of salvaged metal and parts, "-is what happens when I ain't got the parts I need. I make do."

"You want parts? Well then why's my entire crew standin' around like there ain't a job to be done?!" He snapped right back. "Can you get me back into the Black?"

"Bad side of four hours?" Kaylee guessed with a half-hearted shrug.

Mal was going to tell her she had two but a sudden explosion of sparks, which caused every crew member present to reflexively duck for cover, had him rethinking the issue of rushing the needed repairs."Well fine then." He relented begrudgingly. "I'll be holdin' ya to it if need be. You want that part; I need one more job outta the old. Get me back in the Black. Just one more job."

"Askin' a lot, Cap." Kaylee grumbled as she dug for a socket wrench.

"_Bu de bu_ (no choice). I see your lips talkin' but I don't see your hands movin', girl. Get me ready to fly." He barked. "And you two-" he turned on Jayne and Riddick, "-that cargo ain't gonna load itself."

"Yeah, yeah." Jayne grumbled as he pulled himself out of the hammock. "Don't blow up while we're gone, Kaylee-girl." He smirked at her as he went to follow Mal out.

Riddick hadn't really been paying attention to Mal's rant and subsequently paid even less attention to the order to start loading up cargo. River's preoccupation with whatever it was she was searching for was the sole focus of his interest right now.

_/ Something I should know about? /_ He asked her as Kaylee's head and upper body disappeared into a cluster of pipes.

_/ Should he know? She doesn't know? Something__ he needs... something__ she needs... something...__ what is a something? How should she know? Why is it some, thing? Some implies plural, thing is singularity. What is a thing with no name? A plural singularity? It doesn't make sense. /_

_/ Sounding awfully crazy right about now. /_

_/ Does he want her help or not? /_ She paused in her search long enough to whirl on him with a glare and he couldn't help the small choked chuckle that escaped him.

_/ Always, girl. /_ He thought back with an imperceptible quirk of his lips and her glare wilted slightly. _/ Just ain't got time for you to go on and on. So, if you got a point, I'm all ears. Otherwise, you heard Mal. Got money to be made. /_

_/ He is ungrateful. /_ She audibly snorted before crossing the room, she reached between two units and plucked a bolt almost the size of her fist off the grating. _/He will need this./_

Riddick raised a skeptical eyebrow._ / You sure? /_ He didn't bother to hide his barking laugh as she hurled said bolt at his head which he caught it easily.

*T*F*C*

"Went smooth." Mal said with a satisfied smirk as he hopped back aboard the ATV. "Told you there wasn't goin' be no shootin'."

"For once." Jayne grunted as he climbed aboard the trailer.

"Didn't get another job out of him though." Riddick added begrudgingly. Bernoulli's "office" had smelt like a combination of sewage and rancid rat. It would be days before he could get the smell out of his nostrils.

"We got coin enough now to get us fueled back up and into the Black; provided the girls haven't torn apart my gorram engine." Mal dismissed the complaints of his mercs. "We'll find work."

Zoe fired up the vehicle's engine. "Worse case, we can run out to Hastur; ain't but a few hours out."

"We got time for a drink?" Jayne asked hopefully. "Be a few hours 'fore them girls get the engine runnin' again anyhow."

"Fine idea." Mal agreed; cheered considerably by the new weight in his pockets. "Feelin' a bit thirsty myself."

"Maidenhead?" Zoe suggested as she guided the ATV through the warehouse district gates and into the horde of people shoving their way through the lower bazaar. She had to raise her voice slightly over the immediate crush of people and languages which swarmed them on the main streets. "We could talk to the Ugly Twins face to face. Mayhap they got somethin'."

"That's iffin' we can get through this mess. _Kwai jio kai_ (Get lost)!" Mal snapped at a vendor.

"Hell no." Jayne complained. "They got that damn gun check."

"_Si pi yan_ _jiu _(move, damned asshole)!" Zoe swore as she laid on the ATV's horn. "That's cause Faulk and his crew shot up their bar a year ago."

"Damn shame they missed." Jayne snorted.

"Fanty and Mingo are solid." Mal argued. "Hell the gun check means we won't got shot at either."

*T*F*C*

"Kalidasa." Twelve announced suddenly. "All eleven points of origin can be traced back to the Kalidasa System."

"He's pinging his signal through their shipping channels?" Nine question.

"He is cleverer than we assumed."

"He is ill-educated, not unintelligent; we must remember the two are not directly related."

"You are quite right." Twelve conceded.

"I will set the course. Link with military satellites and begin scanning docking records for all worlds in the system with populations greater than one million; cross reference with possible point of origins and docking records confiscated on Tyrus."

"We are several days out, interception is unlikely."

"Not improbable. First priority is to locate and identify their ship. Should they leave the system prior to our arrival, we will be able to track their trajectory through the Nav. Sat."

"Provided we are able to identify their ship."

"Provided." Nine concede.

"We should request help from The Company branch on Beaumonde." Twelve advised.

"Need I remind you of the consequences of failure?" Nine asked.

"We will inform no one." Twelve corrected.

"No one." Nine agreed.

*T*F*C*

Riddick stepped into the Maidenhead and almost reflexively recoiled from the stink of hash and curry. "You go anywhere that doesn't stink like shit?" He bitched as he checked his guns at the door locker.

"Suppose that says somethin' 'bout us?" Mal smirked as he tucked his keycard into his shirt pocket.

"You really want me to answer that?" Riddick asked as he scanned the bar from the entry way catwalk; much like most of the Central Docking city, the Maidenhead had retreated underground and the walls, constituted of roughly carved rock, were covered almost entirely by large, out-of-date cortex screens. All of the monitors produced an nearly ear bleeding electrical hum that Riddick found particularly annoying. A few women danced lethargically on platforms with large silk fans. They served the dual purpose of entertainment while attempting to clear the lower bar of the copious amounts of sickly sweet smoke. They were doing shit jobs of both. Riddick could taste the hash smoke in the back of his throat; rancid vegetables, the real cheap shit, and probably dyed with henna to make it look richer. There wasn't a single thing about the bar which wasn't offensive to one of his senses.

"Nope, that would be one of those rhetorical questions." Mal grinned as he passed him and headed down the winding metal staircase at the edge of the walkway.

"The house Akra makes up for the stink at least." Jayne offered. "Two of those and you stop noticin' it."

"Not fucking likely." Riddick half-growled.

*T*F*C*

"He's sad." River observed solemnly as she eyed the red plastic dinosaur who watched her warily from behind the shelter of a grove of plastic palms.

"What do you mean, 'he's sad?'" Wash asked as he regarded his T-Rex quite possibly more closely than he ever had before.

"Poor, poor creature," She added with a small shake of her head.

"What's wrong with him?" Wash asked again; this time there were traces of genuine concern in his voice.

"He has no name." She answered softly as she examined the placement of a palm tree. Frowning, she moved it three inches to the right before continuing. "Until we name a thing, it remains a thing. You have given it gender, but not name, it is incomplete. He is an object; but not like they think. Yes, he is a T-Rex, but he is more as well. You validate him. You make him real and he whispers to you secrets only you can hear." She informed the pilot as she moved on from palm tree placement to the issue of the singular volcano; which was truly disproportional.

The pilot regarded his red plastic companion; who stared back at him with accusing eyes.

"She's right, you know." Kaylee joined the conversation as she rolled out from beneath the navigational console. "I mean, what would _Serenity _be if she wasn't _Serenity_?" She asked as she sat up. "Any other ship woulda dropped right outta the sky, runnin' as hard as we run our girl."

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet." River quoted absently. "He was wrong though," she frowned. "A name gives us an identity, we experience things through a combination of senses and bioelectrical impulses; a rose called anything else would detach from the beauty of the whole. A Wash is different than a Hoban. A Kaylee is different than a Kaywinnet."

"You know-," Wash said thoughtfully, "-that makes a whole lotta sense, actually."

"She makes sense when you listen." River said as she moved the volcano to a higher placement.

Wash lined up his four dinosaurs along the edge of his console. A red T-Rex, a blue Stegosaurus, a green Triceratops, and a yellow something with a duck bill; he felt worse for his yellow guy, he didn't even have a species, let alone a name.

"Charonosaurus." River informed him as she handed Kaylee a socket wrench she had not yet asked for; she frowned once more at the prehistoric landscape. "It is flawed."

"What's that?" Wash asked curiously, but at the same time only partially interested. He was really beginning to feel the pressure of the whole naming thing. What if their names changed their personalities? Would the T-Rex retain his evil laugh?

"A palm tree is not the size of a volcano." She said miserably as she gave up and puddled onto the floor beside Kaylee.

"Marshall, Frank, Lucy, and Tom." Wash declared proudly, pointing to each one as he moved down the line.

River studied each figure carefully. "They are good names."

"You named the T-Rex Marshall?" Kaylee asked skeptically.

"Yeah, well it's non-threatening you know? That's how the leaf-eaters accepted him into their herd, except he will betray them."

"It is inevitable." River nodded sagely. "He cannot help his nature."

"It doesn't make him a bad dinosaur; he's actually a pretty decent guy by T-Rex standards." Wash continued.

Kaylee giggled, "Okay what about Lucy?"

Wash picked up the green Triceratops. "She's a stubborn old gal. She never trusted Marshall from the beginning but nobody listened."

"They never do," River shook her head in sympathy.

"And Frank?" Kaylee pressed eagerly.

"Well, actually it's Franklin Theodore, but Frank's good enough. It's a family name."

"Tom?" Kaylee asked with a grin.

"Well, doesn't he just look like a Tom to you?" Wash held up the duckbilled one; which, up until five minutes ago, had had neither species nor name. Tom had just been the one with the funny head. "He comes from a family of geese jugglers; but sadly his fingers have been fused together after a near fatal eruption from a disproportional volcano."

"It was a terrible tragedy." River agreed.

"Oh terrible, they lost half the flock, and juggling geese are prized possessions. They have to be just the right size; with very specific feathers."

"And they can't be biters," Kaylee added conversationally with a slight giggle.

"Of course they can't." Wash nodded enthusiastically. "It would ruin everything if one suddenly were to bite your hand mid-juggle! You'd drop them all and there's no greater offense you can commit against a juggled goose than to drop him."

"They are very sensitive." River added with a slight smile of her own; unable to help herself as she felt the combined yellows and oranges of her companions seep through her skin.

"And once you offend one, the whole flock protests!" Wash cried with exasperation. "And I'll tell you, trying to buy back a flock of juggling geese's affection and respect is damn near impossible."

"Apples and chocolate," River informed them knowingly. "They are the only truly acceptable forms of material gratitude."

"I don't know about that," Wash objected. "Geese don't have teeth, so they'd just choke."

River's brow furrowed as she considered this. "He makes an excellent and valid point."

"What would you give an offended goose?" Kaylee mulled aloud, the mass of bits and guts which were hanging out of the navigational console were completely abandoned, and the fact that she would need to reassemble them if they were to ever take off again was forgotten under the weight of the issue.

"This is why it's best not to drop them at all," Wash said, breaking the thoughtful silence which had overtaken the bridge.

"Bread?" Kaylee tried. "We used to feed the ducks bits of stale bread at the park back home." Wash's face suddenly lit up and River, unable to contain herself, broke out into a fit of giggles. "What?" Kaylee inquired eagerly.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" He shook his head; silently berating himself.

"What?" Kaylee asked again.

"Why, my dearest mechanic," Wash began, "You'd give them Quackers, of course."

*T*F*C*

"If it isn't Captain Reynolds," A snide and heavily accented voice came from behind the foursome seated at the bar.

"And crew." A second, nearly identical, voice echoed.

Mal's grin faltered for the briefest of seconds before he plastered his slickest salesman smile across his face and turned. Two identical visages greeted him; dark skinned and curly haired, they wore identical suits which varied only in color. Mingo in blue and Fanty in purple.

"Mingo, Fanty." Mal nodded to the blue and purple suits respectively.

"He's Mingo." Blue suit corrected. "I'm Fanty."

"No, your Mingo, he's Fanty." Mal smirked to mask his irritation.

"How do you always know-"

"-even after all this time?" Fanty continued where his brother left off.

"And Zoe," Mingo greeted as the first mate turned.

"Still flyin' on that crap boat of his?"

"A subject of much musin', between me and my brother."

"We go on and on. Your husband turned down our offer."

"Bit of a rub he gave us over it, too."

"You've mentioned it a time or two." Zoe deadpanned.

"Offer always stands." Mingo smirked.

"Always." Fanty assured her.

Riddick hadn't bothered to turn to face the twins; nor did Jayne as they watched the exchange through a reflection in the bar mirror. "Ain't a big surprise there's a gun check. I'm feelin' the need to shoot the two of them myself right about now." Riddick whispered to Jayne; who choked on his sip of beer in reply. "Still got shivs." He added as an afterthought.

"Right then, if you're done tryin' to steal my crew." Mal cut in a bit roughly. "How's about we talk jobs."

"Did ya hear that?"

"That I did! I can hardly believe it myself." Mingo shook his head, clearly amused.

"There somethin' I'm missin', boys?" Mal asked tersely.

"'pparently, you've forgotten we were missing something for near an entire week last time we hired you on." Fanty reminded Mal.

"An entire week." Mingo echoed. "Reflected a bit poorly on our standin' and stature and such."

"Alliance set up a checkpoint, you didn't wanna pay taxes, I wasn't lookin' to sit in a Slam. Cost of doin' business on the wrong side of the law." Mal argued.

"And if I remember, sir-," Zoe interjected evenly, "-they were given an extra ten percent to cover that particular cost."

"As I remember it, they demanded the extra ten percent." Jayne grunted without turning around.

"You missed your deadline," Mingo began.

"We missed ours." Fanty finished. "Sat on that load for near a month 'fore we got a new buyer."

"It happens." Mal gritted out.

"Not to us."

"Not to us."

"Now get out of our bar." They timed together in perfect unison.

Mal took a step closer; leaving less than a handful of inches between him and the men. "Shiny. Smells like shit in here anyways." He smirked and shouldered past.

"Anytime, Zoe." The twins echoed together as she followed on Mal's heel. Their eyes followed her perhaps a bit too closely as she past and, as the twins turned back to regard Reynold's mercs, they found themselves face-to-neck with the two significantly larger men.

"Watch them eyes." Jayne growled.

"Still allow shivs in this joint." Riddick flicked out one of his blades and smirked a bit darkly as he and Jayne shouldered past.

"Barbaric." Fanty said disgustedly as he smoothed down his lapels.

"Wholly." Mingo agreed.

*T*F*C*

"Beaumonde." Nine announced as his fingers flew across a projected keyboard and a listing of all ships currently berthed in Central Docking appeared on a sub-screen to his left. The list of over two thousand ships scrolled rapidly as a second sub-screen appeared to the right of the main and Nine slid several possibilities over to it. "Cross-referencing now." The odd shape of his lips made the smile seem like more of a sneer as he double-clicked on the only ship's name remaining after several minutes past.

Twelve had left his chair for a closer look at his counterpart's screens. "_Serenity_."

Nine raised yet another screen and dialed in a pass code, accessing the security feeds which monitored the yard. "Firefly-class."

"Preferred choice of smugglers." Twelve added.

"How suiting."

"Interception is quite impossible."

"Having them detained only furthers the risk of exposure."

"Quarry R. Riddick has escaped five triple-max security facilities and evaded capture for nearly a decade. The tighter the net, the more likely he will slip through."

"I will tag the ship, we will track them through the Nav. Sat."

"I will pull the ship's file. They could not pilot it themselves. There are others; this is an unfortunate complication."

"They will all need to be silenced."

"There can be no loose ends."

"None."

*T*F*C*

"Well, she'll fly." Kaylee announced with a sigh as she did her best to wipe the grease from her hands. It was not completely lost on her that it was a pointless endeavor.

"She will." River acknowledged, albeit warily she as eyed the pressure meters.

"Just a bit longer, _Serenity_. I know you can do it, girl." Kaylee whispered to the engine as she scanned the equipment one final time. "Since there's two of us now-," the mechanic said as she joined River by the row of dials and eyed them just as warily, "I'm thinkin' we should run a schedule for checks, once we get back up into the Black."

"Hourly." River confirmed.

"Yeah-huh," Kaylee nodded. "Ain't no sleepin' for us 'til she's feelin' a bit better."

*T*F*C*

"Well, that went well." Jayne griped as they piled onboard the ATV to head back to _Serenity_.

"_Lai hong qu yan_ (The goose comes, the swallow goes (idiom))." Mal said with a nonchalant shrug. "We'll find work."

"Yeah, well, I ain't seein' any fat geese layin' around either, Mal." Riddick rumbled as Zoe fired up the engine.

"Ain't anybody can see shit through the smog on Beaumonde." Mal retorted. "_Tian xiao de_ (the name of all that's sacred), get the Hell out of the way!" Mal barked at a street vendor blocking the road. "Zoe, take the gorram low street, we'll never get through this shit."

Zoe veered off to the left and eased the bike around a sharp bend. Jayne and Riddick swore in unison as the trailer's rear tires bounced off a rut. There was a sickening metallic snap and both men were nearly thrown forward as the trailer hitch broke free and the ATV continued forward without them.

"You've got to be rutting kidding me!" Mal shouted as Zoe killed the engine and the foursome circled to inspect the damage.

"Bolt snapped clean off." Jayne grunted as he rose from his crouched position. "Rusted damn near clear through."

"Should have another back on the ship." Zoe offered, once Mal had finished swearing.

Riddick smirked to himself as he shook his head and reached into the pocket of his cargos pulling out the fist sized bolt that had been weighing him down all afternoon. "This do?" He tossed the piece to Jayne.

"Yeah." He snorted. "Why the Hell are you carrying this around?"

"Had one of them feelings." Riddick continued to smirk. Yeah, his girl was all kinds of useful.

*T*F*C*

_Day three without work..._

Riddick killed the power on the Cortex terminal and resisted the urge to tear it off the wall. It was the fifth time in the last three days he'd attempted to wave Andre and he was beginning to get the feeling it was time to quit trying. If the man was still breathing, he should have been chomping at the bit for his wave; a fifteen percent finder's fee wasn't something you walked away from. He leaned back in his chair as he pulled his goggles off in the darkened shuttle; an irritated growl built slowly in his chest as he drummed his fingers along the arm rest.

If Andre wasn't answering, he was going to assume it meant the man was dead. If they'd been looking for him, Andre would have been alive and bait. They were tying up loose ends. They wanted River.

'_They pick up the scraps we leave behind.'_ Andre had been a mistake; the bar on Tyrus an even bigger one. Riddick rubbed his hands roughly across his face before pulling his goggles back on and pushing himself out of the chair. One mistake he was not going to make was informing River.

*T*F*C*

Wash looked up nervously as the bridge lights died for the fifth time in the last two hours. "That can't be a good sign," he remarked uneasily to Frank. "You know what lurks in the dark right?" He quirked his eyebrow at his blue companion. "Quake before... Marshall!" Wash cried in a deep and echoing baritone. "No one escapes him! Mwhahahahaah!" Marshall lunged as a terrified Lucy jumped up and down; squealing in a high-pitched voice, "Oh no! Not Frank! I told you! I told you all! Oh, why does no one listen!"

"Tell me you ain't given 'em names now?" Mal's voice cut through Wash's prehistoric world.

"_Wuh de ma_ (mother of God)!" Wash gave a little yelp as both dinosaurs flew out of his hands in shock. "Um...yes, well " The pilot cleared his throat uncomfortably as he fiddled with a dial. "Readings are good, Captain, just... um... well, doing some piloty things."

"Yeah, I saw." Mal smirked as he dropped himself into the copilot's chair. "We hear back from Chio Jion yet?"

"Yup." Wash said as he abandoned any pretense of working and fumbled in the semi-darkness to rescue Frank from the two units he had gotten himself wedged between.

"And?" Mal asked impatiently.

"He wants a forty cut." Wash grunted as he tried to yank Frank free.

"_Dou haha_ (you're joking)?" Mal scoffed.

"_Bu shi wanr de _(no joke), but that's what I asked them and he cut the wave." Wash smiled triumphantly as he managed to pull Frank free and then frowned as he realized Marshall was nowhere to be seen. "Marshall?" Wash leaned over and squinted into the half-lit aviation deck in front of his console.

"Marshall?" Mal questioned in a bit of disbelief. "You named the T-Rex Marshall?"

Wash let out a little sigh at having to explain the name again. "It unassuming; he's really a decent guy at heart."

Mal quirked an eyebrow. "You do realize he's not actually real, right?" The captain had never thought he'd have to ask the question, but he'd also never thought he'd have a folk hero, an allegedly dead convict, and a psychic on his crew either. He was really hoping he wasn't going to have to add "delusional pilot" to the list. "You ain't just going crazy from bein' stuck dirt-side are ya?"

"You know, River gets me."

"I wouldn't go bragging about that." Mal snorted. "Thank you, Buddha." He moaned as the lights hissed back on.

"Got lights." Zoe said optimistically as she pulled herself up the access ladder. "Whole lot of swearin' comin' from the engine room right now and Jayne just dodged a wrench, so I'd advise ya to keep clear for the time being."

"We green to break atmo?" Mal asked Wash.

"Oh, _Serenity _will fly. Light's have nothin' to do with that. They're tryin' to rewire the secondary systems to scrape up some extra power. "

"Inara's due back by tomorrow. Soon as she docks, I wanna get off this ruttin' rock. Ain't a scrap of work and Jayne's liable to start pickin' folk off if we don't get back into the air soon."

"Least you weren't threatened with disembowelment over the last roll." Wash grumbled, remembering the incident from breakfast. "He didn't even want it, he gave it to River." He sulked as he ducked his head in search of the still missing Marshall.

"Looking for this?" Zoe smirked as she bent to grab the red dinosaur who had rolled behind Mal's chair.

"Marshall!" Wash cried.

"Marshall?"

"Don't ask." Mal groaned.

*T*F*C*

Jayne dropped down from his pull-up grips as the sounds of footsteps echoed over the catwalk above him. "Hey, Riddick, wanna run some cards? Bored as Hell."

"Girls still holed up in the engine room?" Riddick asked in a kind of harsh grunt as he came down the stairs. He'd gotten used to having River's undivided attention and, since they'd landed on Beaumonde, she and Kaylee had been practically living in the engine room. It was being to grate on him; combined with the fact they still hadn't gotten another job and Andre's disappearance, he was in a pretty shitty mood.

"Yup." Jayne groused openly miserable over the fact. "So, you wanna throw down a couple of hands of Harvest or what?"

"Need four for that and I ain't in the mood to look at Core-boy's face." Riddick grunted.

"I could stack the deck; we could take 'im for all he's got." Jayne offered.

"You been stackin' when we play?" Riddick eyed him suspiciously.

"Not hardly," he only half-lied as he realized his mistake immediately.

"You lyin' sack of shit! That's how you pulled that straight fall, ain't it?" Riddick challenged him as he took a step forward. "You owe me two septics and four sets of dishes for that." He growled.

"Whatever." Jayne huffed as he dropped down onto the weight bench.

"You got some balls, Cobb." Riddick smirked. He probably should have been pissed about it, but he had other shit to worry about then Jayne scamming him in a few hands of cards. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't actually even a little impressed that Jayne had managed to pull it off without him catching on. Man wasn't as dumb as he played; it was good to know.

"More than brains, that's for damn sure." Jayne snorted. "You feel like spottin' me?"

"You wanna ask that after you get caught cheating in a game of cards with me?" Riddick asked, revising his opinion that Jayne was smarter than he looked.

"Didn't admit to shit." Jayne countered. "And I'm bored as all gorram Hell. Makes a man itchy when he ain't got nothin' to do but sit around and think 'bout the coin he ain't makin'." Jayne snapped in his defense.

Riddick's eyes crinkled slightly as an idea popped into his head. "Tell you what, Cobb; forget the weights, you feelin' up to a spar?"

Jayne seemed to think it over, "No weapons. I ain't agreeing to shit unless I know you're shiv-less."

"Maybe you ain't as dumb as you look, Cobb." Riddick chuckled. "No shivs, first to five wins. You beat me and we'll just forget about you cheatin' me."

"And iffin' you win?"

Riddick thought it over for a second. "I get to take Vera out on the next job." Jayne visibly balked at that. "I'll give her back; just wanna show her what it feels like to be in a real man's hands." He taunted Jayne; egging him on.

"Fuck you, Riddick." Jayne spat out.

"What, you scared, Cobb?"

"Ain't scared of shit!" Jayne exclaimed in protest as he unbuckled his holster and dropped it on a small crate.

Riddick cracked his neck and pulled out two of his shivs before unclipping his thigh holster.

*T*F*C*

In the engine room River suddenly froze, causing the power driver Kaylee had been handing her to slip through her fingers.

"River?" The mechanic questioned carefully. "This ain't 'bout the damper is it?"

River released a sigh. "The peacocks are strutting." She replied with a bit of exasperation.

"Sorry, honey, you're goin' have to try that again." Kaylee smiled sheepishly.

"They have chosen to engage in the arena."

"One more time." Her face scrunched slightly.

"Jayne and Riddick are sparring."

"Oh, why didn't you sa... " Kaylee's voice trailed off as River's words sunk in. "oh, _gou shi_ (crap)."

"_Gou shi_ (crap) is correct." River affirmed.

"Guess we should find your brother." Kaylee said with a sigh of her own.

*T*F*C*

Book and Simon both looked up from their game of chess in the mess when a loud and more than slightly disconcerting crash came from the stairwell leading down to the bay.

"What on earth?" Book asked as he slowly turned his head in the direction of the stairwell.

*T*F*C*

Jayne rolled with the blow to his temple. Spinning on his heel, he landed a solid shovel-hook to Riddick's ribs as the escaped con straightened. Riddick stumbled back from the blow but blocked the follow up uppercut.

_Man's a boxer._ Riddick had time enough to think. _Stay out of reach._ _Keep him on the ground._

He planted his boot into Jayne's left kneecap and snapped his elbow forward into the merc's jaw. His nostrils flared and he knew Cobb had tasted blood on that one. He continued his spin and took out Jayne's right knee; as the merc dropped, he landed a solid strike to the back of his head that sent him flying forward.

Jayne saw red as the metallic taste of blood filled mouth. His body spun and he launched himself back off the ground to throw all of his weight into a high cross. Riddick sidestepped slightly and landed a solid crack to Jayne's open right side. This time Jayne did land his uppercut and, as Riddick took a step backwards to recover, he lunged; throwing them into a stack of crates along the portside bulkhead. Gleefully, he slammed his head into Riddick's; enjoying the crunch of cartilage as Riddick's nose broke. The con snapped at the precise moment his nose did and he threw Jayne off of him with an animalistic snarl; gifting the merc with a shot to the eye, which would later ensure it swelled closed.

River and Kaylee chose that precise moment to enter from the lower level corridor, as did Book and Simon from the upper level catwalk.

"Sweet Buddha! They're going to kill each other." Kaylee said anxiously.

"They will get bored long before then." River assured her and then quickly pulled her friend out of the way of a flying crate.

Above them, Book frowned, "I believe we should alert the captain."

"Are you kidding me?" Simon asked with a sadistic laugh. "This is worth the stitches I'll have to put in later." He was genuinely amused to watch his two least favorite people in the 'verse try to maim each other.

"That the best you got, Cobb?" Riddick mocked as he sidestepped Jayne's backfist.

As if to answer, Jayne scored another hit to Riddick's ribs by faking out a combo. Had they actually been keeping score, as was their original intent, the match would have already long been over. It was when they tied at two, and Riddick had landed a complete series of reverse roundhouses, that the fact that it had been a spar was utterly forgotten.

"His axe kick is faulty." River explained to a now extremely nervous Kaylee as Riddick dodged Jayne's foot and kicked out the leg the merc was balanced on. Jayne hit the ground hard and Riddick proceeded to demonstrate the correct execution of an axe kick.

Simon had to flinch. "That's a cracked rib." He informed the Shepherd.

"I'm going to get the captain."

Jayne rolled away after the blow and forced himself to ignore the pain in his lungs when he drew in air. His only consolation was the fact that he knew Riddick was feeling the same kind of pain. He pushed himself up and spun to avoid Riddick's relentless assault. Jayne was now entirely on the defense and breathing hard. Riddick was forcing him to the wall and he knew the moment his back touched it the fight would be over. He took a wild swing that he immediately regretted as Riddick dodged, latched on to his arm and spun hard; taking Jayne with him and right off his feet back to the ground. Fire tore through his lungs as his back slammed against the grating.

Kaylee gasped as Riddick moved to stomp his foot down on Jayne's throat.

"He won't kill him." River assured her. "Jayne is useful."

Kaylee vaguely nodded, not at all convinced, as she gripped River's hand tighter. She relaxed slightly as Riddick halted; resting his boot over Jayne's jugular.

"You ready to give, boy?" Riddick asked conversationally, as though he had not just been intent on delivering a world of pain to the merc.

"Fuck off," Jayne grunted as he swung his lower body up and scissored his legs around Riddick's. He jerked hard to the left and took Riddick to the ground with him.

The fight was now a knockdown, all out bare-fisted ground brawl as the men rolled and swung viciously.

"How do you want to play this, sir?" Zoe asked.

"Least they ain't killed the Doc." Mal shrugged as he casually walked over to the extinguisher hose.

Riddick had both hands firmly wrapped around Jayne's neck as he slammed the merc's head into the grating. Jayne swung wildly at Riddick and landed one punch out of every three. Darkness was beginning to creep around the edges of his vision as his fingers latched onto Riddick's goggles; before he could yank them off an icy cold cloud of whiteness engulfed them both. The men broke away from each other almost instantly sputtering swearing violently.

"_**ENOUGH!**_" Mal roared. "What in the gorram hell did I say about killin' crew members?!" He demanded.

Jayne and Riddick were both indignantly pulling themselves back up onto their feet. If looks could kill, and Mal could see past Riddick's goggles, he might have regretted his actions.

"Wasn't really fightin'!" Jayne roared angrily. "Just a gorram spar. Didn't have go and hose us."

"Yeah, I saw that." Mal scoffed. "I'm figurin' you really wasn't turning blue neither than?"

"I had 'im." Jayne grunted.

Riddick's barking laughter echoed through the bay. "You what?" He shook away the lingering traces of foam from his body, "I must have some of this shit in my ears, Cobb. Coulda swore you just said you had me."

"You heard me." Jayne glared.

Riddick's laughter died and turned into a growl. "Don't think I did."

"Let me show ya then." Jayne's fists clenched at his sides.

"I swear to ruttin' Buddha, I will shoot you both!" Mal snapped. "Get yourselves patched up and then clean up this gorram mess." He ordered disgustedly as he tossed down the hose.

Neither man backed down nor so much as even acknowledged the captain in any way; an eerie silence filled the bay. "You got balls, Cobb." Riddick rumbled.

"More'n brains." Jayne agreed with a slightly manic grin.

Riddick threw his head back and laughed.

*T*F*C*

Jayne hissed as Kaylee poured disinfectant over his knuckles. "Oh shut it, you big baby, it's your own fault." She scolded him.

"I gotta say, Jayne," Riddick grunted slightly as he pulled his tank off and inspected the bruises over his ribs, "-that's a hell of a shovel hook."

The merc snorted ruefully, "Yeah, well you show me that roundhouse set and I'll show you the secret to the Rib-Cracker."

"I'll get to you next, Riddick." Simon said with poorly concealed amusement as he threaded a needle to stitch the large gash around Jayne's eye; which as Riddick had accurately predicted, was now sweelling closed. "Just lean back, Jayne."

"Your sister can do it." Riddick shrugged as he sat down on the spare infirmary bed where River was a little less than patiently waiting with a suture set.

_/Nose./_ She thought at him.

Simon paused as he pulled his first stitch through. "You're going to let her do what?" He asked, stunned, and turned in time to watch his sister expertly reset Riddick's nose.

"That had to hurt." Jayne grunted at the sound of it. Riddick hadn't so much as flinched but River watched the pain ripple through his features and decided to move on from that particular appendage for the time being.

"Not as bad as when your hard-ass head broke it." Riddick grimaced as he cracked his neck again and raised his left arm up so River could begin to clean the gash he'd taken when Jayne had thrown them into the crates.

"River, where did you-?" Simon found he couldn't finish his question as he watched his sister's fingers move quickly and with an efficiency that most trauma surgeons would be envious of.

"Sister's got lots of tricks, Doc," Riddick's tone was amused despite the fact that he had to bite back his wince as River pulled the suture needle through his skin.

"Um, Doc?" Kaylee gently nudged Simon, who was still holding his needle half way through Jayne's skin.

"Yeah, little focus maybe?" Jayne snapped. "Kinda bleedin' here."

Simon mentally shook himself. "She learned it from them, perfected it from you." River answered her brother's question.

"But I never showed you how to do stitches." Simon said as he refocused himself on Jayne.

"Didn't have to." River shook her head and knotted off her stitches. She turned Riddick's face back towards her and carefully inspected the cut along his nose.

"You mean " Simon found that, once more, he couldn't finish his question.

"Yeah, Doc, she read it from your head." Riddick let loose a slightly muffled growl as River poked at his nose. "For top three percent, you sure are a bit slow."

Simon chose to ignore the second half of Riddick's comment and balanced his suture needle on Jayne's forehead as he moved to inspect River's work.

"What the hell?" Jayne snapped.

"River, those are flawless!" Simon exclaimed admiringly as he examined her careful stitch work and she beamed at her brother's praise.

"Hey, you left a needle in me over here!" Jayne barked, eyeing the sharp tip poised precariously next to his eyeball.

*T*F*C*

_The next day..._

"Aren't any answers there, Derrial." Riddick rumbled as he looked up from the gun magazine he was flipping through when the Shepherd crossed through the common room with his nose devoutly stuck between the pages of his Bible. "Wastin' your time."

"That's where you're wrong, Riddick." Book answered patiently.

Riddick merely shrugged slightly. "If you say so."

"He is correct." River looked up from her sketch pad and both men turned their focus towards her.

"Who?" Riddick asked curiously.

"Both." She shrugged and went back to her drawing. "Just pressed cellulose pulp and pigment bonded together by glue and cow's flesh; but he gives it a name, he calls it a Bible and it becomes his symbol, it becomes his word and law and it becomes power."

"That's a disturbingly accurate description." Book replied, the corners of his lips twitching up in a repressed smile.

"Still full of shit." Riddick snorted.

"Debatable." River answered absently.

"Have you ever read it, River?" Book asked, ignoring Riddick.

"She doesn't need to." Riddick answered for her.

"I don't believe I was speaking to you, Riddick." Book said his tone a bit harsher than it had been. "Just because you don't believe "

Riddick cut him off there, "That's where you're wrong, Shepherd." He corrected as he tossed down his magazine and leaned forward. "You don't spend half your life in one version of Hell or another and not believe. You holy men-," he said contemptuously, "always get me wrong. I absolutely believe; and I absolutely hate the fucker."

"Despite what you believe, Riddick, he does not hate you." Book tried patiently.

"Never said he did, he's just another kid burning ants with a magnifying glass; barking up the wrong tree if you're looking to save somebody."

"None of us are beyond redemption."

"Keep telling yourself that." Riddick grunted as he picked up his magazine and leaned back. "Maybe one day you'll believe it." He smirked cruelly.

"And what do you believe, River?" Book asked, switching his focus back to the young woman who was staring at the small leather-bound book in his hands with a sort of quiet intensity.

"She has never read it and has no grounds to form an unbiased opinion."

"Our parents weren't very religious." Simon explained from the doorway of the infirmary. He had been listening to the entirety of the conversation. "If they had any Bible at all, it would have been Rothman's Guide to Social Practices." He chuckled with only a small amount of bitterness.

"Well, then perhaps, sweetheart, you would like to borrow mine?" Book offered her gently. "You may be surprised. There are answers for those who are truly seeking them within these pieces of pressed cellulose and cow's flesh." He laughed softly as he handed her his Bible.

River accepted it reverently. "She would very much like to."

Riddick snorted from behind the pages of his magazine.

"If you have any questions or anything you would like to discuss while you're reading, my door, very much like the Lord's, is always open." He offered generously. River, however, was no longer listening. She had already opened the book and begun to read. "I'll just leave you to it then." His smile broadened. "Simon, perhaps a game of chess?" Book offered.

"Why not?" The doctor shrugged. "Mal and Zoe are still out looking for another job, so I don't anticipate any bullet holes in the near future." He joked and, throwing down the hand-towel he was holding, followed the Shepherd up the stairwell.

As soon as Riddick and River were alone again, Riddick's hand dropped back down and his fingers took up their previous occupation of twisting through the ends of her hair as she sat in front of the low laying table on the grating between it and the couch. An action which soothed him in two ways; the tactile sensation of her hair moving through his fingers and the slight stirring of her scent that the movement caused. He wasn't actually reading the magazine and hadn't been for sometime. It had merely been a visual prop to signify that he didn't want to be bothered. If anything, he was actually on the verge of falling asleep. River's sudden snort caught his attention.

_/What?/_ He thought spoke to her.

_/Creation of Earth-That-Was in seven days./_

_/Told you it was shit./ _ Riddick smirked and tugged on the ends of her hair. _/Waste of time./_

River frowned and pulled out a red felt-tipped pen from her pencil case and drew several thick lines across the page she was reading._ /His symbol is flawed. If he will not allow her to free him of his conniving hair, she will correct the flaws in his symbol./_

_/Since when is hair conniving?/_

_/Since it watches her./_

Riddick chuckled; a kind of snorting laugh. _/ He'll love that. /_

_/He'll thank her later. She'll have to change Creation entirely. If she calls Creation "External Intelligence Phenomenon", she may be able to placate him, despite the obvious flaws./_

_/ You lost me at "I don't give a shit"./_ Riddick looked down at her scowl in amusement as she tore a page completely free from the book's bindings.

_/To claim that Earth-That-Was came before the stars is just pretentious and a blatant lie in the face of current scientific knowledge./_ She audibly snorted as she highlighted a large chunk of text.

_/Like I said, it's all shit; wake me when Mal gets back./_

_/He is supposed to be watching the ship./_ She scolded him as she tore another page out.

_/I am... through the back of my eyelids. /_

_/The Furyan is becoming domesticated./_

_/If you weren't up half the night screaming I wouldn't need to sleep now./ _

River pinched his leg and he growled out loud.

_/She did not complain when he dreamt loudly./_

_/Actually she never shut the fuck up about it./_ He snapped back.

_/She is ignoring you./_

_/Good, then I can fucking sleep./_

_/Qu chi dabian_ (eat shit)._/_ River mentally swore as she went back to her corrections.

"Right back atcha." He replied sleepily as he kicked his legs up onto the table.

*T*F*C*

"River?" Book called from the stairwell as he entered the common room several hours later. "How is the Bible study coming along?" He asked as he spied her still bent furiously over his book. He noted with no small amount of satisfaction that she seemed to be taking notes. Perhaps there was one lamb aboard the ship after all.

"This book asks only questions, she is answering them." River muttered distracted as she highlighted another large portion of text.

"Excuse me?" Book asked, slightly alarmed as he realized the pieces of paper she was taking notes on were in fact shredded pages from his bible. "River, what have you done?"

"She is fixing his Bible." She looked up innocently.

"What?"

"Bible's broken. Contradictions, faulty logistics it doesn't make sense." River shook her head.

"River, no you can't... you don't... " Book stuttered as his horror grew at the realization of what she had done. He reached over to remove his Bible from her hands.

Riddick suddenly growled from his position on the couch. "Watch your hands, Preacher, or I'll be taking them." He had reopened his eyes the moment he'd heard footsteps on the stairwell.

River shot the Preacher a particularly smug look before drawing a large red X through an entire page, "She'll integrate non-progressional evolution theory with God's creation of Eden... there's eleven inherent metaphorical parallels already there eleven, important number, prime number... one goes into the house of eleven eleven times but always comes out one." She had started off speaking to the Shepherd but by the time her rambling droned off, her muttering was entirely self-directed.

Book shook his head slowly in disbelief as he fingered the tattered remnants of several pages of his beloved Bible as River ranted. "River, you shouldn't... " He tried to interrupt her but she would have none of it.

"Noah's Ark is a problem," she informed him seriously as she flipped through several pages frowning.

"Really?" Book asked at a loss for anything else to say.

River bobbed her head rapidly in acknowledgment; she didn't see how it wasn't all already apparently obvious. "We'll have to call it early quantum state phenomenon. It's the only way to fit five thousand species of mammal on the same boat." She gave a little laugh at the obvious hypocrisy of the whole thing before abruptly tearing the page from the book.

"River." Book corrected her firmly. The torn page the final straw in his patience with the young woman, he grabbed the book away from her; ignoring Riddick, who had bolted upright like a irritable predator. "River," he argued as she tried to snatch it back. "You don't fix the Bible."

River looked back at him and answered with the utmost sincerity. "It's broken." She held up the pages she had previously removed. "It doesn't make sense."

"It's not about making sense. It's about believing in something and letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It's about faith. You don't fix faith, River," He instructed her gently, "It fixes you." He reached for the pages in her hand but River refused to release her grip.

"No." She insisted. "You believe their lies blindly!" She shrieked fiercely as she tugged hard on the pages. "That's how they crawl inside and take possession. They feed you their truths and make you claim them as your own. They tell you to believe and then, when you ask why, they make you sleep. They quest for a world without sin and it is obtainable; so they burn and they poke and they prod and they slice until there is nothing left of you but what they have put in. This is _Dao_ (truth)! Why can you not see!?" She yanked furiously on the pages and they tore in half. "They think they can fix people. You can't fix what was created to be flawed. It doesn't make sense!"

"You wanna leave this room, Derrial," Riddick warned as his growl rose to audible levels.

"River, calm down. You don't understand," Book tried to sooth her but the girl was quickly moving beyond consolation. "These words are meant to comfort; these words are words of love."

River bitterly scoffed at him. "He burns them all in brimstone and fire; He drowns the non believers! Who is to say His way is _the way_. No one! No one but Him! Who is he? Who is He to demand obedience and faith? They tried to make her believe! They tried to twist and prod and distort and reform her in their image! Believe, they said, believe for a better world; a world without sin, an Eden in the stars! She was to be hung on the cross and jabbed with the spear but in the shape of a needle; so the little blue things could creep their way into her eyes and see what she sees because she saw _Dao_! Wash away my sins; kill in His name and they are exalted. Kill in their name and carry their sins so the blood will never touch them!"

"River." Riddick's voice rumbled her name.

She whirled on him. "They don't see." She held up the torn pages and looked at Riddick pleadingly. "This is where it begins. This is where they teach you to believe and not question. This is where they creep in. They hide themselves between the lines and wait for the desperate and hungry. They convert those they don't kill! Needles in the eyes, needles in the brain, needles in the neck. It's all the same!" She shrieked. "It's all the same." She ended quietly as her eyes filled with tears.

"Riv... " Book started but Riddick cut him off abruptly.

"You wanna leave this room, Derrial." Riddick warned him again. "Take your fucking book and peddle your shit elsewhere."

Book nodded his head slowly, not out of fear or intimidation, just honest realization there was nothing he could say to comfort the poor girl. He quietly gathered up the torn pages and turned to head toward his dorm. River suddenly leapt up over the table and grabbed both of his arms stopping him.

"He must see!" River pleaded.

"I don't understand child, see what?" Book asked gently.

"_Dao._" River insisted.

"River, what truth?"

"The name of God is not always righteous." River breathed out the words like a warning as her grip tightened on his arms. Vaguely, she was aware that Riddick had stood. Vaguely, she was aware that the Shepherd was now flinching slightly from her nails as her fingers dug into his skin. It was his mind that concerned her and it raced in confusion. A lifetime of sin, much unknowingly committed, and yet so much more done knowingly; committed willingly. "You seek redemption, you won't find it there. You're not a Shepherd, you were not meant to walk in the light." She hissed at him.

"River, let go of me." Book demanded with controlled anger.

Riddick was behind her, trying to pry her fingers off of the Preacher's arms, and she seemed utterly unaware of his presence. Her grip tightened instead of loosening and Riddick could smell the slight trace of blood telling him she'd broken skin.

_/River!/ _ He barked at her through their minds and allowed his anger to slip through as well.

River ignored him; or rather, she did not hear him at all.

_**Reality shifted.**_

_The River was flowing; it bled out of her skin and she was pulled along with it. There was no longer metal grating beneath her bare feet; there was hard packed sand and dry clay. Her feet were caked with it as she walked through pools of blood. Serenity's breathing faded from her ears to be replaced by the sound of explosions and tortured screaming as the scent of charred flesh burned at her nostrils. Through the chaos, the rhythmic creaking of metal called her and she turned her face, warmed by sunshine to her right; the torched remnants of a makeshift playground, and the bodies of children smoking against the blue sky._

_A sudden shrieking torn through her sky like lightening and the earth cracked beneath her._

_Blue Hands reached for her; Blue gloved fingers tore at her clothes._

_Their blue fingers turned to needles and pierced her skin._

_River screamed._

"Hold her down!" Simon snapped as River lashed out and the syringe went flying from his hand.

"What the Hell's wrong with her?" Riddick yelled as he pinned her down beneath his weight. He felt her nails tear through the stitches along his arm and he hissed in pain, but did not loosen his grip.

"She's having an episode; I have to get her sedated before she hurts herself!" Simon shouted back as he ripped open another sterile syringe package.

*T*F*C*

River opened her eyes and panic laced through her mind as she realized her wrists were tied down and the sterile smell of disinfectant, combined with the soft beeping of medical equipment, threw her into full blown hysteria. She was back. They had found her.

"Relax." Riddick's dark rumble was lost to her, but the calloused touch of his fingers as they smoothed away the sweat soaked hair matted to her forehead was not and she stilled almost instantaneously. "Restraints were your brother's idea." His tone informed her he found them as nearly distasteful as she did. "He was worried you'd wake up and still be crazy."

The sound of the Velcro restraints being pulled free echoed through the otherwise silent infirmary. She immediately curled into herself. "She is broken."

Riddick growled as he sat back down on the stool he had been occupying for the last several hours. _Serenity _was back in the Black and headed towards Greenleaf. The crew, for the most part, was asleep and the ship well into her night cycle. He could hear the doctor pacing in his dorm but Riddick hadn't seen him since he'd physically removed the little shit more than two hours ago.

"Those who seek safe Haven will never find it." She whispered after a few moments of tense silence. "She rains death from the sky. Their secrets bring the sellers of death disguised as salvation to his door."

Riddick couldn't even begin to guess what she was talking about. "Who's they?"

"Those she danced for. The ones who drown in blood they've never touched; who dream peacefully because she carries their nightmares."

"Who's she?" Riddick tried again with more patience then he thought he possessed.

"The girl."

"You?"

"Correct."

"What's so hard about usin' words like, 'I', or 'me'?" It was a question that had been plaguing him since she'd first popped out of that damn cryobox. He pulled his goggles off his face. "Lights out." He said before opening his eyes. River's face was concealed once more by her tangle of hair and he reached over to push it away so he could look at her fully.

"Take away a name, give a number. Make a girl a thing and it's easier to cut and slice." She mumbled from behind his large hand as she felt it brush against her cheeks. "Strip her bare and build anew. They took River away... No," River corrected herself bitterly, "she made her go away. Subject E-seven, empath. The girl. 'How is the girl progressing?' 'Take the girl to observation.' 'Where's this girl, let's see what she can do.' The girl. She. Her. Not the same as River. River had to go away. Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? No, it reeks like blood and secrets and lies."

"I like blood and secrets." Riddick rumbled in reply as he twisted a strand of hair around his fingers in order to focus on nothing but the feel of it to keep from tearing apart the room.

"Not these." River pulled away from him. "They're not hers. She shouldn't be made to carry them. Two-by-two, they went looking for her, and now they want you. Blue Hands, Blue Suns, he watched a Blue Sun rise on a world of endless light. And then he came and the darkness crept in."

Riddick growled low in his throat at her withdrawal. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"After the Blue Sun and its Rays fall; when the promise of endless light is revoked, the sellers of death will come, and with them the night. You didn't exist until the Seer named you. A self fulfilling prophecy. A man that can see through the night. You lived. That was your crime."

"I really need you to start making sense right now."

"It never makes sense. She never makes sense. The River carries it to her and washes it away. Everything but the blood. Blood never washes away. She doesn't know what she's saying," Her voice broke into harsh choking sobs, "She never knows what she's saying... "

*T*F*C*

"How fortunate." Nine remarked to Twelve as they watched Serenity's new course plot out in front of them.

"It is rather generous of them to head directly for us."

"Rather generous indeed."

***T*F*C***

**Endnote: Holy Protein Squares! **

**Til After Now.**


	36. Out of Gas I

**A/N: Okay, so expect some major changes to this episode. I did my very best.**

**To:**** librarywitch, DarkDreamer1982, Chibiboku, ariblack, sxevlbtch, Rachet, ArtLightLove, Amethyst246, Elliesmeow, Oppenhiemer, SusanMarieS, CGandJaz, Hidden Relevance, Sabrina1204**

You beautiful people… I referred back to my reviews incessantly to keep myself going with this episode.

And to Thug-4-less… you're the shizz-nit. Seriously, let's get this beta a cupcake or something.

None of its mine…well, actually in this episode some of the plot is, but unfortunately not enough to make any money off of, (so please, don't send me any, they'll sue) just a sporadic bursting of new twisty plot and some hopefully witty dialogue… okay now I'm just rambling…let's see how this goes.

***T*F*C***

**Red Sun System**

**Silverhold-Outer Orbit**

"Define issue." Nine regarded his counterpart stoically.

"They have exited the public and private shipping lanes; military Nav. Sat. lost them twenty minutes ago. They've gone into dead space." Twelve clarified reluctantly.

"Last known point." Nine demanded.

"Two days from our current location. Pursuit is no longer an efficient recourse."

"I am aware, Twelve. Run facial recognition scans through the security feeds on both Tyrus and Beaumonde. The Company grows impatient. We were contacted today."

A slight twitch affected Twelve's left eye. "And?"

"We are running out of time."

"There is no room left for error."

"None. We will find a weakness."

*T*F*C*

"_Yep, a real beauty ain't she?" The portly salesman continued, unaware his fish on the line was no longer listening. "A right smart purchase, this vessel. I'll tell you what; you buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with ya the rest of your life."_

*T*F*C*

"You're... ly-lyin'!" Zoe managed to choke out in between laughs. The entirety of the crew, save Wash, were gathered around the mess table; picking over the last remnants of dinner and, for the majority, doubled over in one state of laughter or another.

River, however, was not laughing and had hardly spoken since her 'episode' of the previous evening. Her head was titled slightly to the left. There was no humor; she was listening, just not to the crew. Mother was aching and each one of her labored breathes clawed at River's bones. Riddick was not laughing either; nor had he done much besides growl and snap at anyone who got too close to River.

"I swear it is," Book defended himself as he nearly doubled over in his chair.

"Surely one of you most have told him!" Inara laughed as she tried to catch her breath.

"No, not one of the brethren had the heart to tell him. He was so _proud_ of it!" Book chuckled.

Wash chose that moment to enter and, not one to ever be left out of a good joke; he started laughing right along with the crew even though he had no idea why. The pilot always missed the good stuff.

"What? What was he proud of? Who's he?" He asked eagerly as he pulled an extra chair out alongside his wife.

"Looked rather natty, truth be told!" Book had to pause to wipe tears from the corner of his eyes as he took several large breathes to steady himself. The table broke out into another rowdy burst of laughter and Wash joined in though, once more, he had no idea why.

"What was natty? I want to hear about the natty thing." Wash asked eagerly.

"Shepherd Book was just tellin' funny stories about his days in the monastery." Kaylee offered as Book took a sip of his water to get his laughter under control.

"Monastic humor; I miss out on all the good stuff." He replied glumly as he searched in vain for a serving bowl that still had even a few morsels left in it. "And all the food too, apparently."

Zoe, still grinning, reached for a napkin covered plate. "And just who do you think you married?" She asked as she passed it to him. "Voila!" She pulled the napkin away with a bit of a flourish.

Wash absolutely beamed at her. "I love my wife." He informed her and the rest of the table as he pecked her on the cheek. "And so does my stomach." His closing remark earned him a few chuckles of his own.

"So, we got a course set?" Mal asked, grinning at the head of his mess table.

"We do." Wash affirmed as one arm went around his wife and the other picked up a fork. "Took a little creative navigating, but we should make it all the way to Greenleaf without running afoul of any Alliance patrols; or a single living soul for that matter. We're jumping between shipping lanes, a quick stint into dead space right now, a little bit of zig zaggy goodness, but it'll do."

"So's long as I can't feel them breathin' on my neck." Mal nodded his approval as he leaned back in his chair.

"'Course, what should be a twenty eight hour trip will take us the better part of a week to get there, but get there we shall." Wash added with a flourish.

"We're in no rush." Mal shrugged. "I like an easy, languorous journey."

"Oh, gee. What would that be like I wonder?" Kaylee asked good-humoredly; it was a testament to her disposition. River's bad day had left her to deal with _Serenity's_ mechanical short fallings on her own; the weight of which could easily be seen in the dark circles beneath her eyes. She rose and began to collect a few of the dishes.

"Let me help you," Simon jumped up suddenly as Kaylee nearly lost a cup.

The scrape of Jayne's chair cut through the continuing conversation. "I got it." He snapped at him. "I can help her." The mercenary glared as he got up to take the dishes from Kaylee. Jayne might not have been book smart, but he knew men. He knew the looks of men and he'd seen just about enough of Simon's looks at Kaylee when the good doctor had thought no one was watching.

"You sit, Simon," Kaylee shooed him. "It's your turn anyhow. Shepherd told a story 'bout bein' a shepherd, it's your turn to tell one about bein' a doctor." She smiled brightly; which only caused Jayne's face to darken.

_/ Brother better watch his eyes or Jayne ain't gonna be leavin' them in his head. /_ Riddick tried to think-speak to River for what must have been the tenth time in nearly two hours but, once more, he was ignored. A wooden chopstick snapped in his hand.

"Funny story " Simon pondered aloud as he thought about it; trying to decide which story would be funny in an understandable sort of way to the group as a whole. For once, the thought wasn't laced with its usual condescension. Doctor's just had a whole different brand of humor than most.

"Yeah, 'cos sick people are high-larious." Jayne deadpanned as he angrily scraped a dish; thoughts of Matty seeped into his head on their own accord.

"Well, they can be." Simon gave a kind of half-smirk; rarely seen on his face but, oddly enough, at home there. "In fact, I remember there was this one time I was working in the E.R. and this fellow, very upright sort of citizen, comes in complaining "

"Now 'Nara," Jayne interrupted. "She's gotta have some real funny whorin' stories, I wager." He redirected the conversation pointedly. He didn't want to think about Matty or how doctors laughed at sick people. The idea of it had him just itching to stomp back over to the table and knock the Core-boy straight into the next system. It had been Core-docs that had diagnosed Matty's damp-lung and it had been Core-docs that took their meds with them when the Cobb family couldn't pay.

"Oh, do I ever." She made a sound which was somewhere between a girlish giggle and a seductive chuckle. "Funny and sexy; you have no idea." Her voice rolled and, without conscious realization, all the men at the table, including the Shepherd, found themselves directing the entirety of their attention to the Companion. Inara paused a breath and then deadpanned. "And you never will."

Zoe practically snorted her coffee across the table.

"A Companion doesn't kiss and tell." Inara continued on modestly.

"So there is kissing?" Mal asked and Inara shot him a quick glare before Zoe called the attention of the table to the matter at hand. The towering monstrosity of a cake that Kaylee was struggling to balance and from which a half a dozen crudely made candles were blazing.

"Hey, Doc," Zoe smirked with a jerk of her head. "I think Kaylee might need your help after all."

Simon turned in utter surprise and at a complete loss for words.

"Care to make the first incision, Doctor Tam?" Kaylee giggled. "Happy Birthday, Simon."

The crew, excepting Jayne, who was scowling; River, who was drifting; and Riddick, who didn't give a shit about anything at the moment other than what was making River twitch, echoed the sentiment in varying degrees.

"This is... " Simon stuttered with a broad grin; truly touched. "How did you all know? River did you?"

River up until this point hadn't even noticed the cake and she stared at it curiously, before piecing together what was happening from the crew's minds. "'Day' is a vestigial mode of time measurement, based on solar cycles. Not applicable." She frowned. "I didn't get you anything."

Mal broke the moment of small uncomfortableness that usually followed one of River's statements. "Seems a fresh warrant came up on the cortex; had your birth date attached right to it."

Simon sucked in a nervous breath, "Really?"

"I hope you like it," Kaylee interrupted hurriedly as she was anxious to not have the moment ruined. She loved cakes and birthdays above all else. "I couldn't get ahold of no flour, so it's mostly protein." She blushed. "In fact, it's pretty much what we had for supper, but I tried to make the frosting as chocolatey tasting as possible."

"Ain't just a genius with machines." Jayne grinned at her. He had spent the better part of the afternoon dodging wooden spoon swats as he strategically raided the frosting bowl. It was a damn fine cake. He could vouch for it personally. Though, if you asked him, it was wasted on the doc.

"Thank you." Simon said graciously. "I must have lost track of the days. I didn't even realize... " his voice choked up slightly. "I'm truly, deeply moved."

"Yeah, well it happens out here in the Black." Wash shrugged. "Somewhere between dodging Reavers, Alliance, and bullets, things get a bit hazy." Another, somewhat humorless, round of laughter circled the table. If you didn't laugh about some things, you'd probably run screaming to hide in a corner.

"Well, deeply move yourself to blow out those candles." Jayne said with an actual bit of a real smile on his face as Kaylee smacked his hand away from dipping into the frosting. "So's we can all get a slice." In Jayne's case, it would be his third; which was precisely why the cake was four layers and not five. Kaylee had needed to do a bit of impromptu surgery herself after his confectionery predation. The table echoed with real laughter this time.

"Come on, Doc, give it a good blow." Kaylee urged.

Simon grinned at her for a second longer before sucking in a large gulp of air to blow out the candles; the breath was choked on as _Serenity_ shuddered hard and the lights flickered.

"What the Hell was that?" Jayne asked nervously; voicing the question on the tip of everyone's tongue.

_/ River? /_ Riddick pushed more harshly than before; again there was no response. To anyone who was not Riddick, the girl looked blank. Riddick knew that look. It was the one that always raised the hairs on the back of his neck. _/ River! / _He barked at her, and still nothing.

"Probably just a hiccup," Kaylee shrugged; no one was buying it, not with the look on her face. "I'll go check it out."

"I'll check the helm." Wash added nervously as he pulled the napkin from his collar.

"Fire." The word slipped out from between River's lips as if it was almost an afterthought.

"Right, okay then," Simon turned back to his cake, assuming she meant his candles.

_**Reality shifted.**_

_She stared into the flames._

_They called to her._

_The River bled through her skin and carried her._

_Swirling into the flames which twisted and licked and burned at her skin._

_Sunshine destroyed by fire._

_**Reality shifted.**_

An explosion rocked the ship. The deafening boom shattered through _Serenity. _Kaylee froze at the aft-deck entrance. Logic and the basics of human survival should have put her in motion as she watched in horrified awe as a ball of brilliant fire hurtled towards her. Fear and perhaps disbelief kept her rooted to her spot.

"_No_!" River shrieked and both hands planted on to the table as she launched herself over it. Her body collided with Kaylee's and knocked the mechanic clear of the ball of fire which roared into the mess.

"River!" Riddick was on his feet and moving over the table in the same manner River had but it was too late. The resulting concussion from the blast threw back the entire crew. The sickening crunch of River's body slamming against the counter as she suffered the brunt of it sent Riddick back into motion as he recovered far more quickly than any of the others. When a second explosion rocked the ship, he slammed the aft-deck door closed just before another cloud of fire could erupt into the mess.

Simon, Riddick and Zoe hovered over River; while Jayne, Inara and Book made for Kaylee.

"Jayne!" Mal roared. "Seal off everything that leads below decks. Do it now! Wash, bridge!" Mal ordered as he made a break for it as well.

Jayne spared a moment to share a look with Kaylee. "I'm fine, go." She pushed him away. _Serenity_ was more important. Jayne crushed her to him in an unusual and frantic public display before spinning on his heel and making a break for the doors.

"River!" Riddick barked as he shook her. "Goddamn it, Doc! Why ain't she opening her eyes?!" He could hear her heartbeat, faint, hesitant. The sound was rupturing through his brain and that thing beneath his skin was clawing at his flesh.

"I need my med kit." Simon's voice was steady. This was not his sister lying and dying. This was not River. This was a patient. Just a patient. He repeated the mantra over and over in his head until he could believe it somewhat and evaluate her injuries without the containment of panic.

Riddick was on his feet and moving towards the aft-deck. "We got fire." Zoe shook her head and blocked his path. Riddick spun on his heel and made for the foredeck; he was stopped by Jayne's body.

"Ain't goin' this way." Jayne planted his feet. "Whole place is burnin'."

"Move." The word was barely coherent beneath the snarl which erupted from his lips. "Or I will move you." His voice was lethal.

"I let you through, we all die." Jayne said firmly. It was not lost on him that Riddick's girl, though he refused to use the terminology, had gotten hurt saving his girl. He owed River but, if he let Riddick through before the fires could be vented, it would be a moot point.

"You don't and you'll die for damn sure."

"Riddick!" Simon's voice was the only thing that cut through his haze. "Riddick, I need you to help me hold her down!" Simon pleaded as River's body began to convulse.

Jayne would live the rest of his life without ever admitting to anyone precisely how terrified he had been in that single moment where he thought he had seen Riddick's hand move for a shiv. As soon as his feet could move again, he was on Riddick's opposite side holding down River's legs, while Riddick took her arms and Simon tried to keep her from cracking her skull open on the grating.

*T*F*C*

"I got fire alarms on every lower level!" Wash yelled at Mal. "Primary systems failing and no response from auxiliaries!"

Mal flew to the controls and slammed down on _Serenity's_ airlock. From the bridge, he and Wash watched in a sort of dazed wonder as a column of spiraling fire was sucked from their core and spewed from their ship.

"_Wuh de ma_ (mother of God)." Wash breathed.

*T*F*C*

"_How much?" Simon asked tersely; one hand holding a set of photographs in a white knuckled grip._

"_It's not just about the money, Doctor Tam." The scarred man who sat across the table replied with a heavy exhale._

"_It always comes down to money." Simon replied evenly. "Just tell me how much."_

"_This time it ain't." The man shook his head. "I don't have a man on my crew who can deal with the med equipment they got in the facility. Truth is, one of mine might do more harm than good; or your sister might."_

"_What do you mean River might? She's never so much as killed a spider. You're going there to rescue her."_

"_Don't know how much of your sister is left." He admitted reluctantly. "My intel says they've implanted her with behavioral programming, including attack triggers."_

"_I don't understand."_

"_Like a guard dog, Doc, peaceful and cuddly even, but master gives the words and the beast will tear your nuts off. Don't matter none iffin' you've just given him a treat. Even if we got her out, you two would be on your own. I can't risk it; not at one of the Fraternity's safe houses. We don't know what her triggers are."_

"_Behavioral triggers?" Simon asked in disbelief. _

"_She's part of a weapons program Doc."_

"_She's just seventeen."_

"_Don't change the fact."_

_Simon stared down at the photographs in front of him; the sunken eyes of his sister pleaded with him, her cracks lips begged him. "I'll do it."_

"_What?"_

"_I'll go in."_

"_Ain't nowhere for you to take her, Doc."_

"_I'll find someplace safe. Just tell me what I have to do."_

"_Crossin' a line there's no coming back from, son. You sure this is what you want?"_

"_Yes."_

*T*F*C*

Simon tore through the door of the infirmary as Riddick carried River behind him, with Zoe close on his heels.

"Get her on the table!" Simon barked as he furiously started pulling out equipment. "Zoe, get her on the monitors." He ordered. "I need to get her vitals back up."

"Talk to me, Doc." Riddick snarled.

"No sign of burning. It has to be internal." Simon answered but he wasn't actually talking to Riddick. "I need to do a scan."

Kaylee watched from the door way; gripping the frame. She couldn't take her eyes of River as the scores of wires and monitors were attached to her body.

"Kaylee. Kaylee." She didn't hear Mal calling her.

"She's in shock." Inara touched Mal's shoulder gently.

"Kaylee!" Mal barked harshly as he pried her fingers off the doorway. "Kaylee," he said again more gently as she focused on him. "I need you right now."

"She ain't movin'." Kaylee said quietly and Mal was unsure if she was referring to River or the ship.

"I know it." Mal chose to acknowledge it on both accounts. "But she needs you now." Again he referred to both River and _Serenity._ "We gotta 'suss out what happened so we can get her going again, right?" He told her very gently.

Kaylee gave him a vague sort of nod as she bit back on her lip to keep from crying.

"Think you can do that?" Mal pressed as he turned her body away from River and to the engine room.

"Yes, Cap'n." She nodded slowly.

"That's a good girl. What do we know?"

"Catalyzer on the compression coil blew. That's where the trouble started."

"Captain Dummy talk."

"We're dead in the water." Kaylee replied meekly as her gaze drifted back to River through the infirmary window.

"Can you fix it?" Mal asked _**the**_ question.

"Is River gonna be okay?"

"Look at me, Kaylee." Mal ordered gently. "You leave that to the Doc. I need to know if you can fix our girl."

"I can try... "

"I just need to get her limpin' that's all."

"It's worse than just the coil." Kaylee said the words aloud and a solid pit formed in her stomach as she swallowed hard to keep talking. "Main-life support's down on account of the engine bein' dead."

"Right, but we got auxiliary." Mal was trying to get her to focus on the positive.

"No, we don't." She said bluntly, earning her the attention of every present member of _Serenity. _"It ain't even on. Explosion must have knocked it out."

"So what are we breathin'?" Mal asked, hoping she was wrong.

"Whatever got pumped into the atmo before the explosion shut it down."

"Mosta that oxygen got burned up by the fire when it went out the door." Jayne grunted. "Means whatever's left is what we got." He finished grimly.

"How long?" Mal turned back to Kaylee.

"A coupla of hours." She shrugged.

_/River, come on girl. Know you can hear me./_ Internally Riddick was raging, his outward appearance was entirely stoic. _/ Open your fucking eyes! /_

"How bad is it?" Mal demanded as he moved towards the infirmary door.

"Please, I need to work." Simon said tersely as he began prepping an IV . "Zoe, the restraints, when she wakes up with IVs, she'll lose it." Simon used the word 'when' because 'if' was an impossibility.

"Jayne, engine room; you back Kaylee however you can." Mal began giving orders. "Book, Riddick, damaged assessment on the bay and halls. Wash, with me on the bridge."

Riddick growled but otherwise made no indication he'd heard the captain; nor did his eyes leave River's body.

"You hear me Riddick?" Mal snapped.

"_Chur ni-duh_ (screw you)." Riddick's voice was calm; but the words were bitten off hard.

Mal took a step forward; surprisingly it was Book that stopped him. "I'm a fair enough hand. I'll be able to do it on my own." Many years may have past between the man Riddick was then and who he was now, but the set of his body, the edge in his tone, they were telltale signs that never changed and Book knew these well. "If River wakes up in a fit, she'll do more harm to herself. Riddick is the only one she listens to."

Mal was going to argue; he wasn't a man to admit fear, but the steady rumbling which was emanating from Riddick sent a chill down his spine.

"I'll help the Preacher; ain't any use in the engine room." Jayne offered a bit more surprisingly than even the Preacher's intervention.

"Fine." Mal gritted out. "Just get it done. Wash, bridge, now."

*T*F*C*

"_Oh, yeah. This is all very doable." Wash grunted appreciatively as he rolled out from beneath the navigational console. "A few modifications and you'll be surprised; you could get some real maneuverability outta this girl."_

"_So, you'll take the job then?" Mal asked from the bridge doorway, a bit distracted by the bush of a mustache on the man's upper lip. It kind of made it a bit hard to distinguish if the man was smiling genuinely or sarcastically._

"_Might do, might do. Think I'm startin' to get a real feel for her here." He answered as he made himself comfortable in the chair; though the chair, at this juncture, was a moot point. There was a real beautiful lady standing behind Captain Reynolds; even if she did look like she could and would break him in two with her pinky._

"_Good." Mal grinned. "Well, you just take all the time you need. Make yourself at home. Fiddle with the dials," Mal encouraged. "We'll be nearby." Zoe was clearly not pleased so he took the hint and followed her down the bridge stairs and out into the foredeck hall. "He's great, ain't he?"_

"_I don't like him." She dismissed immediately._

"_What?" Mal asked incredulously. _

"_Something about him bothers me is all." She replied firmly._

"_What? What about him bothers you? Mustache is a little weird, I'll give you that, but...__" He gave her a smirk and an easy shrug._

"_Not sure__ just... something."_

"_Well your 'something' comes up against a list of recommendations long as my leg. Tanaka raved about the guy; Renshaw, Mingo and Fanty, they're all chompin' at the bit to get him on crew. We need us a pilot and he's about as damn fine as they come."_

"_I understand that, sir," she replied tersely. "He bothers me."_

"_Look, we finally got ourselves a genius mechanic, now it's about time we hired somebody to fly the damn thing."_

"_Genius?" A well muscled and heavily tattooed blonde man pulled his head out from a cabinet. "Ain't nobody ever called me a genius before. Shiny."_

_Zoe really wanted to remark on that, but she chose to ignore it. "Just bothers me is all." She insisted._

*T*F*C*

"Come on, Wash, hired you for a reason; give me something I can work with." Mal snapped.

"It ain't doin', Mal." Wash admitted reluctantly. "We're dead in the water."

"What about a beacon? Anybody out there at all?"

"Scanners are dead, too. I can get a signal out, but it ain't gonna be much and there's nobody out there to hear it. You wanted under the radar; we're out in dead space, Captain." Wash fingered Marshall nervously; half his mind down below in the infirmary.

"Need to hear somethin' better than that." Mal snapped. "And maybe iffin' you stopped playin' with those gorram toys long enough, we might get one."

"Nobody's gonna pick up that damn signal, Mal!" Wash suddenly and uncharacteristically shouted angrily as he partially rose from his chair. "I got news for you! I'm reading nothing! Not from the main power supply, not even life support. We're all gonna be purple and bloaty in a few hours; but that'll be fine, 'cause unless Kaylee can pull off a miracle in that engine room we'll freeze to death first. There's nothing, Mal! _Nothing _to work with! She's been tellin' you the ship's need repairs for _months_! Don't you pin this on me! We're out of range, just where you wanted us!"

"Make it stronger." Mal spat out through gritted teeth.

"With what, Captain? The hopes and dreams of orphaned children? I got nothin'. Nothin'!"

"You're my pilot, make it happen, gorramit. I don't care iffin' you got to get on a suit and... "

"And what?" Wash shot back incredulously. "Wave my arms around? There's nobody out there to hear us!"

"Wave your arms around; jump up and down. Divert the Nav. Sats. through the transmitter. Whatever it takes, Wash!" Mal growled.

"Divert the... ?" Wash laughed bitterly. "Yeah, 'cause teenaged pranks are so much fun when we're all about to die."

"It would give the beacon a boost, wouldn't it?" Mal questioned tersely.

"Yes, Mal." Wash deadpanned. "It would boost the signal but even if by the off chance some passerby did happen to receive it; all it would do is muck up their navigation."

"Could be that's true." Mal nodded; jaw set.

"Damn right, it's true!" Wash practically launched himself out of his chair as he threw his arms into the air. "They'd be forced to stop and dig out our signal before they could go anyp... " Wash's words trailed off as his accusations sunk in and he dropped back into his chair. "Maybe I should do that then." He muttered as his fingers began to fly across the console.

"Good."

"Fine."

"Get it done. Our girls are hurtin'."

*T*F*C*

Jayne dropped the crate he was carrying as pain laced through his right side courtesy of the cracked rib his spar with Riddick had caused.

"You okay, son?" Book asked with real concern.

"Ain't a thing." Jayne tried to shrug it off but was forced to sit to draw in air.

"Consider yourself lucky," Book admonished.

"Hey!" Jayne snapped, a bit affronted. "He didn't beat me that bad. Hell, I got in some real good ones. He's got three cracks to my itty-bitty one." He finished with a snort.

"Yes, but you haven't seen him flinch at all, have you?" Book replied, slightly amused.

"Ain't like I spend my days starin' at men." The merc retorted. "'Sides, that nice crack across his nose should say 'nough." He grinned. "Makes us even over my eye anyway."

"Jayne," Book started as he dropped onto the crate next to him, "I served with Riddick under my command."

"So?" The merc snorted again.

"When I said you should consider yourself lucky, I mean it with the utmost sincerity."

"Ain't followin', old man." Jayne eyed him as he scowled slightly.

"He was playing with you." Book said bluntly. "But, more importantly, he was testing you."

"The Hell he was!" Jayne exclaimed defensively. "I had 'im for a minute."

"Jayne, if Riddick hadn't been, you'd be dead and he wouldn't have a scratch on his body."

Jayne was immediately on the defensive. "What do you mean, "testin'' me?"

"I don't believe he was testing you to learn how to fight against you but, rather, how to fight _with _you. Richard B. Riddick considers you a friend."

"I can see your mouth moving, but I still ain't followin'. I can't see why he'd hold back. He was right pissed over findin' out I was stackin' the deck in cards."

Book chuckled slightly. "And that only proves my point further."

Jayne raised an eyebrow.

"On Sigma Three we were a Sweeper team; do you remember me saying that?" Jayne nodded and Book continued. "Sweepers worked in teams of three. One man served, um well, as bait, so to speak, while the other two moved in for the kill. Spitfires are vicious things. No bigger than a leopard and more reptile than cat, but faster than you can imagine. They spit out acidic venom; hence the burn scars along Riddick's torso. The decoy was decided by chance; a game of dice. Riddick learned quickly that the best way to survive the mines was to not be the decoy. The penalty for being caught cheating was delivered behind closed doors at the hands of your fellow Sweepers. Riddick was never caught once, though he caught more than a dozen others. The fact you were able to stack the deck and pull off your scam no doubt impressed Riddick."

"Don't see how gettin' beat at your own game makes a man open to friendship." Jayne pondered skeptically.

"Riddick, by nature, is a survivalist; not a loner. It's just easier to survive on your own. Cunning, which it took to cheat him, is something he exalts highly. You're skilled at what you do and Riddick appreciates skill. These things make you useful and worthy. He offered the idea of a spar. didn't he?"

"Yeah " Jayne nodded suspiciously.

"As I thought." Book returned Jayne's nod with a more thoughtful one. "I suspect he wanted to feel out your weaknesses. I don't doubt, as soon as this mess is over, that he'll try to begin training you. He'll never turn on you now. Riddick's respect is hard earned, but I believe you'll find it is well worth the effort."

"That's just about as crazy as some of the _gou shi_ (crap) River's always spittin' out." Jayne grunted, but the wheels in his head were reluctantly turning and, the more he thought about it, the more he did kind of see Riddick as a friend. "Weren't you two friends?" Jayne inquired uneasily. Riddick had come pretty close to gutting the Shepherd on more than one occasion so he wasn't exactly jumping onboard the Riddick friend train just yet.

"I still am." Book groaned slightly as he pushed himself off the crate.

"You sure 'bout that?" Jayne questioned the Preacher's intelligence.

"If I wasn't, and Riddick truly no longer trusted me, he would have never let me onboard this ship. He's angry with me, but I am still his friend, and was once his Commander. We're not in the service any longer of course, but Riddick's loyalty is until death."

"Why'd he let me get in so many hits?" Jayne asked, now that he replayed the spar in his head he could see a few blows that Riddick could have easily dodged.

"He was testing the power behind your strikes. You're a boxer, Jayne, that's why he kept you on the ground and that's why he threw that kick you failed to execute back at you. He was proving a point. Don't try to pull off techniques you don't have the skill level for and stay off the ground; and I wager he wanted to know if a man you hit would stay down," Book shrugged.

"Yeah, well," Jayne said glumly. "He didn't."

"Riddick is not most men." Book nearly chuckled.

"What's that mean?"

"Did Riddick ever tell you about his eyes?" Book asked.

"Yeah, said a Slam doc did it; somthin' 'bout cigarettes. Been thinkin' 'bout findin' a doc that would do it on me. Ain't ever seen it 'fore, but I imagine it's all kinds of useful."

"You won't." Book informed him.

"Why? He still in the Slam?" Jayne asked, disappointed. "Has to be another one out there that can do it. Hell it's almost worth the trip to a Slam."

"Riddick worked the mines long before his first stint in the Slam." Book added conversationally.

It took Jayne a few moments to work out in his head what the Shepherd was trying to tell him. "So iffin' he didn't get it done in the Slam, where?"

"I don't believe that's my story to tell." Book shrugged. "Ask him, and he'll most like tell you now, but believe me when I tell you, Jayne; whatever you have seen him do isn't even half of what he is capable of."

"Been in fights before with him. One back on Unification Day was a dozy." Jayne chuckled at the memory.

"And I guarantee you he held back."

"Why'd a man do that for?"

"Because he felt no real threat, most likely," Book shrugged. "You put him, or someone he counts as his, on the line and you will see an entirely different animal; that I promise you."

*T*F*C*

"_You worthless piece of shit!" Riddick roared as he grabbed up his unfortunate team member by the pads on his suit. His mercurial eyes reflected an almost surreal blue in the darkness. "You're supposed to be watching my ass!" He slammed the man against the hard stone of the mine and all air was torn from his lungs._

"_Riddick, man, take it easy!" Wilks, the third member of the three-man team shouted and made the mistake of trying to grab Riddick's arm._

_Riddick let go of Kurtis, spun and sent Wilks flying into the opposite wall with one solid punch. Without the slightest hesitation or break in movement, Kurtis was back up against the wall. This time Riddick's shiv held him in place._

"_I should end your miserable shit life before you get me fucking killed!" Riddick snarled as his shiv cut through the first layer of skin and Kurtis pissed himself. Riddick's nose curled at the scent that mingled with the smell of his own burning flesh. A large portion of his padding had burned away, the edges of what remained was melted into his skin as the exposed flesh bubbled and crackled._

_Kurtis was whimpering now; he'd lobbied and bribed and begged his way onto Riddick's squad; which seemed to maintain a much higher than average life expectancy, and in less than two weeks he'd found himself on the man's shit list. "What do you want from me, man?" He managed to choke out. "I had to take a fuckin' piss! You're still alive!"_

"_Wrong answer." Riddick growled. "You watch out for your brothers."_ _Riddick tossed the worthless shit to the ground and withdrew his silenced sidearm. Two shots, one in each kneecap._

_Kurtis screamed; the sound echoed through the mines. "What the fuck?! You fuckin' shot me! You fuckin' hun dan (bastard)!"_

_Riddick didn't bother to respond with words and simply planted his boot into Kurtis' ribs. He turned away from the sobbing man to help up Wilks who was still slightly dazed from the crack of his head against the wall. "Time to go."_

"_Where are you going?" Kurtis yelled._

"_Gotta take a piss." Riddick rumbled without looking back. "Got a little less than ten miles of unlit mine; you make it back, I won't kill you."_

"_What!? You can't be serious! You shot me in the fucking knees!"_

"_You watch out for your brothers." Riddick rumbled darkly. "You're lucky I left your guns."_

*T*F*C*

Riddick picked up the slow dying of River's heart even before the monitors did. "Simon " He quietly growled a moment before the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor flat-lined; the ominous tone froze her brother for a half of a second before he became a whirlwind of motion.

"I need adrenaline! Her heart's stopping."

Riddick torn open the cabinet and fumbled for the bright yellow package. He bit back the plastic sterile wrapping and tossed it to Simon; who bit off the cap and poised the needle above River's chest as Zoe cut open the fabric of her shirt. Simon swallowed and drove the needle directly into River's heart.

The sound of blood pumping through her heart and the intake of air in her lungs flooded Riddick's ears.

_/ What I tell you about dying, girl? /_ He growled at her through their minds. He knew she could hear him. He waited for her reply, for her to tell him to fuck off, or eat shit. When nothing came, a roar he could not repress broke out from his lips as his fist dented a cabinet door into two.

"Doc," Zoe's voice trembled slightly as she eyed the respiratory monitor.

"_Cao_ (Fuck)!" Simon swore.

"What?!" Riddick whirled around, practically snarling.

"Zoe, prep the ventilator." Simon ordered ignoring Riddick.

"What is it?" Riddick demanded again.

"I'm going to have to tube her." Simon gritted out.

"Doc, you best start talking! What the fuck is wrong with her?" Riddick growled as he clenched and unclenched his fists.

Simon, however, did not spare a moment for explanations as he forced the tube down River's throat.

"Blast Lung." Zoe informed Riddick mechanically as she assisted the doctor. "From the concussion blast; seen it a hundred times in the war. Her body is going into shock."


	37. Out of Gas II

"_Bester!" Mal barked as he made his way down the aft deck hall towards his engine room. "What in the hell is this I hear about another delay? Supposed to have this engine fixed and us up and run...__" Mal abruptly spun around as he came into the engine room at the sight and sounds of his mechanic sweating and grunting on top of some poor girl. "Suo you de dou shi dang_ (in the name of all that's proper)_!" He muttered. "Bester." Mal waited a beat. "Bester." No response. "__**Bester**__!" He bellowed._

"_What? Crap!" The mechanic in question jumped up; pulling with him his shorts. "What?" He asked a bit too innocently for Mal's current mood._

"_You do realize we've been parked on this rock a week longer than planned?" Mal clenched his fists to keep himself in place._

"_Yeah. But. Um, well__" Bester started a bit disorientated. "There's stuff to do."_

"_As, for example, that job we got waitin' on us on Paquin." Mal informed him heatedly. "When we landed you, said you needed a few days to get us space worthy again... and is there something wrong with your bunk?" He added disgustedly as the poor girl in question began pulling up her dress._

"_Why?" Bester asked, genuinely not understanding._

_Mal jerked his head to the girl dressing behind his engine block._

"_Oh, no," Bester shrugged and leaned in to whisper to his captain. "Engines make her hot." He said with a chuckle._

"_Bester," Mal closed the distance between them and the look on his face should have communicated his feelings clearly enough but, as he was dealing with a gorram moron, he decided to make himself clearer. "Get your prairie harpy off my boat and put us back in the air." He bit off each word slowly so the mechanic could understand._

"_Okay, but...__" Bester chuckled, "can't."_

_Mal resisted the overwhelming urge to crack his mechanic's head against the engine block several times; sometimes if you hit a thing, it worked. "What do you mean 'can't'?"_

"_No can do, Cap." Bester shrugged._

"_Yeah, I got that part. Why?"_

"_Secondary grav boot's shot." He shrugged._

"_No, it ain't." Mal ducked his head to look around Bester and at the girl who was trying to zip up her dress. "Ain't nothin' wrong with your grav boot." She continued as if she wasn't actually getting herself redressed after being caught. "Grav boot's fine." She laughed a little breathy kind of giggle as she turned. "Hello."_

_Mal glared at Bester._

"_She doesn't__ that's not__ no it ain't." Bester fumbled._

"_Sure it is." The strawberry blonde assured the men. "Grav boot ain't your trouble. I seen the trouble, plain as day, while I was down there on my back before." She explained simply and without the slightest twinge of embarrassment. "Your reg coupla's bad."_

_Mal looked at Bester, who only managed to succeed in stuttering more. "The red—the what?" He looked away from his captain, and back towards the girl whose name he couldn't quite remember._

"_The reg coupla, see? Right here?" She said as she turned back and crouched down to point the part out. "_

"_No." Bester snorted._

"_This." She pointed impatiently, the supposed mechanic blinked blankly at her and she gave an irritated snort of her own as she reached in and removed the casing._

"_Hey!" Bester protested, Mal did not._

"_Here." She said simply. "Hand me that will you?" She pointed to a wrench behind Mal and the captain handed it over eagerly. "Don't serve much of a purpose anyway." The girl giggled with a slight shrug. "All's it really does is gum up the works when it gets tacked. So, I figure, why even have one?" She added conversationally as she dove right into the engine and set to work. "Better just to take your G-line and plug it straight into the port pin-lock-" she explained while she worked, "-and that should__" Her words were cut off by the whirring of the engine and she stepped back with a satisfied grin. "There!" _

"_What'd you do?" Bester asked, a bit stunned._

"_She fixed it." Mal deadpanned._

"_Well, it wasn't really broke." She shrugged._

"_Where'd you learn to do that, miss?" Mal asked._

"_Just did it that's all," she said with another little shrug. "My daddy says I got natural talent."_

"_I'll say you do at that." The captain smirked, a new idea forming in his mind. _

_Bester was inspecting the piece the girl had removed. Quite frankly, he had no idea what the Hell it was. "Don't we need this?"_

_Mal ignored him. "You work for your daddy, do ya?"_

"_Well, when's he got work, which ain't often as of late." She grumbled a bit and blew a strand of hair out of her face._

"_You got much experience with a vessel like this?"_

"_Oh, I've never even been up in one before." She blushed for the first time._

"_Wanna?" Mal asked, an eyebrow raised._

"_You mean-?"_

"_Sure." Mal informed her; Bester utterly forgotten. _

"_For how long?" Her eyes grew wide._

"_Long as you can keep her in the sky." Mal offered._

"_You offerin' me a job?" She smiled sweetly._

"_Whoa... __what?" Bester finally rejoined the conversation and was duly ignored._

"_Believe I just did."_

_The girl's face broke into a beaming smile. "I just gotta ask my folks." She practically ran out of the engine room. "Don't leave without me." She paused in the doorway to make sure the offer had been real and wasn't just some kinda dream._

"_Mal!" Bester huffed; not at all pleased some skirt had shown him up and was likely to continue to do so. "What do you need two mechanics for?"_

"_I really don't."_

*T*F*C*

"Kaylee, what's it look like, girl; and give me some gorraam good news." Mal asked as he walked into the engine room. _Serenity's _heart was silent, the air tasted off and Mal fought hard to swallow back his own self-directed anger.

"I'm sorry, Cap'n." The mechanic's voice was quiet; laced with remorse and heavy with guilt. She didn't look up when he entered. "I'm real sorry. I shoulda kept better care of her. I knew she was hurtin'. I knew it was bad. She tried to tell me, but I just kept pushin' her and pushin' her."

"Kaylee, I can't be havin this from you right now." Mal forced calm into his voice as he bent down in front of her. "We got work to do,_ dong ma_ (understand me)?"

"Catalyzer's broke. Gonna need a new one." She told him flatly, holding out the piece of scrap in her hands.

"There is no new one. You gotta make do with what you got. That's what you do, right? You make do. Told me so yourself."

"It's broke." She looked away and back towards the engine. "She tried to tell me."

"C'mon." Mal took the piece from her in one hand and her hand in his other and led her over to the massive engine block. "This part? Don't seem like nothin'." He tried to causally shrug it off. "All right," he said as they stood in front of it. "Where's it go?"

Kaylee gave the engine a half spin and took the piece from Mal. "Here, 'cept it don't fit no more."

"Well, you gotta figure a way to make it fit." Mal insisted.

"Sometimes a thing gets broke and it can't be fixed." Kaylee told him bluntly; her voice full of unshed tears.

"Without this, the engine don't turn?" Kaylee nodded her head. "Engine don't turn, life support won't function and we don't breathe. You wanna keep breathing, don't you?" He asked her bluntly.

Kaylee gave another slow nod of her head.

"So do I. This is what we got to work with Kaylee-girl. I need you to make it work."

*T*F*C*

"How is she?" Inara asked quietly from the doorway of the infirmary. The look in Simon's eyes told her everything she needed.

"Still unconscious." He mumbled as he rubbed his hands against his face. "Her vitals are strong, and, it may be hard to believe, but as long as she remains like this-" he gestured to the sleeping form of his sister, "-she'll outlive us all." Inara looked at him blankly so he added, "She's using less oxygen."

"She's strong, Doc." Riddick rumbled without looking up from the stool he was sitting on next to River's bed.

"I know she is, Riddick." Simon snapped tiredly; he was beyond his limit with Riddick trying to tell him about his sister. He knew his sister was strong. He knew she was a fighter.

_/Brother's really beginning to piss me off, girl./_ He tried again to reach her and, just as every other time before, nothing came; just the vague echo of her presence somewhere in his mind.

He ignored the watchful eyes of the Companion and doctor as he smoothed away the errant strands of hair from her face. One throaty growl from him reminded the doctor how easily Riddick could remove the surgeon should he even attempt to protest.

"I always thought the name _"Serenity"_ had a vaguely funereal sound to it." Simon snorted bitterly as he dropped down onto a stool of his own. "Suffocation's not exactly the most dignified way to go." The young doctor inhaled deeply; taking advantage of the fact it might be the last time he was ever able to do so. "The human body will—"

"Please," Inara stopped him before he could continue. "I really don't require a clinical description right now." She requested, smoothing out her dress as she pulled her shawl more tightly around herself. "I love this ship." Inara defended her home as she ran her fingers along the metal. "I have since the first moment I saw it."

"I just don't want to die on it." Simon clarified. "I'm sorry." He said quietly. "It's just... " He swallowed back hard. "It was my birthday," he tried to shrug it off. "Kind of ironic, I suppose, to die on your birthday."

"She won't let us." Inara reassured him quietly as she slipped her hand into the doctor's.

"Even if River wasn't unconscious, I highly doubt even she would be able to fix this." Simon said sadly.

_/ Shows how much your brother knows. /_

"I wasn't talking about River," Inara corrected him, as her fingers traced the lines of a low hanging pipe. "I was talking about _Serenity_. Have a little faith, Simon."

"I don't think she's got much of a choice in the matter." Simon tried to smile, but it was a useless endeavor. "Ship's don't run on faith. They run on power, and we don't have any."

"Have faith, Simon." Inara repeated.

*T*F*C*

"_Well, here she is." Mal said proudly as he escorted the Companion into one of the shuttles. "Nice. ain't she?"_

"_Smallish," the veiled beauty replied._

"_Well, not overly. How much room do you really need for what you do, anyway?" He joked. "Got a surveyor and his wife interested in renting it. They're just waiting to hear back." He lied._

_The Companion chose to ignore his remark as she passed him to inspect the cockpit. "What's her range?" The woman asked as she lifted her veil._

"_Standard short. She'll break atmo from a wide orbit." He followed her back to the cockpit and watched as she made herself comfortable in the pilot's chair. He couldn't repress the slight indignation in his tone. "Get you where you need to go and bring you home again."_

"_No need to sound so defensive, Captain." She assured him with a lovely smile as she rose from the chair and slid past him. "I prefer something with a few miles on her." _

_Mal watched her as she looked over the shuttle, every so often her hand would caress a piece of pipe; a soft smile would grace her lips as she regarded the metal. He couldn't help letting his eyes dwell on the contours of her bare stomach and the soft curves of her hips where her skirt rested low. The dark green coloring of the silk enhanced the golden tone of her skin and he found himself swallowing hard as he forced himself to look away. He reminded himself that it would cost a pretty bit of coin to run his fingers along it and he had no taste for women who could be bought._

"_Were we to enter into this arrangement, Captain Reynolds, there are a few things I would require from you. The foremost being complete autonomy. This shuttle would be my home. No crew member, including yourself, would be allowed entrance without my express permission."_

"_You'd get your privacy." Mal nodded._

"_Good and, just to so we're clear, under no circumstances will I be servicing you or anyone who is under your employ." She added rather bluntly._

"_I'll post a sign." He agreed, a bit offended._

"_That won't be necessary. The other thing I would insist upon is some measure of assurance that when I make an appointment with a client I'm in a position to keep that appointment. So far as such assurances are possible on a vessel of this type."_

"_That's an awful lot of caveats and addendums there, miss."_

"_As I stated, I just want to be clear."_

"_Well, I'll be sure and take all that into consideration when I review the applications." He turned and began to walk away._

"_Don't be ridiculous. You're going to rent this shuttle to me." She assured him._

"_Am I?" He turned back to face her._

"_Yes, and for one quarter less than your asking price." The Companion informed him._

"_Is that a fact?" He asked raising his eyebrow._

"_It is." She smiled confidently._

"_And you figure you'll be gettin' this discount why exactly?"_

"_You want me." Mal blinked as she took a step closer. "You want me on your ship." She clarified._

"_Do I?"_

"_Yes, because I can bring something your surveyor or any of the other fish on the line you have cannot, a certain respectability."_

"_Respecta-" _

_She cut him off. "And based on what little I've seen of your__ operation" she smiled slightly. "I suspect that is something you could use."_

"_Fine. Let me ask you this: If you're so respectable, why are you even here?" He challenged smugly. "I mean, I heard tell of fancy ladies such as yourself shipping out with the big fancy luxury liners and the like, but a Registered Companion on a boat like this? What are you running from?"_

"_I'm not running from anything." She said indignantly and a bit too quickly._

"_If it's Alliance trouble you got, you might wanna consider another ship. Some on here fought for the Independents." He said brazenly._

"_The Alliance has no quarrel with me, I supported Unification." She replied calmly, unfazed by the captain's attempts of intimidation._

"_Didja? Well, I don't suppose you're the only whore that did." He deadpanned._

"_Oh, and one further addendum" she rolled her eyes slightly, "Captain Reynolds, that's the last time you call me a whore." She turned and walked away._

"_Absolutely. Never again."_

*T*F*C*

"Crew's gathered, sir." Zoe said as she came onto the bridge.

Mal's gaze didn't waver from the window. "She's hurt bad, Zoe."

"When you can't run anymore, you crawl; and when you can't do that, you—"

"Find somebody to carry you." Mal finished tersely. "Ain't none of us can carry _Serenity_, she's gonna smother us all."

"Not one of us, sir, all of us. Girl's been good to us, we ain't done yet."

"And that's the truth." Mal pushed himself out of the pilot's chair. "And here's another, I'm givin' the order. Wash is right, ain't nobody out there to hear us."

"Sir?" Zoe questioned, but Mal didn't answer.

*T*F*C*

"_Well?" Mal's voice echoed through the empty ship, full of self satisfaction._

"_You paid money for this?" Zoe arched a brow after taking a hard look around her. "On purpose?"_

"_Come on, Zoe," Mal complained a bit petulantly. "Seriously, whaddya think?"_

"_Honestly sir?" She looked around again. "I think you got robbed."_

"_Robbed? What do you mean?" He asked a bit defensively._

"_It's a piece of fei-oo (junk)." She said bluntly._

"_Fei-oo?" Mal looked around and gave a little shrug. "Okay, so she ain't winning any beauty contest, that's true enough. But she's solid. A ship like this will be with you 'til the day you die." He said confidently._

"_That's 'cause it's a deathtrap, sir." She informed him._

"_That's not__..." He made a bit of a noise in the back of his throat in frustration. "You are very much lacking in imagination."_

"_Well, I imagine that's so, sir." She smirked._

"_C'mon, you ain't even seen most of it." He jerked his hand for her to follow and she couldn't help but compare the image of him to a kid showing off his new tree fort. "I'll show you the rest; and try to see past what she is to what she can be." He emphasized._

"_What's that, sir?" She asked skeptically._

"_Freedom, is what."_

"_No, I meant," she pointed a little off to the right of them. "What's that?"_

_Mal looked down and shrugged. "Oh, just step around it; I think somethin' was livin' in here."_

_Hardened soldier as she was, Zoe couldn't repress the grimace on her face at the prospect of cleaning up that and whatever the Hell else that something left around the place._

"_I tell ya, Zoe, we find ourselves a mechanic, get her running again. Hire on a good pilot, maybe even a cook." He shrugged happily. "Live like people. Small crew, just them that feel the need to be free. Take jobs as they come-," his face hardened slightly, as did his posture, "-won't never have to live under the heel of nobody ever again. No matter how long the arm of the Alliance gets, we'll just get us a little further."_

"_Get her running, 'again', sir?"_

"_Yup."_

"_Meanin' she's not runnin' now?"_

"_Not so much__ but she will. You in, Zoe?" He turned to face her expectantly._

"_Ain't I always, sir?" She smirked._

"_Shiny." He grinned back._

"_Just one thing, sir."_

"_What?" He asked impatiently._

"_You're cleanin' up the piles of crap."_

*T*F*C*

The crew had assembled in the common room; though Riddick remained in the infirmary, he would be able to hear well enough. Heavy jackets and blankets had been passed around and the air was beginning to get so cold their breath had begun to mist. They eyed the small puffs warily; as if they need another reminder of the value of air. Mal entered from the bay stairs and all eyes landed on him expectantly. He cleared his throat as he tugged down his shirtsleeves. What he wanted to say was, _This is my fault,_ but there wasn't any point in it.

"Well, as you're all keenly aware, we've got ourselves a bit of a situation here. Engine's down, life support's on the fritz, and I got ten people all wantin' to breathe. We could take turns-," he tried to joke. "But it ain't really an option. Truth is, friends, we ain't got a whole lot of options left." He paused to run his hand almost reverently along a length of low hanging pipe. It was both a caress and an apology. "So, now, instead of talkin' about what we don't have, I wanna talk about what we do. Two shuttles. Both have heat. Both have air. And it'll last a lot longer than what_ Serenity's_ got left."

"Long enough to reach someplace?" Simon asked nervously from behind him; one eye darting to his sister, still fully intubated and unconscious.

"No." Mal admitted.

"Where do we go then?" Book inquired next as he looked up from the tattered remains of his worn leather bible.

"Far as you can get. We send both shuttles off in opposite directions, betters the chance of somebody being seen, maybe even get picked up." He stopped to let it sink in. "Wash, Zoe, and Book, you'll ride with Inara. Riddick, Kaylee, Jayne, and the Tams in the second."

"And what about you?" Zoe asked tersely.

"Somebody might still get that signal; somebody's got to stay behind with our girl."

"That's suicide, Mal." Riddick rumbled; remembering all too clearly the last time he ran in a shuttle into the Black. It hadn't played out well then and it didn't look as though it would play out much better this time either. "And you know it."

"This is how it's gonna be." Mal said with finality.

"With all due respect, sir," Zoe said rising. "Fuck you."

"'Bout time somebody said it." Jayne grunted as he tightened his hold on Kaylee, who was nestled in his lap. "Ain't leavin' ya, Mal. You stay, we stay. You go, we go." None were more surprised to hear those words come out of Jayne Cobb's mouth than the man himself; and he'd had no idea he was going to say them until they had come out. It could have been the scent of Kaylee, which reminded him of his vow on Canton; he'd made it to himself holding her just as he was now. It could have been the thought of drifting to a slow death out in the endless blackness of space, which made him a mite uncomfortable with the idea. Whatever the reason, the words were said, and he wasn't taking them back.

"Mal, this isn't the ancient sea, you don't have to go down with your ship." Inara scoffed.

"Ain't talkin' on this no more," Mal snapped. "I gave an order."

"Frankly, Captain," Zoe said firmly. "I don't give a shit."

"We could stay as long as _Serenity _holds out." Kaylee piped up from her mass of blankets and Jayne. "Hold out as long as she does; when she ain't got nothin' left to give, we move to the shuttles. Can't give up on her like this, Cap," she said tearfully. "Can't."

Mal looked at the hard set face of each member of his crew, even the Shepherd and Inara, who weren't technically one of his, just paying passengers. "This a mutiny?"

"I could shoot ya if it would make ya feel more manly 'bout the whole thing?" Jayne smirked.

"It would give me something else to do while I wait for River to wake up." Simon joked.

Mal grinned and he didn't know why. They were more than like all looking at a cold and certain death; either way they went. Stay or go, there wasn't anything but Black out there. He still couldn't bring himself to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face. "Well then, since ya'll are an insolent lot, any ideas on making it a bit longer?"

"Could close off the vents," Riddick suggested. "Move everybody up to the mess and bridge levels, seal off the below decks. Doc, it safe to move her?" Riddick asked.

"She's been stable long enough for me to remove the tube. We'll have to monitor her closely, keep a mask on her, but the rest of the equipment can run off their own batteries." Simon said, already moving to prep the equipment.

"Take everything you need, Doc. Once we seal the decks, there won't be no comin' back down." Riddick added as he moved to start fastening River to the stretcher.

"I might be able to boost the signal some more." Wash said thinking it over, "If I kill everything left running in the decks we seal up, just might be able to boost it by another fifteen percent maybe?"

"We got ten of us and eight EVA suits, but we got back up oh-two tanks by the shit load, can rig 'em to use as breathers sos we're not using up all the air that's left."

"Might even be able to take that old carbon filter I got in the scrap closet and turn it into a scrubber." Kaylee offered.

"It's gonna get cold." Book pointed out. "There's a crate of military issue thermal blankets in the hold if I'm not mistaken."

"We've got thermal packs in the first aid kit." Zoe added. "Ain't much but it will keep your toes from fallin' off in your boots."

"I have a portable heater in my shuttle; it runs off of battery power." Inara offered.

"Well then." Mal's grin faltered into a mock scowl. "Got work to do. What the hell are ya still sittin' around for?" The crew responded with varying snorts, scowls, chuckles, and even a slight smirk or two as they filed out; a new sense of purpose fueling them. "Jayne," Mal called him back.

"What?" He asked impatiently. "Got to scrounge up the tubing for the regulators."

"I just wanna ask, why?" He never thought he'd see a day where he wouldn't have to keep an eye over his shoulder and on Jayne.

"'Cause I want to keep breathin?" The merc answered skeptically, he really wasn't sure what Mal was asking.

"Not that. There was a time you woulda shot me if it meant savin' your skin. Now, I ain't complain'," he added quickly as Jayne grimaced. "But I just gotta know Jayne, what changed? Three months ago, you woulda been shovin' crew outta the way to get to one of those shuttles."

Jayne shifted uncomfortably. He wasn't entirely sure himself and he gave his captain the best answer he could. "Sometimes when a man's made to look into his own eyes, he sees somethin' he don't like."

"That boy, Canton, it really got to you, didn't it?" Mal asked seriously.

"Jayne! These tanks ain't gonna move themselves!" Kaylee's voice echoed down the hold.

He gave Mal a kind of shrug with a half-smirk. "And sometimes a skirt crawls under your skin and makes ya wanna be somethin' better." He turned and headed out to the bay. "Stop wastin' air by yellin' gorraamit, woman!" He snapped.

Mal watched his merc head out and slowly shook his head, part disbelief and part something he just didn't have a name for.

*T*F*C*

"_You gotta Plan B, sir?" Zoe asked as she gifted her captain with an I-told-you-so eyebrow._

"_I'm workin' on it." He gritted out from the side of his mouth as he tossed down his six-shooter and raised his hands. "Now, boys, I thought we were going to be reasonable about this?" He asked the three men who were currently holding himself and Zoe at gunpoint._

"_You hear that, reason? He's gonna talk to us about bein' reasonable now." The leader, Marco, a particular stump of a man with blackened teeth and an accent Mal couldn't quite place, scoffed._

"_Yeah, that's a joke." A much taller and, quite frankly more, intimidating man spat from the corner of his mouth which wasn't holding a cigar._

"_Which one you figure tracked us?" Mal whispered to Zoe._

"_The ugly one, sir." Zoe replied as she glared at the cigar smoker._

_Mal's eyes darted over the three men. "Could you be more specific?"_

"_Do we look reasonable to you?" Marco asked._

"_Well, looks can be deceiving." Mal remarked conversationally, though he guessed it was a rhetorical question really._

"_Not as deceiving as a__... low down dirty...__ deceiver." Cigar smoker growled around his mouthpiece._

_Mal found him a bit less intimidating after such a remark."Well said." Mal nodded. "Wasn't that well said, Zoe?"_

"_There was a kind of poetry to it, sir." She agreed, however the sincerity was lost in her glare._

"_You want I should shoot 'em now, Marco?" Cigar smoker asked, and his status on Mal's intimidation scale went right back up._

"_Wait 'til they tell us where they put the stuff." Marco grunted._

"_That's a good idea." The gun grinned darkly. "Tell us where the stuff's at so's I can shoot ya." And he went right back down again._

_Mal raised his left hand just a bit higher, "Point of interest. Offerin' to shoot us might not work so well as an incentive as you might imagine."He shrugged. "Anyway, we've hidden it. So, you kill us, you'll never find it."_

"_Found you easy enough." Cigar gloated with a smug tick of the head._

"_Yeah, you did, didn't you?" The wheels began to turn in Mal's head. "How much they payin' you?"_

_Cigar looked confused. "Huh?"_

"_I mean, let's say you did kill us, or didn't, there could be torture, whatever." Mal shrugged again. "But somehow, you found the goods. What would your cut be?"_

"_Seven percent straight off the top." The merc answered confidently, though his gun lowered ever so slightly. Now they were talking money; he could talk money._

"_Seven?" Mal raised his eyebrows. "Huh."_

"_What?" He snapped._

"_Hmm? Nothin'." Mal shrugged. "Not a thing, no I just__" He turned to his first mate, "Does that seem low to you?"_

"_It does, sir." She answered with a quick sweep of her eyes over the men._

"_That ain't low!" Cigar snapped defensively._

"_Stop it!" Marco yelled._

"_Seven percent, that's standard." Cigar affirmed._

"_It is?" Mal laughed. "Okay. Zoe, I'm payin' you too much."_

"_Why? What she get?"_

"_Knock it off!" Marco barked._

"_Look, forget I said anything." Mal gave a little dismissive wave of his already raised hands."I'm sure you're treated very well." He shrugged. "Got the perks and all. Your own bunk, I'm sure." Cigar blinked a little. "No?" Mal asked indignantly. Cigar's face twitched slightly. "You have to share a bunk?"_

"_With that one." Cigar's eyes slid to the third member of the gang who hadn't spoken yet at all. Mal could sympathize with the slight grimace he caught._

"_Really?" Mal chuckled a little._

"_Jayne, this ain't funny," Marco warned._

"_Yeah, I ain't laughin'." The merc growled._

_Mal had him and he moved in to finish the deal. "You move on over to this side, not only will I show you where the stuff is, but I'll see to it you get your fair share. Not no sad seven." He ended with a smirk._

"_Private room?" Jayne asked._

"_Jayne!" Marco barked; disbelief warring with anxiety on his features._

"_Your own room, full run of the kitchen, the whole shot." Mal went on._

"_Jayne! I ain't askin'__" Marco's bark was cut off this time by the sound of a bullet as Jayne shot him in the leg without taking his eyes off his new perspective captain._

"_Shut up." Jayne grunted and had his gun on the other man on his crew before the man could spit. "Don't even try it, Jim." He growled out and, after tossing his cigar on the ground, asked, "How big a room?" _


	38. Out of Gas III

"Everything's sealed tight." Jayne grunted as he entered the mess and dropped the last of the air tanks onto the table. "It'll keep what air's in there, so's when we get our part, we'll be able to move through the ship and fix her, but the system's only circulating through here and up to the bridge now."

"Good work, Jayne," Mal clapped him on his back as he surveyed the mess. Simon and Riddick were securing River's stretcher in the small alcove which housed the emergency seats; Wash and Kaylee were working on the bridge to boost the signal; Inara and Book sorted through the small crates they'd loaded up with blankets and thermal packs; while Zoe worked on the regulators. "Doc, how is she?"

Simon exhaled deeply before answering. "Stable, but her body went into shock from the blast."

"Why's she still out?" Mal asked as he crouched down next to Riddick.

"There's no clear answer for that, and the few I have as possibilities, I'm not so sure of myself. I still don't know what they did to her at the Academy, it could have an effect, or it might not have anything to do with it at all." He fought to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "The force of the blast is what hurt her, it could be another hour, it could be several. We just have to wait for her to come back to us."

_/ Getting sick of waiting, girl. /_ Riddick mentally warned her but, just as every time before, only silence answered him.

Mal nodded and rose. He turned back to the table where Jayne now sat helping Zoe assemble the regulators. "How long will those buy us?"

"Should start using them now." Zoe said. "It'll lessen the amount of air we breathe in that _Serenity's _got left. They'll buy us another twelve hours, maybe less. If Kaylee's able to rig some kind of scrubber, we'll have more."

"I know the idea of sleeping may seem a bit incredible at this point," The Shepherd offered, "-but that will help preserve what air we have left. Conserve the energy in our bodies as well."

"He's right." Simon confirmed.

"Signal's as strong as it's gonna get." Wash interrupted as he and Kaylee came back down.

"I sealed up all the bunks too." Kaylee added. "Got the ventilation fans to pull out whatever air was trapped in there and routed it in here."

"Alright, then," Mal said setting his features. "We do this in shifts, two on the bridge to monitor our levels and wait for that help on high that the Preacher is so fond of talkin' about. The rest of us, bunker down in here. Save the thermal packs for now, it's cold but it ain't losin' appendages cold just yet. Jayne and Kaylee, ya'll take the first watch, so Kaylee can see if she can't rig that scrubber for us."

"Need to come up with a plan in case that help from on high turns out to be somethin' worse." Riddick spoke up from his position on the floor by River's stretcher.

"Riddick's right." Jayne affirmed. "Most like anybody out in these parts are bad guys like us."

"We ain't always bad guys." Kaylee said optimistically.

"Don't mean whoever comes a knockin' ain't gonna be." Zoe conceded as well.

"When we get the call." Mal refused to use the word 'if' at this point. "We hold our cards close, and deal with that as it comes. This is what's before us now. Alright, ya'll know what ya have to do, two hour shifts on the bridge. Kaylee, you get to work. The rest of us will finish up the regulators and then we keep activity and conversation to a minimal; anything to conserve energy and air."

*T*F*C*

The air on Serenity grew almost unbearably cold by hour four of their vigil and the crew lapsed into utter silence as they huddled together under the thermal blankets and, when the portable heater shorted out in hour five, they resorted to the thermal packs. Riddick accepted his share of rationed out packs. He cracked them and added them to River's stretcher.

The escaped convict had kept up a running mental dialogue with her; as one-sided as it may have been. He talked, or rather thought-spoke, more words then he had ever streamed together in quite possibility the last ten years. He had shared these thoughts with her before in the exercises they used to strengthen the bond, but this was more than just images. He told her about the homes he'd lived in as a child; the day the Alliance came and told him he was something special; of leaving behind Tanya, the little girl he'd saved from one of the staff workers and how she had cried and begged him not to go with the soldiers; and so much more. He told her about Rhea, the girl from Sigma Three. He told her what happened to the officer he'd slaughtered in her name. How it was the first time he'd felt control over that thing inside him. The first time he'd enjoyed a kill and tasted blood.

Riddick tried provoking her. Threatening her brother; threatening to leave her ass behind if she couldn't keep up. How the Blue Hands had picked up their trail and would most like take out the entire crew when they caught up.

The cold began to sting at him, and he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing; systematically slowing down his system and forcing his body to conserve energy. He fell back into the place inside of his mind where he went in cryo; to keep apart of himself awake and aware. It was the part that was ruled by instinct and survival; the part he knew separated him from others. The part, as River had so adeptly pointed out once, which made it impossible for him to fully rejoin the human race. He felt a tug. The slightest of pulls and the scent of volcanic ashes filled his nostrils.

_**I grow weary of waiting Furyan.**_He heard her voice first, and when he opened his eyes,

He was on the mountain side plateau.

It was full dark on Furya.

The violet clouds blocked out all light from the stars and moons which orbited his homeworld.

It was of little consequence.

His vision narrowed to the small figure lying in the grass beside where Shirah knelt. The figure's face was concealed by a wild tangle of hair;

He didn't need to see her face to know it was River.

The humid air seemed to magnify her scent;

The silence;

Her heartbeat.

_Got problems of my own._ His tone was angry as he stepped away from the trees and crossed to crouch down beside River.

_**As I am aware.**_Her voice was sincere as she brushed a few strands of hair away from River's face. _**You called me.**_

_Never wanted you in the first place, why the fuck would I call you?_

She turned to face him, but did not rise. There was no anger on her face, just sorrow._** Long have I whispered, long have I waited for you to call me for your own.**_

_**And now you do.**_

_**For the sake of her, not for me, or your people.**_

_**My pride should be wounded.**_

_**Such a small, fragile creature. **_She regarded River.

_**But it is through her you will come to know.**_

_Know what?_

_**My dearest child, have you not questioned at all why you are able to speak with her as you do?**_

_The Contract._

Shirah laughed. The sound itself was hauntingly beautiful.

_You wanna share? _He asked roughly as he regarded River as well; she looked more serenely at rest then he had ever seen her. _What'd you do to her?_ He demanded.

_**You assume much.**_

Riddick snorted. _She keeps saying that._

_**She is not innocent either.**_ Shirah chided.

_You didn't answer my question._

_**I have no power over your world. This-**_**,**she swept her arm out over the expanse of land and night turned to day, though the sun did not burn his eyes as the light filtered through the clouds to give the illusion of an endless dusk. _**-is all that remains of what I am, of what you are; here my domain begins and ends.**_

_You make as much sense as she does._ Riddick grunted as he laid the back of his hand against River's cheek to check her warmth.

_**Only because you do not listen.**_

_She says that too. Why's she here than?_

_**Because you choose for it to be so. This, is the sanctuary she finds in your mind. The quiet she feels, there is nothing left of our people to echo, he took the souls of those that died; And those that lived, died as something else, they died less than what they were.**_

_**She could not be here without your permission.**_

_Let's pretend like that makes any kind of sense at all and go back to the part about why I can hear her and the others can't. Why is it I'm the Rock and not her brother? If it's not the Contract, then what?_

_**It is part her gift, and part your birthright, Alpha Furyan. It is for the same reason I can speak with you and have been with you every moment of your life.**_

_When are we gonna get to the part where you start making sense?_

Shirah's eyes flashed a brilliant blue, visible to even his limited color range, and he found himself nearly crippled with pain. As quickly as it had come, it was gone.

_**You overstep yourself. **_She warned and while Riddick recovered she hummed softly to River as she picked up the young woman's hand and traced the lines of her palm. _**When you are ready to listen, I will speak.**_

It took every ounce of Riddick's self-control to bite back the snarl on his lips as he forced the air back into his lungs. _How do you do that?_

_**You are in my domain. Are you ready to listen? Or shall I send you back with no answers for your insolence?**_

_Tell me. _

His voice rumbled darkly. His eyes briefly flashed just as Shirah's had and a small smile graced the woman's lips.

_**There are other worlds then the ones they know, other systems, other races, assumption is a failing of the weak. The war their records speak of was not the first. We survived the first, the Necromongers did not. Our world did not. **_She looked away and into the burning valley below her.

_**The survivors sought a safe haven, hidden amongst a newly expanding race of people.**_

_**Generations passed and our blood mingled with theirs.**_

_**The Alpha lines were the last of the pureblood Furyans.**_

_**The last with eyes that mark us for what we are.**_

_**The world the government you know records as Fury; it was the haven the remnants of our people sought. **_

_**A second chance for us.**_

_**Your mate was not wrong. **_

_**Though her words were not for us.**_

_**There is no Haven for those that seek it. Others found the destruction we left in our wake.**_

_**You did not exist until she named you.**_

_**We would have remained safe.**_

_**From the ashes, they resurrected the words which had brought the downfall of our original enemy,**_

_**And so it began again.**_

_**This time, they were stronger.**_

_**This time, we did not survive.**_

_**You are the last of the purebloods.**_

_**This is why I can speak with you. **_

_**Furyans were not telepathic.**_

_**This is not telepathy.**_

_**This is not a trick of the mind.**_

_**This is what we were.**_

_**What we are.**_

_**What you call instinct, is an inferior word.**_

_**Our minds are different.**_

_**Different doors and pathways.**_

_**Her mind has found those pathways.**_

_**You chose to open the doors.**_

_**They made her as she is.**_

_**You were born to be as you are.**_

_If all that's true,_ Riddick began, though the truth of it echoed through his blood, _why couldn't I hear her from the beginning? Why after Triumph?_

_**Had you ever tried to listen? Had you ever tried to block her out? I merely showed you what you had forgotten. How else did you think you survived? What you call instinct, that thing which tells you where your enemy is the weakest; how you can be awoken from a deep slumber by the sound of a footstep, or a change in breathing or heartbeat? In this you strength is greater than hers. She was made, you were born.**_

Riddick managed a slight chuckle. _She's gonna be so pissed. She hates bein' wrong, and we were wrong about everything._

_**Assumption is a failing of the weak. Everything you know will change.**_

_**She makes sense when you listen. **_She trailed her index finger along River's palm.

_**They wanted this one.**_

_Yeah, no shit._ Riddick snorted as he tried to process everything he had been told.

_**Not who you think.**_

_Who?_

_**All in time. The knowledge serves no purpose now. Furya will have her vengeance. This little one, will have her blood. **_Shirah gently placed River's hand into Riddick's.

_**She is yours Furyan.**_

_**Hunt with your clan,**_

_**And all will fall before your feet.**_

_My clan?_ Riddick repressed the urge to laugh.

_**She is yours.**_ She ran her fingers gently along River's cheekbone.

_**And others will follow.**_

_She ain't following anything like this._ Riddick retorted as his eyes rested on the hand Shirah had given him.

Again Shirah laughed.

_Somethin' funny about this?_ He nearly growled but checked himself at the memory of pain and the quick flash of Shirah's eyes.

_**You are an Alpha, call her, and she has no choice but to follow.**_

_**She was made, you were born. She is yours.**_

Shirah reached over and held River and Riddick's entwined hands between her own two and lifted them to her lips.

_**Awaken, Furyan.**_

*T*F*C*

"Firefly _Serenity_... This is ...tain Jerran ....rivate salva... S.S. _Walden_ ...distr... beacon..do you re... " The cortex screen flickered and crackled to life.

"Zoe..." Mal swallowed hard as the large salvage ship came into view from the bridge window. "Zoe." He called again and this time her head jerked.

"That really there, sir?" She croaked out from behind chapped lips.

"Tell the crew."

*T*F*C*

"Quarry, D. Adams," Twelve brought up the image of an elderly dark skinned man. "Former commander for The Company Branch on Sigma Three and known associate of Quarry R. Riddick; has evaded capture since conviction." His fingers continued to move across the holographic keyboard as he brought up an image of each member of _Serenity._ "Quarry M. Reynolds and Z. Washburne, both awarded medals of valor for The Battle of Serenity. Quarry J. Cobb, wanted on six worlds, crimes ranging from petty larceny to murder. Quarry K. Frye, no record. Quarry H. Washburne, no record; it is worthy to note, however, he was actively courted by Alliance military, Special Flight Operations. Quarry I. Serra, a complication, her face is distinguished amongst the guild, especially within the House of Madressa."

"It will need to be a terrestrial confrontation." Nine remarked. "Two former Independent soldiers, two Company operatives, and a mercenary."

"She has entrenched herself well."

"We will have to strike at the parts separately; to attack the whole would be unwise."

"Agreed."

"The Companion is too public a figure; she must be dealt with discreetly. Our traditional methods will not do." Nine swiveled around in his chair to face his counterpart. "Bring up her Companion registration."

Twelve's fingers raised another sub-screen and a moment later the Companion's complete history appeared before them. "Can she be recalled to Sihnon?"

Nine filtered through the text. "No. She is not House Bound." He frowned slightly.

"She is, however, bound by guild law." Twelve's voice held a hint of pleasure as he highlight her current status. "She is due for her yearly re-registration. She has two weeks remaining."

"Place of registration?"

"Where one door closes, another opens. Ariel."

Nine laughed. The sound was so startlingly out of character the action seemed almost slightly painful. "They are so very generous to bring her home to us."

"I shall set course."

Nine turned back to his screens.

*T*F*C*

"I'm sorry for your troubles Captain, they sound many; but you do understand I can't invite you and yours aboard my vessel. I have my own to look to. I don't know you." Jerran looked slightly less than sympathetic to _Serenity's _plight, and Mal bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue.

"Ain't lookin' for a ride, we just need a little push is all." He managed to say with a passable amount of civility. "I got five people of my own needin' to breathe and a girl dangling on the end of the thread."

"Right, your mechanical trouble." The _Walden's _captain leaned back in his chair, unimpressed. "Your compression coil you say?"

"It was the catalyzer." Mal clarified.

"Not even the coil?" The captain scoffed. "Catalyzer's a bit part."

"It's nothin'... 'Til you don't got one, then it appears to be everything." Mal clenched the side of the console in a white knuckled grip.

"Well, it is possible we might have somethin' for you. We just came off a big salvage job near Ita Moon. I'll have my crew dig around, we'll be in touch." The captain leaned over and killed the connection on his end.

"_Lan bi za zhong qi yan fen tu ye _(rotten cunt, half breed,-his words are shit-)!" Mal swore as he leapt up from his chair and kicked the console. He immediately regretted it as he doubled over and grabbed for his regulator; forcing air into his lungs.

"They're gonna kill us and take the ship?" Wash tried to translate.

"Either we invite them onboard, or they wait it out; wait for it to get real desperate or just wait for us to die on our own." Zoe added through a clenched jaw.

"Get me in an EVA suit, Mal." Jayne growled. "We saved two just in case; I'll come back with that part."

"Ain't a half bad idea, Jayne." Mal mused.

"Cap'n!" Kaylee admonished. "No! Ain't happenin'! You ain't goin' in there all _feng le_-like (crazy) by yourself Jayne Cobb!"

Jayne was about to bite off a retort but thankfully Mal saved him from digging that particular grave. "Ain't talkin' like that. Kaylee-girl, iffin' I told you you had ten minutes to make me up something that goes boom, could you do it?"

Jayne chuckled darkly; the intention was clear even to him. "Hell, Cap, grenades and plastic explosives is somethin' we got plenty of. I could do that. Just need Kaylee to wire me a remote. How big a boom you talkin'?"

"Nothin' that would blow us too, just somethin' big enough to a breach their hull; somethin' our out board camera's can look at so's we have somethin' to show our guests. Can you wire that remote, Kaylee?"

"Sure, Cap," she agreed readily; relieved the plan did not involve Jayne diving headlong into a spray of bullets on a strange ship. "Less time than you can spit."

"Get it done then. They mean to make us wait it out for their answer; well my Ma, she was fond of sayin' idle hands are the devil's mischief."

"Ain't that the truth." Jayne grinned. "Let's build us a bomb, girl." He smirked at Kaylee as he threw his arm over her shoulder and lead her down the stairs.

*T*F*C*

Riddick's eyes opened to land on the Shepherd, who was standing at the foot of River's stretcher. The expression on his face was one of contemplation. "Believe I warned you about your proximity to her before, Derrial." Even the lack of oxygen didn't prevent him from speaking in a menacing, gravelly tone as he raised his head.

"She knows things." The Shepherd replied.

"Yeah, no shit, old man."

"Not talking about the reader part." Book shook his head.

"Then you best stop talking." Riddick warned as he slowly stood, his muscles coiled.

"She said some things the other day. Things about numbers and secrets hidden between the lines of things."

"You got a point?"

"Eleven, important number, prime number, one goes into eleven, eleven times." Book quoted and then added, "Numbers, chapter eleven verse eleven_, 'And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?'" _

"You got a point?" Riddick repeated himself.

"Our River has a secret. A secret they want back, doesn't she?"

"She ain't "our", old man." Riddick's voice dropped low as his fingers reflexively twitched for his shiv.

"Wash away my sins; kill in His name and they are exalted. Kill in their name and carry their sins so the blood will never touch them." Book quoted again. "She's not just a psychic is she?"

Riddick closed the distance between himself and the Shepherd before the man had time to register he'd moved. He did not falter from where he stood. He held his ground and though he had to look up he held the convict's eyes as well. "I. Will. Not. Tell. You. Again. She ain't yours to concern yourself with."

"I thought perhaps you would be interested in seeing what River wrote between those particular verses." The Shepherd continued calmly as he reached into his pocket and removed the tattered page; he handed it to Riddick. "They're coordinates. I tried to trace them but they are outside our charted 'verse."

Riddick snatched the page from the Shepherd's hand. "You will keep this to yourself."

"You know I can be trusted, Riddick." Book said simply. "You and I both know they won't stop looking for her. I may have been out of the game for awhile, Riddick, but I can help you, and you know that."

"Ain't lookin' for help from a man of God." Riddick mumbled.

"No, but you need the help of friends. You cannot take those that will come looking on your own. The Company is not forgiving."

"Neither am I, Book." Riddick warned as he stepped away and sank back onto the chair next to River's stretcher. _/ Anytime you're ready to explain yourself, girl. / _Not expecting her to answer. "Besides, thought you were running off to go play shepherd."

"I may be rethinking my destination. River seemed quite adamant on that point." Book said, a semi-smirk quirking over his lips. "I left the Abbey to walk in the world for a spell, perhaps I'm not finished walking it. Perhaps _Serenity _could use a cook."

"'Are no safe havens.'" Riddick grunted as he reached down and adjusted the blankets over River.

"Riddick." Mal called him. "Get suited up, you and Jayne are taking a walk."

"We got trouble?" Riddick asked without taking his eyes off River.

"Aim to make some." Mal smiled darkly.

"About fucking time."

*T*F*C*

_An hour later..._

"Well, guess it's your lucky day, Captain Reynolds; got a part that can be fit to your coil."

"I'd appreciate it greatly if we could do a deal." Mal played his part well.

"There's a bit of trouble to that though," The captain drawled out.

"And that would be?" Mal asked; once more finding himself gripping the edge of the console.

"How do I know your story's true? Ambush could be waitin' on me and mine."

"By now you've scanned me, you know I ain't got no power, life support, temperature readings are cold. I'm just a transport ship; _Serenity _ain't got no guns mounted. Just askin' for a bit of help."

"And what's an honest ship doin' out here in dead space?"

"I could ask the same about you and yours."

"Fair enough, captain." He nodded and waved his hand a bit. "That puts us at a... what's the word for it, Jesse?" He turned around to ask the woman who stood behind him.

"Impasse, Boss." She smiled in dark amusement at the cortex screen.

"That'll do it," he nodded and turned back to Mal and the camera. "Impasse, Captain Reynolds."

"Captain, I ain't got a whole lot of air left over here, so if we ain't got business than you'll understand why I ain't up for the social chat." Mal ground out.

The captain of the _Walden_ chuckled. "We can do business, a hundred platinum."

"That's a mighty steep price for such a bit part there, friend." Mal replied tersely.

"I imagine it might seem like that, but see, it's all about the law of supply and demand. If, o'course, you're not interested you could hope a better deal drifts along out here." He chuckled again. "Ain't your friend, just a like minded businessman."

"Hundred platinum. Shiny." Mal spit out.

"And one more thing Captain Reynolds, before that airlock opens I wanna see all five of ya, even the bit you say is down, and I wanna see hands up; and in one of those hands a sack of coin. You understand, o'course."

"Just as you understand I wanna see the part 'fore I open it on my end."

"You got yourself a deal." He smirked and the transmission died.

"Jayne," Mal said without turning his eyes away from the darkened screen.

"Yeah, Cap?"

"Get Vera."

"No sweeter words." Jayne chuckled darkly. "Been waitin' to try out them new plastic bullets."

"Plastic?" Wash questioned.

"Can shoot all I want, without worryin' 'bout blowin' a hole in the hull." Jayne smirked.

"Blow a nice big hole through somebody's skull still." The corners of Riddick's lips twitched nearly imperceptibly as he and Jayne turned to head down the bridge stairs.

"Can only hope they give me a reason." Jayne chuckled.

"Kinda glad they're on our side." Wash remarked to Marshall. The T-rex couldn't have agreed more.

*T*F*C*

Riddick tied off a length of black nylon cord to the head of River's stretcher as Simon began taking her off the heart monitor.

"I'm really not comfortable with this." Simon openly protested.

"Ain't got a choice, Doc." He didn't think Simon would believe him if he told the doctor that he could hear her heart better than the machines anyway. "If we start shooting, I gotta be able to pull her to cover, those machines won't let me."

"Won't they notice that?" Simon asked referring to the long cord.

"Look around you Doc, whole bay's trashed to hell, one cord won't call attention. They won't be lookin' to her anyway."

"Riddick." Jayne barked and Riddick caught the tossed rifle one handed without looking up. "Plastic bullets." He informed him before moving on to Kaylee.

Riddick stood and led the cord to his chosen spot, a small niche between the ATV and stacking of crates which would shelter River. He ran his eyes along the path the stretcher would have to travel; ensuring it was clear. He judged the lighting in the bay and decided it was worth whatever small amount of pain and pushed his goggles back.

_/ Missin' some shit here, girl. Anytime you feel like waking your crazy ass up. /_

"Everybody know their part?" Mal asked and was answered by nods and vague grunts. It was good enough he figured. "Kaylee?" He held out his hands and Kaylee tossed him a handheld cortex screen. "This linked?"

"Ya-huh." She nodded as Jayne pulled down the top of her coveralls and knotted it at her waist. He slid the gun he had given her into the back waistband and pulled down her shirt to cover the bulge.

"Let me see you pull it, girl. Click the safety in the same motion, just like I showed ya." He grunted as he stepped back. He watched with a critical eye as she executed the action. "Bring your second hand up so's they can't see it shake girl, plant your feet to take up more space."

"Like this?" She asked, proud her voice shook less than her hand.

"Yeah." He pulled her close for a brief second. "Listen to me." He whispered low as he bent his head to rest against her forehead. "You ain't gonna be shootin', them _hun dans_ (bastards) ain't gonna be dumb enough to fire at us once they see that nice piece of boom we attached to their ship. All this is for show. Ya hear me?"

"Ya-huh." She whispered back.

"They's start shootin', I'm right behind you. Tell me how many steps."

"Ten back, three to the right." She recited mechanically.

"Here's the safety," Zoe pointed out to Inara and Simon. "Leave it on." She had about as much faith the pair could hit something as she did that this would go smooth. "Shootin' starts, just dive for cover."

"Thought the Bible frowned on killin' Preacher." Mal joked as Book joined him on his left.

"Kneecaps, Captain." The Shepherd replied as he checked the clip of the handgun he'd been given. "I won't stand by and be slaughtered."

"Ain't really plannin' on havin' to use them anyhow." Mal shrugged as he placed the screen, powered up at his feet. "Ain't a captain willing to risk a hull breach."

"They're lining up their airlock." Wash called as he dropped down from the ladder which led from the bridge to the bay. He caught the handgun his wife tossed him and took his place to the left of his captain.

Mal, Wash, Zoe, and Book took up their positions in the center of the bay; their bodies half concealing River, still unconscious on the stretcher. Simon, Kaylee, Inara, Riddick and Jayne took up their spots of concealment they had arranged throughout the bay. Mal gave the scene a once over as the red signal light began to flash. Riddick and Jayne had put their idle time to good use; at first glance it looked exactly as it should for a ship which had been through Hell. Only a skilled eye would find the pattern in the carefully ordered chaos.

The red light flashed to green and the now all too familiar face of the captain of the _Walden_ appeared in the airlock window, he held up the catalyzer. Mal nodded to Zoe as the crew centered in the bay raised their hands and Zoe jogged over to the controls to open the air lock door. She caught Inara in her peripheral and gave the semi-terrified woman a nearly imperceptible nod.

The doors opened and the first breath of fresh air _Serenity _had tasted in the last eight hours rushed into the bay. The crew of _Serenity_ took a collective inhale as the crew of the _Walden _stepped aboard; guns drawn.

"Check 'em, search the ship." Captain Jarren smirked.

"Point of interest." Mal said before the Jarren's crew could take a step, and gave the powered up cortex screen a slight kick with his foot; as he did so the second half of _Serenity's_ crew popped from their hiding places; guns drawn; the first half stepping closer together to completely shield River's body."This would be an impasse."

"Got eight guns to your five." Jarren gritted out; unfazed, though his crew did not follow his order to disband across the ship.

"And I got a nice piece of shiny attached to your ship." Mal's smirk turned into a full blown grin as he jerked his head down to the cortex screen he'd kicked over.

Cautiously and without lowering his gun or his eyes Jarren bent down to pick up the screen. "What's this?"

"That would be a Hell of a 'fuck you' attached to your ship." Jayne called out; as he did so he raised a small compact black rectangular box.

"I should point out as well," Mal added conversationally. "Man that's holdin' the trigger is a mite tetchy seein' as we been on the edge of death last few hours, and seein' how's he's also not fond of givin' up good coin I'd say it be a good idea to negotiate that price back down to its actual value, fifty platinum."

"Man's got an unhealthy obsession with blowing things up." Riddick informed them in a deadly earnest voice.

"Always brightens my day." Jayne scowled.

The captain of the _Walden_ turned several shades of red as he stared at the image he was holding. "You blow that thing, it'll hit you, too."

"Well, we're pretty much dead anyway without that part. So's it makes no difference to us at this point." Mal gave a dismissive wave of his already raised hands. "See the girl with the pigtails there?" Mal jerked his head back towards Kaylee. "One of your boys is going to lay that part down real careful like in front of her.

Jarren chewed on his lip and exchanged a look with his first mate. "Part's worth eighty." He spat out.

"True," Mal shrugged, "but usually those two scary men behind me manage to rustle up a bit of a discount and given those two little red lights centered on your forehead, we figured you'd be agreeable to it."

"Got a new word for you, Jarren," Zoe broke the silence that had fallen over the bay. "Sanguine."

"Hopeful?" The _Walden's _captain grunted in confusion.

"Interestingly enough," Mal continued to grin, "also means bloody. Now I'm hopeful you'll take your coin and be on your merry. I'm a businessman, only a crook when I have to be. I'm willin' to pay for that part square. I'll throw in that trigger switch too; but make no mistake, I'll go bloody."

"Ain't a better way to go." Jayne grunted as he cocked Vera.

"We can do business."

*T*F*C*

River let her fingers run along the wooden banister of the Tam's winter estate. She jerked her head around back from the way she came and tilted it slightly to the left.

Odd, she had time to think.

_Whispers._

She'd thought she'd heard.

The wood was cold; icy to the touch.

She could see her breath as a fine mist in the air.

Odd, she had time to think.

"River Marie Tam!" Regan Tam's voice could be heard echoing through the front foyer.

With a small sigh; River joined her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Well, I hope you're happy, little miss. We are going to be terribly late now, thanks to you. Everyone has been waiting!" Regan scolded.

_**/River, come on, girl. Know you can hear me. Open your fucking eyes! /**_

River stumbled backwards into the steel grip of Regan Tam.

"Why can't you behave?" The woman demanded; but her voice was cold and emotionless. "They've come to watch you dance."

"No. Not real. Not really real." River mumbled as she shook her head.

_Somewhere, Mother was aching; somewhere her bones were cold and she was screaming._

"River, listen to your mother." The woman said coldly.

"No. not real ." River shook her head violently. "She was born anew, she's not yours. You can't keep her. He is waiting. Doesn't like to be kept waiting. The River needs her Rock. She's not yours, you can't keep her. "

"River, behave." The woman's voice shook the foundations of the house. "They're waiting, waiting to watch you dance."

"Wo shang mei er, mei xin, bian shi tou."

(I will close my ears and my heart and I will be stone.)

"River, they're waiting. Tell them what you see!"

"Wo shang mei er, mei xin, bian shi tou."

"Just tell them what you see!" Regan Tam roared and the house around them shuddered violently.

"Tell me what you see."

_**/ Open your fucking eyes! /**_

"She's not yours!" River shrieked.

**Reality twitched.**

**Electricity.**

"Subject E-7, the image." _Lab rat number sixty four. Third progeny to Jin Long and Pauline Karleen, daddy was a steel worker. Momma was a whore. Not really daddy's son, He knew it. They all knew it. Bastard Boy. He listened at the door._

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image."_ Pen. Scratches. Notes. Secrets._

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image." _End him. They'll send another. And another. And another. And another._

_Like ants. Ants that chew on bones._

_Chew. Chew. Chew._

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image." _Chew. Chew._ River looked up; she laughed.

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image. I don't understand what is so difficult. Just tell me what you see." _Dao. You wouldn't understand. They weren't meant to see. She wasn't meant to see. Cut. Poke. Slice._

_Bullet to the brain pan._

_Squish. Squish._

_Look at her twitch._

_Hehe. Hehe._

_**/ What I tell you about dying, girl?/**_

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image."

**"There is no freedom in death River; just the echo of God laughing at your ass for letting him win."**

**Electricity.**

**Reality twitched.**

_**/Brother's really beginning to piss me off, girl./**_

"River it's me. It's Simon, your brother " His words cut through the darkness and edged into her nightmare.

_Simon. Find Simon. He's the key. The key that set her free. Led her to the Mother. Mother. Find Simon._

"Simon." She was behind him as he turned. "They know you're here."

"We can't make it to the surface from the inside."

_**/ Shows how much your brother knows. /**_

_Inside. She's inside. Need to find a way out. Need to find a crack. River flows through the cracks. _

_Purpose. The girl has a purpose._

_Not just a sty._

_The body is moving without the parts._

_The politic is off._

**Reality twitched. **

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image."

**Electricity**.

"E-7, the image." _Pen. Scratches. Scratchy pen. Secrets._

"_**They get close, pretend it's a pen."**_

**Electricity**.

"E-7, the image."

_**/ Getting sick of waiting, girl. /**_

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image."

**Electricity.**

"E-7, answer the question."

**Electricity.**

"E-7, the image. Tell me what you see."

"Pen."

"That wasn't so hard."

River lunged.

**Reality Twitched.**

Numbness.

Words that rolled like sandpaper.

They didn't burn.

Not her.

They were a caress.

Blood and Secrets.

He spoke of them.

She listened.

_**/ Anytime you're ready to explain yourself, girl. /**_

"_Wo shang mei __**yan mu**__, mei xin, bian shi tou." _

(I will close my **eyes** and my heart and I will be stone.)

_**/ Missin' some shit here, girl. Anytime you feel like waking your crazy ass up. /**_

"_Wo jiang jiang qiang yuongyan shi tuo."_

(I will be forever stone).

"_Shi tuo kan kan bu dao."_

(Stone does not see)

*T*F*C*

"Lights out." Riddick's voice was nothing more than a graveled whisper as he removed his goggles.

_/ Spending way too much fucking time in this room, girl. / _ He wasn't expecting an answer, and he didn't get one. Absently he twisted a strand of her hair as he stared at her.

_Call her, and she has no choice but to answer._

He closed his eyes and forced his heart to slow. Once more, he systematically slowed down his systems and retreated into himself. He exhaled and pushed himself out.

_What you call instinct is an inferior word. Our minds are different. Different doors and pathways. Her mind has found those pathways. You chose to open the doors._

Different pathways. Find her. He wrapped his mind around her. His awareness narrowed until he could no longer hear the engine repairs above the sound of her heart; until the lingering traces of smoke and engine grease dissipated beneath her scent and he could taste her on his tongue. He felt each individual strand of hair as he ran his fingers through it; he saw nothing, but her.

_**/RIVER/**_

_He xuao shi le liao liao,_ _Shi tou reng ran._

_(River is gone, Stone remains)_

_**/Can't be stone, girl. Can't both of us be blind./**_

_He xuao shi le liao liao,_ _Shi tou reng ran._

_(River is gone, Stone remains)_

_**/ You're mine. Ain't for you to say. You're mine. You come back to me. /**_

Riddick's head ticked slightly at the sound of _Serenity's _engines roaring back to life. River's eyelids fluttered. Slowly she turned her head. A pair of mercurial eyes. His lips crashed against hers. There was nothing gentle about his kiss. It was brutal and raw. It demanded and left no room for refusal. He drank her in. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers; breathing her in deeply, savoring the scent of her skin.

_/She is broken./ _ She breathed him in as he did her.

_/Feel whole to me./_ He ran his fingers across her cheeks. He tore himself away as though it had never occurred and a tiny smirk played at his lips as he grabbed the comm. "She's up."

*T*F*C*

"_Yep, a real beauty, ain't she?" The portly salesman continued, unaware his fish on the line was no longer listening. "A right smart purchase, this vessel. I'll tell you what, you buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with ya the rest of your life." The salesman turned to nudge his fish. "Hey! Hey, son!" He yelled out and walked away from the ship he had been showing and down the line to where his fish was standing, staring off into one of the scrap fields. "Son, you heard a single word I said?"_

_Mal hadn't. His eyes had fixated themselves on the lone, busted up Firefly in the yard. "That's the one."_

"_Girl ain't nothing more than a bunch of busted up parts." The salesman scratched his head._

"_Nah, you ain't lookin' at her right."_

_The salesman chuckled. "That's all she is. Parts. Broken up bits."_

"_She'll fly. She's mine."_

**Endnote: Jayne's bullets were not really plastic, he just called them that; designed for riot suppression, however fired at the head, or close range and they are perfectly lethal. There maybe even a one-shot off- shoot for the story behind how Jayne came to acquire "non-lethal" bullets in the first place, but no promises. I hope you all enjoyed, this one nearly gave me an aneurism. **

**Much luv**

'**Til After Now. **


	39. Interlude 8: Riddick

**A/N: Okay…so I know it's much shorter than any other update so far, I promise to make it up to you with Ariel which is going to be pretty massive.**

**To: Hotagainstthewall, Chibiboku, librarywitch, DarkDreamer1982, Ashi-Eiketsu, SusanMarieS, Oppenhiemer, MaiStar, serenitie1, ArtLightLove, angelwingz21, Hidden Relevance, Rachet, sxevlbtch, ariblack, & elliesmeow.**

**If I could personally deliver you each a cupcake I would. :D**

**Side note to ariblack: Hmmm…. Your question is extremely valid… and I have been thinking for over twenty minutes now on how to answer it without giving anything away… and since I can't, lol… I'll just say all will be revealed in due time, that author's note update holds a little tiny clue.**

**Thug- :D for holding my hand through this one. I'm pretty whiney. Lol.**

**Don't own a thing**

*T*F*C*

_A week later…_

Riddick tapped his shiv against the metal of his bunk frame as a constant growl rumbled through his chest. The whole crew was avoiding him and he couldn't blame them. He'd come back in from the last job in a particularly unfriendly frame of mind. To say the job on Greenleaf had gone south would have been a polite understatement. Riddick was not prone to understatement; nor was politeness high up on his list. The job had gone to absolute shit. When he had first signed on, he had honestly thought the crew had been kidding about Mal's predisposition for being shot at; they hadn't been. The man had a tendency to piss people off and was a shit judge of character, apparently. They had gotten paid, at least, and it had taken the jagged edge off his mood; but he was still fucking pissed. He'd re-cracked a rib diving for cover.

Since his latest encounter with Shirah, the world had seemed to sharpen. Slipping into that other state of mind began to happen almost reflexively. He had been fully aware of his enhanced senses before but now they seemed to have intensified. He found that, if he focused hard enough, he could hear the leaking tap in the showers over the din of the mess table across the ship. When he centered his focus, time itself seem to almost slow as he filtered through sounds and smells to identify their sources. It was part of the reason he had to dive for cover as he had. His mind hadn't been on the job, it'd been on a small swarm of horse flies. He had been able to make out each individual beat of their wings.

It didn't help his mood either any that River's scent coated his dorm like a film. He could even smell her on the blankets on his bunk from where she sat to sketch. He could feel her move inside his mind; testing, probing, and searching for answers he knew she'd never find. He hadn't kissed her again and hadn't even acknowledged it; and he was trying really fucking hard to continue along that path.

River wasn't broken. The pieces were all there; she just refused to reassemble them. She was parts; shifting through personalities warring for control. One minute, she was the genius, spewing a shit-load of crap he couldn't have cared less about but listened to because it was damned impressive. Then, an hour later, the girl; rambling and disorientated. Finally, the reader, annoyingly cryptic and ominous as Hell. If he was lucky, he'd piss her off enough to get a flash of the killer; precise, focused, and absolutely fucking lethal. He wanted the sum of the parts; River. She wasn't there yet and he wasn't a complete fucking asshole.

He was beyond denial at this point; touching her was a near compulsion and, more often than not, his fingers found themselves twisted around pieces of her hair. For some gorram reason, he had decided to play honorable fucking hero and keep his gorram hands to himself; stopping at her hair. That thought stopped the incessant tapping of his shiv. Since when did Richard B. Fucking Riddick play the honorable hero? He believed in God. Heaven and Hell, he wasn't so sure about, but if they existed and Caroline was there, she'd probably be laughing her ass off at him right now.

_**She's yours.**_

_Yeah, no shit._

Though his life experience told him to cut his losses and make a break for the Black, the thought of leaving her made him itch. If the Blue Hands were responsible for Andre, it meant he'd been tagged with River; running, and therefore surviving, would be a hell of a lot easier without her. It would end every one of the sudden surplus of complications in his life. He'd had a bounty and a parade of mercs on his ass even before the current shit he'd walked into; this was why he had left Jack behind on New Mecca. Now, instead of listening to a foul-mouthed fourteen year old who never shut the fuck up, he spent his time unraveling bullshit cryptic ramblings that could or could not potentially save his ass or just give him a really big fucking headache. First, it was curiosity. Then, fascination. The gorram Contract had ensnared him. What the fuck was he doing? Why the fuck was he even still here?

Riddick had an out and he knew it. River couldn't get inside his head anymore; which meant she couldn't hold up her end of The Contract. He was free to kick on and leave the whole rutting ship to rot in the dust. Mal and Zoe were former Independents. Even though Book was playing at Shepherd, he was still a Ranger; that kind of training didn't go away. As long as Jayne got to blow something up, he'd sign on no questions asked. She had more than enough protection.

His shiv resumed its tapping; the tone perhaps slightly more aggressive than it had been previously. He could think about it all he wanted. Riddick wasn't going anywhere and he knew it. River had clawed her way under his skin and settled there. Something in him wanted her there. He'd gotten used to the soothing hum of her presence in his mind. It was like a caress around the rough places; he felt calmer and more focused around her. She was wild and reeked of everything he savored; blood, secrets, the girl was pure chaos. There was nothing more hypnotic than watching her dance with a pair of blades. If he could just got her fucking smell out of his nostrils.

_**They wanted this one.**_

_Once again, no fucking shit._

The Alliance, The Company, Blue Sun, whatever fucking name they went by. There would always be somebody on their asses. He wasn't arrogant enough to think he was completely untouchable either. He couldn't just kill every _hun dan _(bastard) merc or Company Agent they sent after them. Johns had nailed _him._ One fucking detail and forty thousand volts had coursed through his body and the lights went out. He actually smirked a bit at that. The next time it had gone dark, it was Johns that hadn't walked away.

The Company left one option; to run. They didn't forgive and they didn't forget. They couldn't be bought off or bribed. They wouldn't get bored or impatient. They were too damn big to be brought down. Run or hide, River's predisposition to twitching out whenever she took a shine to, didn't bode well for the success of either endeavor. The fact that she wouldn't touch a gorram gun didn't work in their favor either.

_ What kind of fucking government assassin doesn't touch guns?_ He asked himself, slightly disgusted, not for the first time.

_**Not who you think.**_

_Who the fuck else was there? Private parties?_

_** The knowledge serves no purpose now.**_

_Yeah? Fuck you too lady._

Personally, Riddick preferred to know who was sniffing around his ass. That was purpose enough for him. He had a real bad feeling it all came back to that set of coordinates and he doubted River had even the slightest clue as to where they led. Book had said it was in uncharted space. Dark space, black space, the voidless beyond; call it whatever, but there wasn't anything out there but a cold vacuum and dead rocks.

_**Assumption is the failing of the weak.**_

_Somebody start making sense and I won't have to go around and assume shit._ He thought again to himself with a near snarl.

Who was to say there was nothing out there but dead rocks? Those satellites, the maps, star charts, all researched and manufactured by the Alliance and Blue Sun. How fucking convenient. Secrets; it all came back around to secrets and he'd put good coin on the fact River knew every one. There were lot of places to hide secrets out in dead space. Between the Reavers, and the knowledge that nothing more but more empty blackness awaited them, travelers were less inclined to challenge the established theories. The more and more he thought about it, the more viable the idea became. With it, the sinking sensation that whoever those private parties might be, that's where they were; wherever the fuck that was. His vision had always given him a decided advantage in almost every situation he had ever been in but he couldn't see through this shit. He didn't like fighting against or, for that matter, running from an enemy that didn't have a face or a name. It made it all that much easier for them to shoot you down while shaking your hand with a smile on their face.

To make matters worse, they were headed straight to the center of the Core and the White Sun System so the whore could get checked for crabs. Ariel, face scanners on every corner and, where there weren't scanners, there were fucking Feds. He wouldn't be stepping off _Serenity_. Hell, he was planning on avoiding the windows. It meant at least another two weeks of breathing nothing but **her **in through _Serenity's_ recycled air. He was going to fucking snap.

The only way he saw clear of it all was to figure out what exactly they had done to her. Take the pressure off her mind so she could think and for that matter "see" without needing to be sedated. At the very least, answer a single fucking question without losing her shit. His motives weren't entirely righteous and selfless either. He wanted her. He wanted to take her into the Black and disappear. As she was now, she'd probably just get them killed.

They needed those tests and they were headed to a world full of Alliance funded hospitals. The answers were dangling right in front of him and just out of reach. There wasn't a chance in Hell they'd be able to slip in through a back door or down a ventilation shaft either. He'd already run through a thousand different plans of attack. Hospitals made shitty targets. They ran at full capacity twenty-four hours a day. Government funding meant government facial scans and security substations full of Purple Bellies. Quite frankly, he'd broken into banks with less surveillance tech. Only way River was getting in there was with a toe tag... Riddick's shiv stopped tapping. Slowly, the faint traces of a plan began to creep around the edges of his mind. The front door was always fun.

*T*F*C*

"Been thinking, Doc," Riddick rumbled as he entered the infirmary. Behind his goggles, he flinched at the harshness of the stark lighting. This was yet another reason he was sick of fucking around. River spent way too much time in this bright ass room.

"Hope it didn't hurt." Simon retorted archly and after a brief pause he looked up thoughtfully. "Actually," he corrected, "I hope it did."

"Keep pushing me, Doc." Riddick's tone dropped in warning.

"Is there a purpose for this visit besides your daily threat to my life?" Simon asked, going back to his handheld.

"I ain't Jayne, Simon. I need you, so I won't kill you but I will beat you within an inch of your miserable, shit life." Riddick informed him conversationally as he inspected a scalpel.

"What is it you wanted?" Simon exhaled deeply and looked up from his handheld. He was fairly sure the convict wouldn't actually kill him but, as River had once pointed out, there was no reason to tempt fate.

"What kind of equipment did you need for your sister?" He asked as he let the scalpel dance across his knuckles.

"A 3-D neuro-imager. It's the only non-invasive way to get the information I need." Simon answered, eyeing him critically. "Why?"

Riddick ignored the question, "And, if you got the images, you'd be able to fix her?"

"I'll have the answer to the million cred question; but, to be honest, what they've done may not even be reversible." Simon admitted.

"Any other options?"

"No." Simon said firmly and without hesitation.

"Have you ever been in the hospitals on Ariel?"

"No, I did my residency and worked on Osiris, but they're all Core, they all run the same."

"Good." Riddick nodded.

Simon's eyes suddenly widened as understanding lit his face. "You can't be serious?"

"You got any better ideas?" Riddick raised an eyebrow.

"No." Simon admitted, his stylus tapping anxiously against the counter-top. He jumped up from his stool and began to pace. "It's not entirely implausible... risky." Riddick remained silent while he let the doc ponder the possibility. "It's the last place they'd ever think I'd bring her."

"Easiest way to find somebody, Doc; use your eyes, but nobody ever does." It was the whole theory behind his plan.

Simon grabbed his handheld and began taking down notes of everything he remembered about the security systems. The hospitals were built to specific government regulations, all contracted by the same security company; a division of Blue Sun. "You do realize their systems are built by Blue Sun?"

"Can't think of a better 'fuck you', myself." Riddick voice became dark with bemusement. "You got a better idea, I'm all ears."

Simon didn't, and he hated to admit it, but the idea was pretty bloody brilliant. "The facial scans at the entry points should be the only major issue. Once inside, movement through the hospital is only restricted by ID cards." His tone shifted as he tapped his handheld and scribbled notes.

"Money will buy those." Riddick leaned against the counter. He might not have been able to walk freely on the streets but he knew either Jayne or Zoe would be able to dig up some two-bit in some dive that could get them what they needed. "Uniforms, any equipment we need to pull off the con."

Simon nodded absently; his mind was whirling. "Mal and the others can pass through clean. Jayne has warrants though."

"Not interplanetary; I checked up on him when I boarded. Anything on his head is strictly dirt-side on the rim."

Simon quirked an eyebrow to that information, but otherwise didn't respond to it. "I have to go in. There's no way I could possibly teach them how to use the equipment. How do you plan on getting both River and I past the scans?"

"Body bags, Doc." Riddick said. "They don't scan corpses. Only question is, can your sister play dead?"

Simon's gaze drifted towards the med locker, "She won't have to play dead." He opened the locker, sifted through its relatively sparse contents, located what he was looking for almost immediately and tossed the small vial to Riddick.

"Byphodine?" Riddick hadn't the faintest; vaguely it tugged something familiar in his mind.

"It's one of the main components in the cryo-cocktail. It slows metabolic functions and induces a coma like state. It would take a full med exam for them to realize we aren't actually dead." Simon said smugly, more than a little pleased with himself.

Riddick nodded, slightly impressed himself. "We got bodies, gonna need an ambulance to bring them in on. Scrap yard could do us just fine. Just need Kaylee to patch something together to make it a few miles. Insides could be scraped to Hell, as long as it's shiny on the outside."

"There's still one thing we're overlooking." Simon announced with a frown as he tossed down his handheld for the moment. Riddick waited for him to go on. "Convincing Mal and the others to break into a government run hospital, on a Core world, with my sister's sanity being the only incentive."

Riddick eyed the small vial in his hand, "What's the street value on this, Doc?"

"Ninety, maybe a hundred platinum, so that's sixty or seventy credits, but I don..." Simon did suddenly see. "The Med-vault!"

"Black Market value of that one room, Doc?"

Simon chewed on the tip of his stylus, "More than _Serenity's_ probably brought in in the last three years combined, at the least. If they grab the heavy barbiturates that are sold for drug use as well as medical, could be as much as five times what they've earned."

"They get you into the imager and you get them the vault. Tell them how and what's worth taking."

"They just need to get us in and out." He nodded. "As long as they can pull off their cover, it will be the easiest coin they've ever brought in."

"Find us a hospital and get the blue prints; leave Mal and the rest to me." Riddick turned to leave but the doctor's voice stopped him.

"Why?"

"Had this conversation before; your sister's grown on me." Riddick answered evenly without turning around.

"And I'm still not buying it." Simon said embolden.

"Don't give a shit." Riddick replied, still not bothering to turn around. "Focus, Doc. You have shit to get done."

*T*F*C*

Riddick headed to the rear stairwell without the conscious realization he was looking for River until he stood in front of the panel. It was probably wisest to get to River before Simon's mind did. Wordlessly, he slid inside and made himself as comfortable as was possible before tugging off his goggles and shielding his eyes from the small hand torch River was drawing by.

"You're hiding." He said pointedly.

"So is he." She replied absently.

"What's that?" He jerked his head towards her drawing pad, ignoring her remark.

"The ones that come." She answered him; her voice sounded almost hollow; her face devoid of emotion as her hand mindlessly worked.

_Fuck,_ he thought to himself only as he eyed the incredibly detailed drawing of gloved hands. "They're close." It wasn't a question; he knew they were. He was only glad she wasn't going comatose and speaking in voices that weren't hers; like after that fuck-up of a train job for Niska.

"Two-by-two, Hands of Blue; they'll take the girl and kill the crew."

Riddick blinked and was slightly taken aback by the uncharacteristic transparency of her words. "What, no fucking riddles? You're making it easy."

River looked up from her drawing. "They'll never stop. Wherever they go, death screams her name. She's poison in the air; brings the rage. They don't lie down. They never stop. This is _Dao_. She can feel them inside; they chew. They chew on her bones and in her brain; they swarm."

"And there's the crazy." He shook his head. The corners of his lips twitched slightly as he ran his hands across his face.

"She cannot help it."

"Not yet." He reached over and pulled her into him; encasing her in his limbs and breathing in; bracing himself for her reaction. "Got an idea."

"He wants her to die." River said with a deep sigh as she inhaled the scent of his skin as he did hers. She allowed herself to fall wholly into his mind and let it numb her. The screaming in her head faded to whispers; distant and manageable. Something was wrong, terribly wrong, about the direction they were heading. It settled into her bones and burned her with cold.

"Poking around in your brother's head?" He asked, unsure as to whether her calm acceptance was a good thing or a bad thing.

"They always want her to sleep. Keeps her quiet. Does her best work. She sleeps and she can't choose what to see. Has to see what they want her to see. They steal her eyeballs so they can see. Make her dance, make her sleep. Make her dance, sleep, dance, sleep..."

Riddick let her ramble as he held her. He didn't bother to interrupt or tell her she wasn't making sense. It would only frustrate the Reader and make it worse. The convict listened and hoped, at some point, something would make some kind of sense; because that itch in the back of his head wasn't going away. It was almost as though he could feel their breath on the back of his neck.

"...They wore masks so she couldn't see. It was an absurdity." She muttered pushing a strand of her hair furiously from her face.

"That so?" Riddick questioned as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"Tried to build walls to keep her out, nothing keeps her out." She frowned. "Except the Rock. He kissed her." She accused suddenly.

Riddick's hand froze in her hair and he let his head thud against the wall. This was the conversation he'd been avoiding and, apparently, River was sick of waiting for an answer. Maybe he should have tried to shut her up. He felt her tense and shift in his head. She was waiting and his silence was hurting her.

_ Fuck._ He thought only to himself.

River tried to pull herself free of his arms and his hold on her instinctively tightened. In the semi-darkness of the compartment, Riddick shifted his weight and tilted River's chin up to look at her. He rested his forehead against hers and exhaled deeply. Falling back into that place inside his head, the "other state" as he had began to refer to it, and without warning he opened a door.

River inhaled sharply at the sudden onslaught of emotion; of words that would never be spoken aloud and would only cheapen what they represented. Riddick allowed The River to move through him. He took her into himself and let her experience every emotion he felt for her. He kept the solid thoughts and plans to himself; he kept the vision of Shirah to himself, but let what was raw and instinctual pass through.

As abruptly as he had opened the door, he closed it. The familiar stillness replaced the flood and River exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. He held her eyes and waited for her to speak. The silence stretched on. He counted her breathes, slowed his heart to beat in rhythm with her own, and he waited. She broke his gaze and fell back into the cage of his body and still she didn't speak. A hauntingly familiar melody broke free from her lips as a hum, and her fingers danced along the lines of muscle in his arm; but she did not speak. Inside his head he felt her mind; it was chaos, an utter contradiction to her outward appearance, but he felt it pulsate rapidly.

"She understands."

"I." Riddick corrected her and his voice rolled over her like sandpaper against stone. "I understand." She repeated softly. "He doesn't know what he is asking. She doesn't know if she can. The parts don't fit together, nothing lines up, nothing fits; pieces are missing." She began to ramble, her voice taking on an almost manic fearfulness.

"You take the parts from me then." He didn't bothering correcting her again; instead he soothed her, pushing out only strength and allowing nothing else to slip through.

"She's not a taker. They're yours, not hers." River whispered furiously.

"River," his voice rumbled against her ear and sent shivers down her spine, "-you can't take from me."

"He gives because he wants. Nothing is free."

Riddick didn't reply. He tucked her body further into his and rested his chin on the top of her head. There was nothing to say. He wasn't giving of himself selflessly. He wanted her. It was the only reason he was still there. If she wanted to be whole, if she wanted The Rock and the stillness of his mind, she had to be his. Nothing was free.

"The lion is waiting. Her eyes are everywhere. Blue and Red make Purple. There is no running; you can't hide, they find you in the dark. It's all for a better world."

Riddick got her point._ We're fucked, wherever we go._ "All sorts of fucking creepy, girl."

"She has been told." She muttered miserably.

*T*F*C*

"_Tian de erzi_ (Sweet son of)…" Book took a step back as a pair of mercurial eyes stared at him from the shadows of his dorm as he entered.

"I won't dignify that one, Shepherd." Riddick's smirk gleamed in startling similarity to his eyes as a slight chuckle rumbled from his chest.

"Still lurking in the shadows, I see." Book commented dryly as he closed the door to his dorm. "Lights fifteen." He called.

Riddick remained stoic; keeping his flinch inward. "I like the shadows, old man, you know that."

"I don't claim to know men any better than they know themselves." Book answered calmly.

"And yourself?"

"Where's this going, Riddick?"

"Just wondering about how a man of God walks through Hell."

"Are we planning a trip?" Book asked curiously maintaining a close watch on the shiv in Riddick's hand.

"Looks like it." Riddick pushed himself off the wall and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the older man. "They're not just coming for her anymore."

"So what's your real question, Riddick?"

"You a man of God or the man I knew you were?"

"You won't like my answer."

A low rumble echoed in Riddick's chest as he took a step forward to leave, but Book wasn't finished speaking.

"I'll give it to you anyway. I am a man of God. I won't kill if I don't have to but I will not be slaughtered either."

Riddick did not turn around to reply. "You think any of those fucks deserve to live after what they did to her? After what they did to those people back on Sigma? We left out the best parts of that story."

"And killing will undo those sins?" Book challenged.

"No, but it might let you live long enough to."

"Rid-"

"Done talking, old man." Riddick growled and left Book to the semi-darkness of his dorm.

The older man dropped onto his bunk and found himself reaching for the tattered leather bible. His calloused fingers ran along the worn pages, almost wholly unreadable thanks to River's corrections. Most of which were nothing more than incoherent ramble and formulas which he didn't have the education level to understand. What could break a person's mind so wholly? It was River's eyes which struck him so deeply. Haunted and empty; yet filled with such absolute pain he nearly felt like screaming himself if he looked too long. He found himself setting the bible down and instead reaching beneath his bunk for a small metal lockbox. It opened with a hiss after he entered his pass-code. The metal which greeted him inside gleamed dangerously and he removed the handgun from its case.

The Alliance would try to silence anyone the girl had come in contact with; _Serenity's_ crew was just the beginning. They would ripple outward. It was a clean sweep operation and he'd been a part of a few. Anyone the crew had come in contact with, and had even had the slightest glimpse of River, would be taken out; then they would move further still. He knew the captain and first mate had no other family, but the others? It was a death sentence ordered on the off-chance River had been mentioned in conversation. River's memory would be wiped from the face of the 'verse. Threat of exposure defeated, River would go back to where ever it was she came from and never see sunlight again.

God had given him this flock for a reason. He was sure of it now more than ever. The question of it was: would he remain a shepherd that watched over the flock as he could or would he become the soldier that keep the wolves at bay?

"_You seek redemption, you won't find it there. You're not a Shepherd. You were not meant to walk in the light." _

*T*F*C*

__**Til After Now.  
**


	40. Ariel 1:1

A/n: One quick detail which is vital. Remember Riddick's latest Shirah experience, how she said the survivors of the first Necro/Furyan war fled to settle on a planet called Fury? Well that's important, in the Firefly 'verse, located in the Blue Sun System is a world called Fury, it is a planet or two away from Miranda. There is a difference between Furya and Fury; the survivors thought finding a planet called Fury was a good omen and chose there to settle.

**Much love to: Elliesmeow, Oppenheimer, Darkdream1982, ****Ashi-Eiketsu, Rachet, serenitie1, Dreamingfox, Hidden Relevance, librarywitch, 1stp Klosr, Sabrina1204, sci-fiholic, Dark-n-Twisty, ArtLightLove, , ZenRyu, and Bianca**

**Your reviews keep me going and my brain matter from leaking out the side of my ears. I bow before you all. :D you rock. Seriously.**

**Thug- Thanks for not shooting me. LOL. I bow before my super shiny beta. Chronicles is better because of you. :D**

*T*F*C*

"We cannot underestimate her." Nine remarked. The edges of his eyes crinkled in a fashion which would suggest displeasure, his tone however, would have suggested anticipation. "Subject E-7 displayed a natural strength in empathy. Regardless of her mental stability, her awareness remained unprecedented. The termination of a facet in her defense network could trigger her behavioral programming."

"She would feel that they were taken, would she not?" Twelve looked up at his partner from the array of screens they hovered over.

"Pain is both an excellent motivator and deterrent. We will assume she has formed an attachment, on some level, with every member of her network. She has been aboard the vessel for too long not to. Termination would severe the connection. Captivity, fear, pain, Subject E-7 has a known tendency to shut down under such duress."

"Attacking the parts, weakens the whole." Twelve nodded.

"The Companion will be our first target." Nine remarked rather conversationally as he raised an image of the woman in question. "The weakest link will be removed first. Quarry M. Reynolds was a decorated Independent." There was a slight edge of distaste in his voice. "They imagined themselves heroes. He will come looking." Nine concluded with conviction. "Quarry I. Serra is logged into the Guild Hospital for a two day period. Her scheduled time of arrival: twenty-seven hours. We will monitor the Guild Hospital and await her release. At which point, we will intercept. At the very least, M. Reynolds will come looking for his shuttle."

"Two days until the initial intercept; it will take another one to three before they come looking. Five days invites exposure." Twelve countered.

"We will require the time to plan. Everything must be executed flawlessly. There is no room for mistakes where Subject E-7 is concerned. We must move with caution. There will be no second chances."

"This is highly unprecedented." Twelve visibly and firmly frowned. This was not how things were done.

"And so is E-7." Nine said with an equal amount of firmness.

Twelve wanted to protest further, but it was not his place. While Nine was his partner he was also his superior in rank. Nine had outlived many of his predecessors and Twelve resigned himself to the fact that this was for good reason. "Quarry I. Serra rents a shuttle. Assuming she will use it to travel while she is on world, we can use the beacon to our advantage."

"A gas trap would suit our purposes well. The shock of the sudden termination of two or more of her network simultaneously will effectively destabilize her."

"There is still the matter of Quarry R. Riddick."

"Another issue." Nine agreed as he recalled an image which had been held under much scrutiny between the partners. It was a clip from the Tyrus feed and depicted River and Riddick sitting together in a booth. In said clip, their expressions were the relevant matter. They were wearing identical masks of pain as their bodies jerked in near unison. The movement was quick, more of a flinch than an injury; it was the curious synchronization of their actions which held their attention. "Subject E-7 has indeed made a friend."

"What troubles me is that we do not know whether or not he is seeing in the same manner which E-7 is; or whether she is communicating what she is seeing via a telepathic bond?"

"Regardless, R. Riddick has become a primary target. Live capture and detainment is essential." Nine replied brusquely. "The Company will want him either way."

"They will be pleased." Twelve spoke with traces of relief evident in his voice.

"All will be forgiven."

*T*F*C*

Serenity-night _cycle._

"_Liang zhi shou de liang ge lanse _(Two-by-two, hands of blue)… they watch you. Two-by-two, _ta men dai ni _(they take you)." River muttered furiously as she paced in her dorm.

The walls seemed to be closing in on her, making it hard to draw in a clear breath or focus, as all of her willpower was being devoted to ensuring the walls remained in place. The cage door was closing. Those that bled and breathed nothing but blue were drawing ever closer. She could feel them. She could hear their voices in her head. Their gloved hands wrapped around her arms. She felt the current of The River pull at her and, for the first time, she resisted. She fought against it. The River grew enraged. It was not to be ignored. It was not to be refused.

The world seemed to twitch as she fought to ground herself into reality. She lost all comprehension of the passage of time. Every second felt like hours; the hours, like years. Nothing made sense. She knew, or rather a vague part of her mind willed her to call out, to seek out the safety of _**his**_ mind. She was lost in the darkness though. Memories rose unbidden and called claim on her. Any semblance of rational thought she had been able to maintain fled with their arrival. They were coming. They would take her. Nothing would stop them. She was theirs. She was not River. She was the girl. Subject E-7. Her mission was to ensure a better world.

It was her privilege to ensure a better world.

_**Reality shifted.**_

The girl's head jerked at the sound of her brother's mind's voice reaching her. He was conversing with _**him**_. The one she could not hear. The one who's silence held a true advantage over her. He was an obstacle and detrimental to her mission. He was a threat. He held secrets she was not privy to. Nothing escaped the River and she listen to her brother speak on killing her. They were plotting against her. They wanted her secrets. Exposure was unacceptable. The other's silence was unacceptable.

*T*F*C*

"There's got to be another way." Riddick growled at the doctor. At first, the idea of drugging both Simon and River had seemed like the ideal solution, but the more Riddick thought it over the more uncomfortable he became with it. Byphodine was a cryo drug. What if River had the same reaction to cryo that he did? Riddick repressed the urge to shudder. Cryo was a living nightmare for him. His body was held paralyzed by the drugs while his mind ran wild. The last time River had been pulled from cryo, she hadn't woken up in the best state. He could only wonder if that was part of the cause. Riddick would have to ask her, but now didn't seem to be the time. He could hear her pacing in her bunk, muttering vaguely, but he didn't want to push her. She felt jagged in his mind and he knew something was going on. He also knew pushing River to talk when she was like she was probably the worst possible thing to do. It only agitated her further.

"It's perfectly safe." Simon tried to reassure him, though the convict's concern was still not something he was entirely comfortable with. He wasn't blind and he wasn't stupid either. He might have compared himself next to River as a drooling idiot child but that was only because next to River _everyone_ was. He, however, could still not determine why Riddick was so attached to his sister. What could a man like him want with a girl like River? He'd spent the last several days observing the pair. After all, the first rule of scientific discovery was observation and so he had done just that at every opportunity.

Simon had noticed that Riddick, River, and to his surprise, even Jayne had some kind of sensory compulsion. They touched things; just about everything they encountered on a daily basis. River walked the ship with her fingers outstretched and running over every inch of metal. She felt no need to touch people, but objects were another matter entirely. Riddick's fingers were never truly still. It was as if he was constantly fighting off the urge to touch something but when he was distracted he made no such effort. To Simon's dismay, most often it was River's hair that was usually in reach in those moments. Jayne poked at everything and whenever his hands were empty, which was rarely, he fidgeted incessantly.

The observation wouldn't have bothered him. He assumed that it was the product of some kind of obsessive control disorder; a need to verify oneself though tactile reassurance. The fact that it was a habit Jayne shared, for some reason, had placated him on that one. However, that was where the merc's similarities with River and Riddick ended.

In a room together, the pair moved in almost perfect tandem. Ten people aboard _Serenity_ made her a bit crowded when they all occupied any space other than the cargo bay. It wasn't unusual for one person to get in the way of another; except River and Riddick _never_ seemed to be in each other's way. They rather moved around each other in an almost orbital fashion. The gravity of said orbit would shift seamlessly, from time to time, between who acted as the satellite and who was the planet, but the fluidity of it never changed. They anticipated each other's needs in an almost instinctual way. It was fascinating to watch; or rather, it would have been had it not involved his sister and a convicted felon.

"Cryo fucks with me, Doc." Riddick rumbled as he toyed with a scalpel. A habit he knew Simon found particularly unnerving; which gave him all the more reason to do it. "And your sister didn't seem to right with it the last time either."

"One," Simon said with a slightly frustrated exhale, "She was woken well before she should have been, it was shock-"

"You sure about that?" Riddick cut him off. He didn't buy it.

"I am a doctor. Two,-" Simon started again as if he had not been interrupted, "-this is just Byphodine, one component in the cryo-cocktail, the after-effects will be significantly less than that of the full. We may wake up slightly disoriented or dizzy, some nausea should be expected, but it all should clear itself up rather quickly."

"Whole lotta shoulds in this plan, Doc. Sounding a Hell of a lot like Mal." River should be fine. The others should be able to pass face scans. The IDs The Fraternity would be supplying should work in the hospital. The neuro-imager should give them answers. Riddick was not a man that operated off of shoulds and maybes.

Simon snorted. "My shoulds are significantly less dangerous than the captain's."

"Speaking of our good captain, we _**should**_-," Riddick stressed the word with a significant amount of sarcasm, "-inform him soon. What's left, detail wise?" Riddick may have come up with the basics of the plan himself, but the doctor had been refining it to near flawlessness. He had been a bit surprised and was more than a little pissed at himself for underestimating the man.

"What's left depends on the rest of the crew. Kaylee has to be able to convert something into at least semi-useable and acceptable transport. This **is **the Core. Nothing is half rate or second class here. I sent Redford an encrypted text earlier today-" Simon frowned and rubbed his face, "-or yesterday, at this point, and he's agreed to obtain the needed uniforms and IDs. It will not be cheap."

"I got the cash." Riddick interrupted again. "We ain't been working much, but I haven't had a reason to spend anything either." He left out the part about saving it for when he and River kicked on. That would be information he wouldn't be sharing.

"Aside from that-," Simon cleared his throat and blinked several times as he tried to focus his exhausted eyes back on his handheld, "-I just have to ensure that the captain, Zoe, and Jayne can all pass for believable medics."

"That gonna happen?" Riddick arched a brow.

"Doctors tend to look down on medics who undergo less than half the training they have and the nurses should be too busy to even care. They just need to get down maybe a line or two each. Anything besides that-," Simon shrugged, "I figure the captain has been able to talk himself in and out of worse. Zoe won't let Mal dig himself in too deeply. It's really Jayne I worry about."

"Cobb's smarter than he plays, I wouldn't underestimate him." Riddick remarked as he flipped the thin scalpel across his knuckles.

Simon looked like he didn't believe it at all and was about to say so, when Riddick suddenly jerked up and off of his stool. The convict tilted his head slightly to the left; in a way which was unnerving similar to River's. He sniffed the air and a low growl rolled out from his chest.

"What's wrong?" Simon asked cautiously.

Riddick ignored him and took the three steps to the doorway. He stuck his head out and studied the shadowed common room. He could smell her but more disturbing was her presence in his head. It had gone cold and emotionless. This was not how he felt her on Canton though the similarity of it was enough to alert him to danger. That had been another mistake. He shouldn't have left her alone for so long. Riddick should have been paying closer attention to the subtle shifts he had felt over the last few hours. The gravity of his mistake hit him fully as River's foot connected solidly with his face. The force of the unexpected blow sent him stumbling backwards.

River dropped from the piping in the ceiling. Her eyes were cold and focused. Her body rigid and yet coiled. Simon took a step back and was met with a wall that blocked any further retreat.

"River?" He called as loudly as his trembling voice would allow. She did not turn at the sound of her name. There was not even a flinch or any active recognition at all. He was staring at a stranger. A stranger who, to all intents and purposes looked as though she was here to kill them both.

_"She's part of a weapons program, Doc."_

_"She's just seventeen."_

_"Don't change the fact."_

Redford's words rang out in his mind. He hadn't believed it until this moment. The reality of what his sister was came crashing down on him and the sight of her slow, predatory smile as he realized she had heard everything he had just thought sent a spike of fear down his spine.

Riddick fought to control himself as he gripped the infirmary bed with one hand. His tongue ran across his lips and he tasted his own blood as it poured from his nostrils. She had rebroken his nose. He ignored the searing pain in his head as he ripped off his goggles and locked eyes with River. His brain channeling the pain into something a thousand times more useful. Anger.

_**/River!/ **_ He roared into her mind as he had done to awaken her from her coma and he felt his words crash against a stone wall that sealed her off from him. She hadn't moved since dropping from the ceiling. Her head tilted to the left as she held his gaze with an intensity that he couldn't decide if it pissed him off or turned him on. _**/River, /**_ He reminded her fiercely, forcing the thought from his mind and into hers. He had the oddest sensation of feeling a crack, a spray of metaphorical dust as he slammed against her metaphorical mental wall. _**/River./**_ He slammed against her mind again and this time she physically reacted.

River's hands moved in a blur of motion almost too quick for Riddick to track. Her arms arched upwards, a shiv in each hand. She lunged, Riddick sidestepped and spun; the shock of her attack, much like the foot to his face, caught him off-guard and his movements were a half of a breath to slow. She caught him mid-spin, a shiv sliced through his shirt and he felt the heat of a blade cut through his flesh.

The immediate surge of adrenaline and rage rushed through his mind as instinct took over. His own shivs were drawn and metal met metal in a screeching, ear-piercing melody. The two killers lost conscious awareness of their surroundings. Riddick blocked a lunging stab, a flick of his wrist repositioned his shiv, and he swung with his fist. The blow connected solidly with River's jaw and sent her reeling.

River flipped herself up and, kicking off a wall in the small space, she lunged for him once more. He dodged a spinning kick and found himself rolling over the infirmary bed to avoid being struck again by her blade. She was relentless and he was on the defensive. He could already see the slight difference in her face; the swelling from where his fist had connected.

_**/River!/**_ He tried again and her arm faltered mid-stab. He was able to latch on, twist hard and yank it up. A shiv clattered uselessly to the tiled floor as her right leg flew up at a virtually impossible angle to nail him directly in his nose once more. Red clouded his vision as he involuntarily released his hold and a snarl ruptured from his lips. A scalpel replaced her fallen shiv. It kissed his cheek as she swiped the larger shiv across his mid section. He avoided being gutted, but another river of blood was now running down his face.

_**/Don't make me hurt you./**_ He had meant to force it through angrily but it moved across their bond like a plea. River's only reaction was to lunge for him again. His every attempt to reach her only succeeding in spurring her on further. It was as though something in her was reacting violently to his attempts.

As she came at him again, he managed to drop low and roll beneath the infirmary table. He came up on the other side and grabbed ahold of her from behind. It was only a leg and it was not enough. She kicked up her free one and it caught him in the neck and he landed hard face down on the ground. She wasted no movement and spun onto her back flipping herself up.

Riddick shoved the rolling cart at her to buy himself enough time to get back on to his feet.

_**/River!/**_ He roared and he thought, for the briefest moment, that something flashed behind her eyes. She lunged at him again. There was hesitation; he was breaking through. It wasn't enough. He blocked a slash of her shiv and planted his boot into her stomach. She went crashing into the counter.

_**"Eta Kooram Nah Smech!" **_ Simon yelled as soon as the words became coherent in his memory.

River was crouched in preparation for a lunge and Riddick was in a defensive stance; both fell unconscious to the ground. In the aftermath, Simon blinked.

_Why in the gorram Hell did Riddick drop, too?_

He forced himself out of his head and into the moment. River was on the ground. Blood seeped from the corner of her lips and a large purplish bruise was already forming on her face. Riddick was also on the ground and bleeding rather severely from the slash River had inflicted on his chest. Simon stepped back and, on the exhale, Dr. Tam emerged. Answers would have to wait.

*T*F*C*

Riddick came back to consciousness slowly. His goggles were missing and so he kept his eyes closed as he tested his muscles. His arms were tied down and he was on the ground. A vague echo of heat and pain radiated from his chest and the circumstances surrounding his current predicament came back clearly.

"Gotta say ,Doc-," He rumbled darkly, "-waking up tied down is only another reason to kill you."

The doctor cleared his throat. "I wasn't sure how you would wake up, given how you went down."

"Anytime you're ready to untie me."

"Um… yes of course." Simon amended quickly. "I'm sorry you're on the floor. I couldn't exactly lift you myself, but I did manage to reset your nose and stitch up while you were out."

"Goggles." Riddick grunted and Simon complied. Tugging his goggles on, Riddick rose carefully, testing his strength and his balance. Whatever the hell had happened he felt no residual at least, aside from a throbbing in his head that he pinned more on the recently reset nose. "What the fuck happened?" He asked the only relevant question in his mind.

"Can I trust you, Riddick?" Simon asked as his eyes darted nervously to his sister.

"Seems like an odd question, Doc; considering your sister just tried to gut me."

"Are you going to tell the captain?"

Riddick refused to dignify that with an answer. Instead, he crossed the room and dropped down on the stool closest to where River slept. "What happened?"

"I need to ask you one question before I explain and I need you to answer it." Simon stated calmly.

"You ain't really in the position to be the one asking." Riddick answered, as he inspected the bruise he'd left across river's left cheek. It was nauseating. "You can ask." He did not add that he would answer and the omission didn't go unnoticed by the doctor.

"What is your interest in my sister?" He exhaled the question quickly.

Riddick had been expecting it. "We got the same enemies. We're the same kind of people me and your sister." He answered, seemingly absently as he took up the occupation of playing with the ends of a strand of River's hair. He studied it as if it would offer answers. It however, being only hair, remained silently stubborn on the subject.

"You still haven't answered my question." Simon pointed out.

"I never told you I would." Riddick replied without looking up from the strand of hair.

"How can I trust you if you won't answer a single question?" Simon dropped into a stool himself. "And could you please stop playing with her hair."

Riddick smirked, still not looking up. "Don't ask me any questions, I don't have any answers." He pointedly continued to twirl the strand in his fingers. "And as to the other part, no."

Simon's eye twitched ever so slightly. It was yet another observation he'd made. Whenever Riddick wanted to end a discussion and avoid an answer, he had taken to using a few choice phrases of River's. It made him wonder how often River truly was lucid and just playing the game of being crazy because it was easier than facing the truth.

"How long until she wakes up?" Riddick asked after several moments of tense silence past.

Riddick's question broke Simon free from his trance of self-reflection and he finally turned to face the man once more. "Several hours. I gave her a sedative on top of…" His voice trailed off because he really wasn't quite sure what it was exactly he had done. He was a trauma surgeon, not a behavioral specialist.

"Still waiting on that answer."

Simon exhaled, deciding on that breath he had no other choice than to trust the man. If River did, he would, too. She was, after all, the reader. She wouldn't have attached herself to someone who wasn't safe. "When I explained to the crew what River had been through, I neglected to mention that she had also been implanted with behavioral programming." He noticed Riddick's body tense.

"Neglected to mention?" Riddick ground the words out as he unclenched his jaw several times in the effort to speak.

"The Fraternity wouldn't shelter us because of it. The captain would have turned us away to if he knew. I thought… I don't know what I thought. I just wanted her to be safe."

Riddick couldn't fault him. He would have done the same thing. He **was** doing the same thing. "Anything else you neglected to mention?" Riddick asked finally looking up.

"The Academy is on Ariel."

Riddick took a moment to process that. When he finally managed to, he threw his head back and barked out a laugh.

"I fail to see the humor in this." Simon frowned.

"You let us fly blind back into her own personal Hell? You really don't get it yet, do you? She's a gorram mind reader, Doc. You assume because she gets confused that she doesn't understand. She understands everything. What the hell were we talking about right before she decided to try to gut me? Think, Doc; think **real** hard."

Simon did and it took several minutes, which Riddick gave him, before the pieces fell into place. "We were talking about how we were going to kill her and get her to the hospital to scan her brain."

"What'd they do to her, Doc?"

"They violated her mind. Took away control. Free will. We never asked her if it was okay. We told her."

"And the entire time we were personally escorting her back to Hell." Riddick wasn't surprised at all that she had snapped. If she had, in fact, been implanted with behavioral programming then the whole plan would perceived as a threat to her survival. She wasn't attacking them. She was defending herself. The bruise on her face ate at him even more now and he could not look away.

"I couldn't be sure she'd even remember this was the world I had taken her off of. We dropped her off at a government sponsored school on Londinium. My parents informed me several months later that they had referred her to a privately funded school on Ariel where she could receive more specialized attention. She went into cryo almost the minute after we made it back onto our ship. I didn't even think she was aware she had been moved from Londinium."

"Tell me about those words, Doc, 'cause I'm **real** interested." Riddick rumbled. "It's the last thing I remember. What was that? Russian?"

Simon looked a bit surprised. "Yes, it was. They're safe words. The men who helped me break her out told me she was a part of a weapons program. Just like any other weapon, they built in a kill switch." His voice was laced with disgust. Simon looked up, "Which begs the question... why did you go down, too?" His eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Just what secrets are you keeping?"

"Your sister's." Riddick replied easily. "Same as you."

Simon's face went from suspicion to confusion. "I don't understand."

"I told you. Me and your sister are the same kind of people. I'm not a reader." He clarified before Simon could come to any incorrect conclusions. "I can't hear you or anybody else, except River."

"You mean you can hear her thoughts?" Simon asked slowly.

"Only the ones she lets me, but I can feel her emotional shifts."

"You knew something was wrong with her right before she attacked?" It wasn't really a question, but Simon needed to hear it confirmed.

Riddick tucked the strand of hair he had been toying with neatly behind River's ear. "She'd been off all night. I thought it was just another bad day. We had work to do. It's a mistake I won't make again."

"Why only you?" Simon demanded. He realized he sounded angry and he partially was. If River could communicate with others telepathically, why hadn't she reached out to him? Why only Riddick?  
Riddick was only willing to divulge so much information, and so his next words were only half truths, "Your guess is as good as mine, Doc. She can't do it with other people and, just like I can only read what she lets me, she can only read what I let her."

"That's why she follows you around? Because your mind is quiet to her?" Simon asked, almost relieved.

"She says I keep the voices away. She hides inside my head."

"The Rock? _Shi li_ (strength)?" Simon's questions were only half-formed despite the new found clarity.

Riddick only nodded as he studied the large bruise across her face. A wave of fresh anger rolled over him but it was directed at no one but himself. The bruise taunted him and that thing beneath his skin clawed at him. He had hurt her. At the time, all he had felt was the fury at being cut with one of his own blades.

"That's why you asked me about psychic cords, isn't it?" Simon mused thoughtfully.

"I can feel it." Riddick admitted in a reverent whisper, which astounded the doctor. "It's like a cord, but it's not. What she feels, I feel. What I feel, she feels. Thoughts take a concentrated effort, but emotion, I have to work to keep it from moving across the bond. She can't stop her emotions from reaching me." He shrugged. "Maybe she can and she doesn't want to; I don't know."

Simon honestly didn't have words. Though all of the pieces had fallen into place, he lacked the means to do anything further with them.

"She's getting worse." Riddick remarked suddenly and his anger was evident.

"Yes." Simon admitted it even though it pained him. "I don't believe it's entirely due to Ariel either."

"It ain't." Riddick agreed. "All the voices. She says the dead scream at her. She calls it The River. She says it all flows through The River. It's really fucked what she hears, Doc. She uses my mind like an anchor and, lately, it ain't been enough."

"We'll know more after we get the scans." Simon said, slightly surprised by his use of the plural.

"'Til then, she's with one of us at all times. I'll watch her at night."

"You seriously think I'm going to be okay with you sleeping with my sister?" Simon asked incredulously.

"You got a better plan, Doc?" Riddick challenged him as he looked up. "Do you think you'd actually wake up if she didn't want you to?"

"You're not seriously suggesting that my own sister would try to kill me."

"You think she woulda stopped with me tonight?" Riddick asked him. He made no attempt to lighten the truth. "That wasn't your sister. That was programming. What happens the next time she has a nightmare?"

Simon nervously tapped his fingers against the counter as he scoured his brain for a valid argument. He didn't have one. That wasn't his sister inside the girl that had attacked Riddick. He nodded reluctantly but refused to give it his verbal permission on principle alone

"You can't use those words again." Riddick declared abruptly as his eyes turned back to the bruise. "Start carrying a syringe with you. I will, too." He never wanted to be responsible for another bruise on her body again. "If we have to, we'll put her to sleep that way. I won't be one of them. I won't use those words." The thought of someone being able to control River and now, by default, him as long as she remained in his head made him want to break something; kill someone. The urge to hunt down every last _hun dan_ (bastard) who knew the phrase and kill them slowly and painfully was nearly overwhelming. The fact that he wasn't contemplating on killing the doctor for the knowledge was a matter he regulated to a distance part of his mind to think over later. He needed Simon for now. He left it at that.

"Agreed." He didn't like it anymore than Riddick did; especially now that they had figured out why River had lost control.

Riddick pulled the Velcro restraints off of River's wrists and, despite the searing pain in his chest, he lifted her off the bed.

"What are you doing?" Simon snapped.

"I'm taking her back to her room." Riddick snapped right back although his voice was laced with a slight growl. "You wanna explain when the crew wakes up why it is she's tied down and drugged up in the infirmary?" Almost on cue _Serenity_ shifted into her day cycle.

Simon couldn't argue. He really did not want to explain.

Riddick took his silence for acceptance. "Get some sleep, Doc."

"Riddick." Simon started as the man turned away.

"What? !" The convict snapped somewhat annoyed.

"Thank you." Simon exhaled the words tiredly and, though they somewhat pained him, he felt a immense surge of relief knowing someone, a very dangerous someone in fact, was on their side.

"Ain't doing it for you." Riddick informed him without looking back as his eyes were occupied elsewhere.

"I know. Nonetheless, for her, thank you."

Riddick merely grunted by way of reply and, as he left Simon, he couldn't help but wonder if he had just made the greatest mistake or best decision of his life. As it was however, at least for the next several hours he could sleep knowing River was safe.

*T*F*C*

Riddick carried River into her dorm. He didn't take his usual place in her chair however. Instead, still standing and holding River, he kicked off his boots and eased them both onto her bed. He spent a few moments silently swearing as he tried to get comfortable. A few more forcing himself to breath past the pain in his chest before settling them both. Her scent was the heaviest in this room and it was intensified by the fact that he was now resting his head on her pillow and covered by her blankets and sheets. He allowed himself to indulge as he breathed her in. In the darkness, he could still see the bruise on her face clearly and, with more tenderness then anyone would have assumed was possible from him, he ran his fingers along it.

There was no running from it and lying in her bed next to her was a particular form of masochistic torture he had decided to inflict on himself. He encased her in his limbs, ignoring the pain once more. If she woke, he wanted it to be surrounded by him. He wanted his scent as heavily burned into her existence as hers was his. Riddick wanted her to associate his arms with safety rather than the opposite as he had demonstrated by hitting her. Most importantly, he wanted to show her that he trusted her. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Slowly his heart and breathing fell into a rhythmic pattern alongside River's. He fell further back. He needed answers.

Riddick opened his eyes to a now familiar sight.

The violent landscape was soothing.

The smell of sulfuric ash and wet foliage was now welcomed.

He was home.

_**I know why you have come. I have no answers.**_

The voice came from his left and he turned his head to see Shirah perched on a rock as River's head rested in her lap.

She dismissed Riddick immediately and went back to humming as she braided complicated coils into River's hair.

_**I had a daughter once.**_

A light rain began to fall.

In the distance, the cry of some wild thing echoed off the valley walls.

_**She is not a child of mine. **_

_**I have no power over her.**_

Riddick crossed the distance between them slowly and easily climbed his way up and onto the rocks.

_I hurt her._

His voice was thick with remorse as his eyes settled on the bruise across her cheeks.

_**They have hurt her. **_She corrected Riddick as she reached over and drew up his chin.

_**You have no idea how closely your fates are bound.**_

_Tell me. _He held her gaze.

_**I will not. **_She dropped his chin and looked away.

Riddick bit back the snarl which so eagerly jumped to his lips.

_Why?_ He bit the question off angrily.

_**A long time ago, a woman was foolish enough to whisper the words of fate**_

_**To a man foolish enough to believe her.**_

_**Eleven words condemned an entire race.**_

"_**A Furyan shall be born, and he will be your downfall."**_

_Eleven is an important number._

Riddick snorted bitterly; though his gaze fell on the sleeping girl reverently as he fingered one of Shirah's intricately created braids.

_**A self-fulfilling prophecy.**_

_**Would we have risen against them, had they not spilled first blood?**_

_**No. We did not meddle in the affairs of others; the unworthy.**_

_**The future is not meant to be spoken of in the present.**_

_**She was not meant to see.**_

"_**We have the same enemies."**_

_**You've never spoken truer words.**_

_**And yet, your reason for them was to run from the truth.**_

_I don't run from shit._

Shirah laughed; her voice rang out through the valley,

Like water rushing over rocks.

The rain, however, did not stop.

_**You offered her parts. Tell me, Furyan; which ones did you offer?**_

_I don't have time for riddles._ A growl did escape him then.

_**She can't take from you. If you don't have the answer, you have nothing to give.**_

_Tell me what to do._ Riddick's request was a plea.

_**I have no answers.**_

_Bullshit._

_**I have no answers I am willing to give.**_

_**I have learned the lesson others have taught.**_

_**I will not interfere.**_

_And what you've been doing to me isn't interfering?_

_**Would you rather pass your life asleep? **_

_**Half of what you were meant to be?**_

_**This is not interference.**_

_**This is our way.**_

_**We were awakened.**_

_**We were enlightened.**_

_**We were damned.**_

_**That is how I come to be in this place. **_

She gestured with her arm, and swept it across the valley,

Turning the grave markers to the fields of burning decay;

Which not even the rain could stifle.

_**Blood calls to blood.**_

_**It is time you saw something.**_

Shirah made no move, no gesture, but the world around them fizzled and crackled with energy.

Bolts of lightning cracked through the sky.

Riddick blinked and he was no longer on the mountainside.

Shirah and River were nowhere in sight.

There was a door.

_**He walked through.**_

"_Lena, there is no more time." A man's voice cut through the haze and the atmosphere solidified. He begged a woman as his lips kissed the tears from her cheeks. One hand went reverently to her stomach. "Goodbye, my son."_

"_Don't do this, come with me." She begged again. Her eyes were liquid pools of silver as they filled with tears._

"_I will buy you time."_

"_It is not in me to run." She said defiantly._

"_It is not in me to watch you die." He removed her hands from his as the sounds of repeater rounds echoed around them. "Go. For our son."_

_**The scene shifted before him. Another door.**_

_The screams of labor filled the small bunker. It was one room, the men, whom outnumbered the women, did their best to avert their eyes. They were perhaps more anxious then the women. The next generation of their clan was being born. In a world were death was circling, life was revered. The proximity alarms sounded and drowned out the woman's screams. _

_**Another door.**_

_She screamed as a knife was driven through her belly. Her fingers curled around a blade hidden beneath her and her arm arched murderously. Blood splattered across her skin as the man who had issued her death sentence met his own demise. A chuckle chilled her to the core. _

"_Killers until the end." The voice was filled with awe. _

"_You will die by our blood." Her last words were a curse. "Those that come after me will come for you."_

"_There will be none left." He fired one shot and then cut the babe from her womb._

_**Another door.**_

"_We're through here." The man was dressed heavily in metallic armor that gave him the appearance of a demon. He discarded the corpse of the new born, strangled with it's own cord._

_Minutes passed in silence._

_There was a whimper._

_A cry._

_There was no one to hear it._

Riddick repressed the urge to vomit as he fell forward onto his hands and knees.

The world around him spun.

_Fuck._

It was the only thing he could get past his lips as he tried to pull the pieces of himself together.

_**You needed to see.**_

_**You were not discarded.**_

_**You were loved.**_

_**Until her last breath she fought.**_

_**It is not our nature to die quietly.**_

_**Love does not make us weak.**_

_**It gives us strength.**_

_What the fuck is that supposed to mean?_

_**What parts will you give her?**_


	41. Ariel 1:2

_Five hours later_,

"Oh, c'mon, it's not that bad." Wash complained as his wife ran her fingers through his hair. His whine lost most of its affect as it ended on a moan of appreciation. "I know what you're doing, and its working. That's cheating."

Zoe laughed as she continued her ministrations, "Hm, and what's that?"

"Don't you play innocent," Wash murmured as he allowed his wife to guide his head further back against her chest as he lounged in his chair. "Feminine wiles and such. I'm not going to give up though," he cracked one of his eyes open. "It'll be fun."

"It's the Core." She groaned as she tugged slightly so he would look at her. "It's spotless. There's sensors and there's Feds, lots of 'em, everywhere. Baby, there ain't a chance in Hell you're gettin' me off this boat once we hit dirt."

"We don't even have to do anything! We can just go to the park and feed the pigeons." He tried again.

"And probably get the firing squad for littering." She smirked down at him.

"Look," he pulled down the Cortex screen and jabbed his finger at it excitedly, "A bioluminescent lake! We could swim and glow in the dark at the same time!" He pleaded.

"Ain't doin', baby." She laughed. "I don't care if there's sunsets twenty-four hours a day and waterfalls of whiskey; I ain't steppin' foot on that rock."

"Ain't nobody steppin' foot on that fancy rock." Mal confirmed as he walked onto the bridge. "Nobody's leaving the ship and, come to think of it, we ain't even goin' near the windows… or talking loud. We're here to drop Inara off. That's it."

"Oh." Wash sulked, crestfallen. "What's the point of being here if we can't see how the other half lives?"

"The other half?" Zoe arched an eyebrow. "Baby, I don't know if you been payin' attention but it's that 'other half' that wants us dead or in Slam."

"Touché…" Wash sighed resigning himself.

"How long until we break atmo?" Mal asked as he eyed the planet suspiciously from outer orbit.

"Less than twenty," Wash answered somewhat absently since he was still sulking.

"Good. Dock _Serenity _and shut her down. I ain't wastin' fuel sittin' in orbit for two days, and we ain't got any job prospects on the rise."

"So you're just going to make us sit here for two days while a bioluminescent lake sits there neglected?" Wash continued to complain as he pointedly directed the captain's attention to the cortex screen.

"Oh, well… would you look at that? Ain't that somethin'?" Mal leaned in and, for a second, Wash looked positively hopefully. His hopes were unceremoniously dashed as the captain deadpanned, "You wanna glow? Tell Kaylee to siphon some crap from the reactor into the showers."

*T*F*C*

"So how long are you going to be planet-side?" Kaylee asked from her position sprawled across Inara's bed as she sorted through the Companion's chest of hair ornaments.

"I shouldn't be more than two or three days." She answered, looking up at Kaylee through the reflection in the mirror as she curled her hair.

"Big stop just to renew your license." Kaylee mused as she tried out a hair stick and eyed herself in a small hand mirror.

"It's Guild Law," Inara explained. "All Companions are required to undergo a yearly physical evaluation as well as a board interview. It is to ensure our trade is not cheapened by unworthy or unsuitable representatives."

"Just two whole days inside a hospital sounds awful." Kaylee made a face as she put down the hair stick and tried on a comb inlaid with opal cherry blossoms.

"Perhaps the captain will allow you to come and visit me. We could have lunch." Inara suggested as she inspected her hair by turning her head to see each angle. "Ariel City is beautiful." She sighed with longing. She did not regret her decision to board _Serenity_. She loved the freedom it provided but she would be lying if she said she didn't miss the luxuries of advanced civilization.

Kaylee merely snorted as she tried to inconspicuously remove the comb which had gotten tangled in her hair. "I doubt it. Jayne told me Cap'n ain't givin' us any leave since it's the Core." She said miserably. "I was kinda hopin' we could do somethin' romantic." She added wistfully.

"Jayne? Romantic?" Inara turned fully to arch an eyebrow at her young friend.

"He gave me a gun." Kaylee protested.

"A gun?" If it was possible, Inara's eyebrow arched further.

"He wants me to be safe." Kaylee said shyly.

Inara's face softened, "I suppose, for Jayne, it is a romantic gesture."

Kaylee smiled to herself, unaware the Companion was still watching her closely. "He loves me."

"I've seen him look at you." Inara teased and the mechanic blushed furiously. "I am trained to notice those things." She smiled with perhaps a slight trace of wistfulness. "He's always looked at you that way." Her smile faltered slightly. "I'll admit, when the doctor came on board, I had hoped he would catch your eye." In truth, Inara had been hoping for a better match for her young friend than a crude, violent, and uneducated mercenary.

"I thought he did." Kaylee mused thoughtfully. "But him and me, we ain't the same kinda people. Jayne's like me kinda, ya know? He might be all rough and grizzly round the edges, but he don't care iffin' I got grease on my face and dirt under my fingernails. He likes that I can drink and spit and I cuss. I don't have to change or be nothin' special. He thinks I'm just shiny."

Inara concealed her distaste at the spitting and swearing remark, but she clearly saw Kaylee's point and, on some level, she had to admit that they suited each other nicely. "We can't choose who we love." She said, and the trace of sadness in her voice did not go unnoticed by Kaylee, who sat up fully on the bed.

"What's it really like, 'Nara? Not love, well, I guess, but bein' a Companion? Are ya allowed to love? Are ya even allowed to date?"

Inara smiled but it wasn't one of happiness; it was acceptance, and Kaylee, who had envied her more times than she could count, suddenly didn't any longer. The life of a Companion wasn't exotic and exciting. It was lonely. She could see it clearly in her friend's eyes.

"It's complicated, _mei-mei._" Inara replied softly as she rose from her bench to sort through the dresses she had laid out. "My job is giving love, understanding, and compassion. Companions are meant to fulfill and enrich. That is the purpose of our lives. We derive our own happiness from that which we bring to our clients."

Kaylee didn't believe it for even a second that Inara was truly happy. She didn't want to point it out either. "Would you ever give it up?" She asked instead.

"Perhaps." Inara answered as she feigned interest in a collection of silk saris.

"Cap'n thinks you're shiny." Kaylee added and regretted it immediately.

"That man doesn't know what he wants." She answered and the bitterness was apparent. Kaylee stored that information away for later. She thought perhaps she'd ask River what the two felt.

"Kaylee!" The man in question barked as he entered the shuttle unannounced and without knocking. Kaylee cringed for him.

"Is it that difficult for you to remember our agreement about my privacy?" Inara demanded harshly and, once more, Kaylee slightly cringed. This was not going to be pretty; she decided to intervene as quickly as possible and jumped up off Inara's bed.

"What's up, Cap'n?" She chirped brightly.

"Landing in twenty, need you in the engine room." He answered as he ignored Inara's jibe.

"Sure thing." She complied willingly. Anything to get him out of the shuttle before he could stick his foot in his mouth. "I'll see you in a couple of days, 'Nara." She and the Companion embraced briefly and Inara kissed her cheek. If she had hoped the captain would follow her out, she was sorely disappointed.

"I get a kiss goodbye?" Mal smirked.

"_Out!_" Inara glared at him as she pointed in the direction of the door in case he had forgotten.

"Well, you were passin' them around." He retorted cheekily as he shrugged.

*T*F*C*

"Thanks for spottin' me, Preacher." Jayne grunted as he worked out his set. "I went lookin' for Riddick but his bunk was empty, figured he's holed up with River. Probably wouldn't want to be bothered none." He chuckled at the Shepherd's startled look. "Hell, you have to be blind not to see it."

"Does her brother know?" Book asked cautiously.

"Beats the hell outta me, but I wouldn't get it in my head to be the one to say nothin'." He said after heaving the weight bar onto its rest. He sat up and stretched.

"You don't find it odd?" Book revisited the idea of having a special Hell conversation with his former underling.

"Ain't my place." Jayne shook his head. "Honest, I think Mal and Inara are weirder... or Zoe and Wash."

Book couldn't argue with that.

"'Sides, he's got a price just as big as hers on his head."

That couldn't be argued with either.

"You want to run a set?" Jayne asked, oblivious to the turnings of the older man's mind.

"Might have to take a few pounds off. I'm not as young as I used to be, but I think I could handle one."

Jayne adjusted the weights and then took his place behind the Preacher. "You sure that's enough?" He asked skeptically. It still looked about twenty pounds too heavy for the older man.

"I think I can handle it." Book smirked.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jayne asked as Book began his set.

"I'll answer if I can." Book replied with a bit of effort; perhaps it would have been wiser to remove another ten pounds.

"That whole celibacy thing?

Book heaved the bar back onto its rest using the conversation as an opportune excuse to stop lifting. When had he gotten so old? "What about it?"

"So like... never?"

"No. Never." Book asked slightly amused as to where this conversation was going.

"Just don't see why a man goes willingly celibate." Jayne looked genuinely confused over the matter. "Ain't natural."

"Some orders allow Shepherds to marry, but I follow a narrower path."

"But, I mean, you still got the urge, right? They don't cut it off or nothing..." Jayne visibly shuddered.

"No, I'm more or less intact. I just direct my energy elsewhere." Book chuckled.

"You mean like masturbatin'?"

"I hope you're not thinking of taking orders yourself." Book joked.

Jayne snorted as he hopped up onto his pull up grips. "That'll be the day." He thought about it for a moment. "Saint Jayne. Gotta admit, it has a ring to it." He chuckled along with the preacher.

"I'd be interested hear your miracles." Book selected a thirty kilogram barbell.

"I once hit a guy in the neck at five hundred yards with a bent scope. Don't that count upstairs?" Jayne asked proudly. It'd been a bitch of a shot too considering the wind that day.

"Oh, it'll be taken into consideration..." Book assured him.

Jayne frowned. "Well, you make that sound kinda ominous."

*T*F*C*

Riddick opened his eyes long before River. He didn't remember coming out of his vision. He didn't remember it ever ending. In his dreams, he had relived what Shirah had shown him over and over again. The circumstances behind his birth were on the list of things he rarely allowed himself to think about. The face of the man was more than familiar; it was the same one that looked back at him in every reflection. The man... he died for her. His father had died for his mother and she, in turn, had died with a shiv in her hand and a curse on her lips. Riddick had not been abandoned. He'd been taken. They had died for him. Several things twisted though Riddick's mind but none of which were concrete enough to constitute being called a thought. Pride, an odd sense of honor, and, even stranger still, shame.

The convict had lived his life selfishly and in grand contradiction to his birth. The sole purpose of his life up until this point had been survival. His own personal interest had ranked above all others. Now, every move he made, River factored into the equation. Anyone who touched her, hurt her, or tried to take her would find themselves opposite his shiv and he would enjoy killing them. Would he die for her as his father had for his mother? Yes. Something deep inside of his consciousness rumbled its approval. This was, as River called it, _Dao. _As he watched her sleep, he kept his heartbeat timed with her own as he twisted strands of her hair in his fingers. He would die for her. It was the only truth he needed to know.

He found it vaguely odd how deciding someone was worthy enough to die for gave him a sense of purpose unlike one he had never known. Survival had been enough in the past. It wasn't any longer. What would his life be like if River was taken from him? T2 had awakened something in him; whatever that something was, River and Shirah were now feeding it. It was growing stronger and he felt stronger because of it.

_**Love does not make us weak.**_

Did he love River? Was he capable of loving someone? He was fascinated by her. Most days, his waking thoughts were consumed by her. He would die for her. Did that constitute love? Or was it just obsession? Were they, love and obsession, one in the same? He had gone to Shirah looking for answers and now had only a thousand other questions. River stirred slightly in his arms. Her breathing and heart rate accelerated subtly and he closed his eyes to savor the change. She was waking, slowly, but she was coming around. His questions and own private musing would have to wait. He wasn't sure she'd remember what happened and he had yet to decide on how he was going to deal with it. It wasn't River who had tried to kill him. That girl that had attacked him, that wasn't even the Killer, that was something entirely different. That was the weapon **They **had created. He hadn't realized before that there was a difference at all, but there was.

Awareness was slow in coming to River and she did not immediately open her eyes. Her mind was clouded by the smell of Riddick which, for some reason, permeated her senses. She felt warmer and safer than she could ever remember and she kept her eyes closed partially because she was afraid it was a dream. The previous hours, however, came back to her and her heart began to race. She had allowed herself to be swept up in the current. She had attacked Riddick. She had meant to kill him. Her body froze as tension locked her muscles. Her mind could not yet process everything as she felt herself so deeply encased by Riddick's.

"Relax." His voice vibrated through her body and she reflexively did as she was told. Opening her eyes slowly, she was met by Riddick's intense mercurial gaze. Her heart, continued to beat rapidly. The last time she had awoken like this, he had kissed her. He had told her he wouldn't do it again and, aside from that, the last time she hadn't tried to kill him. "Do you remember?" His voice rolled across her skin in a harsh and graveled whisper. There was not a trace of anger in his tone.

"Yes." She whispered and tried to turn her face away. Tried being the operative word. Riddick would not have it.

"I don't." He rumbled. "That wasn't you. That was them. It's us against them. _Dong ma _(understand me)?"

_"Li jie_ (I understand)." She answered very softly as her fingers traced the freshly stitched wound across his chest. "She is sorry."

"I." Riddick corrected.

"I am sorry." She acknowledged.

"Wasn't you." Riddick insisted. "Felt all wrong inside my head. I know it wasn't you."

"They are coming for her." She said quietly. "She can feel them reaching."

"How close are they?" He asked after a moment of silence. He gave up trying to correct her.

"We share the same air."

"Fuck."

"Yes. Fuck." She sighed against his chest. Quite honestly, at the moment, she couldn't have cared. The bare skin of his chest was warm, the sound of his heart soothing, and she allowed herself to believe that in this particular moment, it beat only for her.

"I'll take care of it." He tightened his grip on her and tucked her head beneath his chin.

"He will never leave her." River said and although her voice was quiet, Riddick felt her conviction.

"Already told you that."

"She didn't believe him then." She confessed.

"It's us against them River." He reminded her. "We got another problem though." He said carefully. "Those words-," River's whole body cringed and Riddick couldn't blame her. If he allowed himself to think about the amount of power that gave people over himself and River, he'd start picking people off. Every gorram one that knew the words; he would burn the 'verse to ashes hunting down each one or die trying. "They affect me, too." He felt her fear and, to compound it, he felt her try to pull her mind from his. "Don't you fuckin' do it, girl." He snarled without realizing it.

River blinked at him several times in confusion. "It is detrimental to our survival. If she is made to sleep he must be awake to protect her."

"Don't give a shit." He said harshly as he forced himself to swallow the sudden burst of rage.

"She doesn't understand." Her face wrinkled as she tried to figure his reasoning and she couldn't. It defied logic.

"You belong in there." Riddick's words hung in the air. "Fuck the consequences. We'll deal with it then."

River held his gaze. His mind felt different somehow. It was still silent and numb to her, but somehow different. She felt an odd similarity to that of Jayne's mind on Canton but nothing was tangible.

It was at this most inopportune moment, just as she was about to remark on it, that Simon knocked on River's door. Riddick growled rather loudly. "Goddamnit." He swore without reservation as he forced himself up. "What? !" He snapped as he ripped the door open.

Simon cleared his throat and peeked around the convict's bicep to see his sister curled up in her blankets. "We've landed."

"No shit." Riddick spat out.

"I thought perhaps I could have a word with my sister." Simon responded dryly.

_/ I won't be far. /_

_ /He'll never leave her./_ Riddick didn't respond as he shouldered past Simon and headed for his dorm.

Simon waited for the door to close behind him before he stepped into River's.

"Thank you." River said quietly once the door had closed behind Simon.

Simon was so startled by her admission he took a physical step backwards and his brow furrowed. "For what?"

"He came for her. Sacrificed his world for hers. He doesn't belong in the darkness, but walks it willingly for her. She knows it. He doesn't think she does but she does. He has seen it now." She declared rather sadly. "His _mei-mei_ is gone forever. She has taken away his delusion and with it shrouded him in her darkness."

"River, listen to me," he said as he slowly sat down next to her on the bed and took one of her small hands in his own. "I would do it all again. Without you, there was nothing to give up anyway. _Mei-mei,_ you are my world."

"He doesn't belong in the darkness." She said, sadder still. Her eyes welled with tears that she was too stubborn to allow. She would be strong like Riddick. This was not a time for weakness. They were coming. The River had worn a crack through The Rock; by remaining in his mind, she weakened him. She would not allow it to destroy them.

"You be my light then, River; you be the light and the darkness won't matter anymore. I'm going to get our answers, River. I promise you. We'll make it right." He kissed the top of her head.

"He can't fix her." She informed him. There was an unnerving acceptance in her voice as resolve slowly filtered through her features. She was never going to be the girl she was but Simon would not concede to the fact he couldn't help her.

He forced a grin. "You're a dummy then. I'm Dr. Simon Tam, top three percent, the youngest Chief of Surgery in the Core. I reattached a girl's leg in my second week."

"She named her hamster, Simon." River said softly and she let her brother's faith and conviction fill her. She let it move through her and swirl in the current of The River. She let herself drown in his devotion and love. She let it filter through the cracks entwining the strands with those of Riddick's. She let them make her strong.

"That's right she did." He pulled her close to him. "It might not be a song and a statue but it's something, right?" He asked her, sounding as though he needed assurance himself.

"She will write you a song." She declared as a slight smile graced her face.

"I'd settle for that smile." He said, returning hers with one of his own.

"She is sorry." Her smile faltered. "She should have let his light shine; his world would have lit up hers and she would have been content."

"No." Simon said firmly. "River, you are exceptional. You always were. They are the monsters. Not you. I told you, you are my light, River."

"Like The Rock, her only crime was to be born." She buried her face back against his chest.

"Riddick?" Simon asked.

She clasped both of her hands on either side of her brother's face. "She needs him."

Simon covered her hands with his. "This is important in a way I can't understand, isn't it?" He asked with a deep sigh.

"The River needs The Rock. She doesn't know why or how. It can't be quantified, or simplified, but she needs him. This is _Dao._"

Simon looked at her sadly as he lowered their hands. "He told me about the bond."

River quickly shuffled through her brother's mind, discerning exactly what Riddick had revealed and, more importantly, what he had not. "He is her anchor. He keeps her from drifting. He keeps The River from drowning The Girl. He calls and she must come. She cannot ignore when he calls. He pulls her back."

"And me? I'm not enough."

River swallowed back her tears as she felt infinite sorrow flood from him into her. "She will always need her _ge-ge_. Always. He came from the stars and set her free. He gave away the whole for the broken pieces. It is a debt she can never repay."

"River, you don't owe-"

She silenced him by placing her hand over his mouth. "She understands. I love you, _ge-ge."_

It was Simon's turn to bite back his tears as he wrapped his arms back around his sister. "I love you too, _mei-mei._ I will always come and find you. No power in the 'verse can stop me." This was _Dao_ and River felt it with every part of her being. "Are you up for this?" Simon asked her after a moment; knowing she would understand what he was referring to. "If you tell me you can't, we'll find another way."

"There is no other way." River released a quietly tormented sigh. "She must die for the chance to be reborn again." She did not want to. Everything she was screamed and railed against doing this. Riddick had made himself clear. He wanted the whole and not the broken bits.

"You're sure?" Simon asked her again; resolving to trust his sister wholly.

"I am." She looked directly into his eyes and Simon was taken aback by the clarity and conviction he found within their depths.

"Alright then; let's hire a crew."

*T*F*C*

"How're we gonna find a job if we don't leave the ship?" Jayne complained a bit bitterly as he tossed his horseshoe around the pole set up in the bay.

"Alliance territory. Ain't any jobs worth havin'." Mal shrugged and then frowned as Jayne's horseshoe clanged neatly around the pole.

"Nor the last three places we've been." Wash snorted bitterly as he stepped up to take his turn. He was still a bit stung over missing the glow-in-the-dark lake.

"Least she's flying." Kaylee chipped as she kicked her feet against the crate she was sitting on.

"My pop always said anyone who can't find work ain't lookin' hard enough." Jayne grunted, but his expression turned to smugness as Mal missed his toss. "We ain't even looking at all."

"That's 'cause we ain't lookin to wind up in Slam." Zoe pointed out.

"No need to look," Riddick's rough voice interrupted their game as he and the Tams entered through the lower hall. "We got a job."

"Since when?" Mal asked incredulously. "Who the Hell is the client?"

"Me." River answered softly.

Those crew present all tried to speak at once and all were simultaneously at a loss for words.

"What's going on?" Book asked curiously as he came down the catwalk stairs. Judging by the looks on the crew's faces, he had missed something.

River peered around Riddick's body to look at the older man. He met her gaze; which was both penetrating and compassionate at the same time. "He has made his choice."

Book nodded almost imperceptibly. Mal and Zoe both caught the exchange and a silent look passed between the two as well. They would discuss it later.

"Apparently Riddick's got us a job." Mal informed the Shepherd slowly.

"A job?" Book's already furrowed brow crinkled slightly.

"One that will pay for itself ten times over." Riddick told them.

"Got my attention." Jayne's eyes gleamed as he sauntered over to Kaylee and leaned against the crate between her legs to give Riddick his full attention.

"Doc." Riddick nodded at him.

"Do you know what this is?" Simon asked Mal as he tossed the captain a small vial of medicine.

Mal blinked a few times as he squinted to try to read the small print. He feigned blindness and shrugged. He just didn't want to admit he couldn't pronounce whatever it was. "That's your job."

"Ivoprovalyn. It's a common immuno-booster. Street value for a dosage this size, any guesses?" Simon asked with an eyebrow raised. "A hundred platinum, maybe sixty credits." The crew exchanged glances and even a low whistle or two. "Propoxin, one-fifteen." Simon handed Jayne a vial. "Hydrozapam, three hundred." Mal's eyes bugled slightly while Jayne tried to figure if there was any way he could walk out of the room with that small vial in his pocket. "Those are just standard. All in my med kit when I boarded. At hospitals like St. Lucy's in Ariel City, they'd have crates of the stuff."

"Whatever the take-," Riddick brought the point home, "-it's more than enough."

"Sooo, the med-vault's not the job?" Wash quirked an eyebrow.

"That's the payment." Riddick grunted.

"Anybody besides me a little confused?" Kaylee asked, peering around Jayne's shoulder, "Iffin' that's not the job, what is?"

"I need you to get me into the hospital's diagnostic ward. I can give you all the information you need. Everything about security, what to say, how to look, what's worth taking. While we're there, consider the med-vault your personal candy store." Simon said as he pocketed the vials. Under any other circumstances, Riddick might have actually laughed at the look on Jayne's face as the doc put the money away.

"What's in the diagnostic ward?" Book queried curiously.

"A 3-D neuro-imager. If I can get River in there, I'll be able to see what they did to her to make her…" Simon's voice died as he searched for the word.

"Broken." River supplied softly, but it was loud enough for the crew to hear quite clearly and silence fell over the hold.

_/Ain't broken./_ Riddick snapped into her head.

River turned her head to look the captain in his eyes. "Don't."

Mal arched his brow.

"Pity her. She doesn't want it."

"Ain't about pity, Little Bit." Mal said kindly, but his tone turned harsh and bitter when he continued again. "It's about what's right and wrong. It's about a ruttin' government that cuts up little girls." He had begun to pace without realizing it. "Doc, we get you and your sister into the whatchathing and you tell us how to clean out the vault, that's the deal right?" It was risky, but the giant "fuck you" to the Alliance was quickly outweighing the cons in the former Browncoat's mind.

"Yes." Simon nodded confidently.

"Not to be negative," Kaylee interrupted softly. She wanted to help River. She owed her as much for saving her from the explosion, but she didn't like the idea of stealing medicine. Not to mention that was what had started all the trouble with the train job they had pulled a while back. "Don't the hospital need that stuff?"

"Government run facility," Zoe exchanged a knowing look with the doctor, "-they wouldn't let all the fancy Core-folk go without it. Be restocked in a matter of hours. I'm sure they got bunkers full." There was a trace of disgust in her voice.

"Then why's they always hurtin' for it on the Rim?" Kaylee asked as her confusion grew.

"'Cause the uncivilized folk ain't got the coin." Jayne bit off the words harshly and unconsciously gripped his LeMat.

"They're right." Simon confirmed with a slight nod. "The hospital would never miss it."

"And like you said, Kaylee, folks on the Rim sure could use it." Mal had made his decision.

"You know, it's all very sweet; stealing from the rich and selling to the poor, but we're talking about breaking into a highly secure Alliance facility. Ten minutes ago, Mal, you weren't going to let me off the boat to swim in the glow-in-the-dark lake." Wash pointed out.

"It's not easy, but it can be done." Simon continued before they could derail his arguments. "Riddick and I have been working on the details. I have blueprints and security semantics. The men who helped me break River out can, for the right price of course, supply us with ID badges and hospital uniforms."

Mal wanted to be upset about the fact a job was being planned behind his back but at the moment all of his righteous anger was being pointedly directed towards the Alliance.

"Doc," Jayne swallowed hard before making his request. "When we get in, I need…" He scowled and swallowed hard again as he tried to clear the lump from his throat.

"Jayne's little brother-," Kaylee continued for him as she slid her arms around Jayne's waist, "-he's got Damp Lung. The meds are hard to come by on Beylix." Jayne looked down at her gratefully.

"If you can get me into the diagnostic room Jayne," Simon said, as comprehension of the merc's dislike of him beginning to form in his mind, "-and I'll go there personally to examine him. I'll give Mal a list of all the possible meds he might need. Even ones to counteract the side effects and prevent degeneration of the tissue."

"I'm in." Jayne decided firmly.

"We doin' this, sir?" Zoe looked at her captain and she knew the answer from the set of his eyes.

Mal set his features."Doc, let's hear this plan."


	42. Ariel 1:3

"Docking slot AC-278 East." Twelve informed his counterpart.

"Hack into the security feeds, I want every camera which has eyes on the target to be our eyes as well." Nine ordered.

Twelve blinked. "Hack?" His face contorted slightly into one of distaste. He was beginning to question his superior's objectivity at this point.

"Our clearance codes are traceable. There can be no fingerprints which connect either The Company or the Alliance. The Company will be informed should we request access. They will insist on sending back up. This is **our **retrieval."

"Too many hands." Twelve acknowledged though he didn't care for the reasoning in the slightest. He swivelled in his chair to conceal his expression as his fingers immediately flew into action as a half a dozen new sub-screens materialized before him.

*T*F*C*

It took less than an hour for _Serenity's_ mess hall to be turned into an impromptu war room. The crew hovered over the table and poured over several large sheets of digital paper, Simon's handheld and a few portable cortex screens.

"Here's the substation." Book pointed to a space on the digital blueprints and tapped it twice to enlarge it. "I'm assuming they'll have a small force?" Book asked the doctor.

"Yes. St. Lucy's, like all Core facilities, has its own dedicated security force; a small battery of Federals. Capital City's had three shifts each with a little more than three dozen guards. The overnight shift, a little less."

"Makes me a bit twitchy." Wash said.

"No need." Book shook his head, "Unless you trip an alarm, I doubt they'll pose a threat, most of the men stationed at places like hospitals were the ones too incompetent for field work. They preen and feel self-important, but you're looking at the bottom graduates."

"He's right. Aside from door security, they're only ever called in when a patient becomes violent or if an injured prisoner is brought in." Simon confirmed.

"About that door security?" Zoe arched her brow.

"Right. Um…" He tapped his stylus in thought as he shifted through the mess on the table to find the screen he was looking for. "Here it is," He enlarged the screen and highlighted the rooftop ambulance access. "Every floor, every doorway, every room with the exception of the diagnostic ward due to the type of medical equipment which is highly sensitive, are monitored by video surveillance. Public waiting areas are monitored by audio as well. All points of entry are covered by immediate facial scans and ID scans. However, once past those checkpoints, movement through the facility itself should be relatively unhindered."

Mal suddenly cut in, "How the hell are the tagged fugitives gettin' through those doors?"

"Believe me," Simon reassured the crew, "River and I will be easy. It's the rest of you that's going to be the real trick." He redirected their focus back to the blueprints. "Now the med-vault's here." He pointed and doubled-tapped the digital paper. "An ID card is all you'll need."

"And, we'll be gettin' those, how exactly?" Mal asked skeptically.

"I told you; the people that helped me break her out the first time, but it'll cost. Given my fugitive status we'll need someone to retrieve the …" He trailed off as Jayne, Wash, and Kaylee all shot their hands up at once. He offered a small, satisfied smirk. "I see we have volunteers. Good."

"I can't exactly land _Serenity_ on the roof of the hospital." Wash pointed out as he adjusted the prints back up to the rooftop access. "Aside from the obvious fact it might raise a few eyebrows, I'll take out the power to the entire place when her landing gear crushes those generators. In fact, I don't think I could get _Serenity_ within five miles of the place without setting off every alarm in the city."

"You won't be flying." Riddick informed him. "I can't go in, no way in Hell I'll make it past the scanners, but I can fly the others in. You'll keep _Serenity's_ engines warm in case we need to make a fast exit." It was only a half-truth once again. He wanted to be in there but the only way he was gettin' in however was through River's mind. They hadn't tested distances yet. Nothing farther than from one end of the ship to the other and now was not the time he wanted to take the risk.

"Still, what do you plan on flying?" Wash persisted. "The shuttles are out because you said you need to fit in."

"St. Lucy's contracts with a municipal scrap yard for its large disposals. Big hospitals mean big waste. We shouldn't have any trouble." Simon dismissed the pilot's concerns.

"And still not following." Mal cut in.

"Kaylee?" Simon grinned at her as he slid a cortex screen in front of her. Jayne repressed the urge to punch the doctor as he repeated Matty's name over and over again in his head.

Kaylee looked confused for a moment as she looked over the schematics on the screen before his point struck home. "We could fine somethin' in the yards." She chewed her lips as she mulled it over. "My daddy had a contract once with one of the smaller hospitals on Aberdeen to do repair work on their ambulances. I could get one runnin' again long as it ain't too bad off. We just need it to run a few miles right?"

"Just to the hospital and back." Simon nodded.

"No." Zoe shook her head and all eyes turned to her as she spun one of the portable cortex screens to face her and brought up the bioluminescent lake her husband had been going on about. "These mountains, the runoff from the minerals is what makes the lake glow, it also-," she smirked slightly, "-will play hell with any kind of ship scanners. Wash can take Serenity up there and keep to the clouds, we pick up a tail and we'll be able to lose them and dock the transport in the cargo bay, in flight, if it comes down to it."

"You were listening." Wash grinned.

"Who'd you think you married?"

Mal cleared his throat to regain the room's attention. "Could you pull it off?" He asked Riddick. "An in flight dock?" He really wasn't looking to wreck his boat.

"We'll find out." The convict smirked. "I can't fly _Serenity_ without the nav equipment through those mountains and you need to be a medic. No other choice."

Mal grunted in acknowledgment though he wasn't all too pleased by the con's answer. "Now, I'm still a bit hazy on how's it you're gonna get past those scanners."

"They will kill her." River said with a nonchalance which was slightly unnerving. The crew collectively blinked and awaited further clarification.

"Not literally." Simon added quickly. "Byphodine, is the main component in the cryo-cocktail, it'll slow our metabolic functions forcing our bodies into a coma-like state. You wheel us in as DOAs." His finger traced their line of travel as he spoke. "Head straight for the morgue and, once it's clear, you'll administer the counter agent. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes to bring us around again. You'll head down to the med-vault while Jayne accompanies River and myself to the diagnostic room."

"That's the risky part." Riddick rose and leaned over to map out that route. "There's a lotta distance between the morgue and the diagnostic, but it shouldn't seem too out of place to have a medic escorting a doctor and a patient. Anyone stops you, you're prepping her for transport to another facility. Just keep your heads low and Doc," Riddick looked pointedly at him. "Keep your gorram mouth shut."

Simon ignored the convict. "The most important thing is to look like we belong. The ambulance, the key cards, the IDs, and uniforms, they're all easy to obtain. A little creative forgery and we'll have our aliases; they'll get us in the door. Now, in order to get past the door, you three-," he looked pointedly at Jayne, Zoe, and Mal, "-are going to have to go back to school."

"Aw, hell." Jayne's head thudded against the table.

"So we're really gonna go through with this?" Wash asked.

Mal stepped away from the table to pour himself a cup of coffee. He knew the crew was waiting on his answer. The whole thing was risky. His eyes almost reflexively fell on River, and he spoke before he realized what he was saying. "Doc, make the call to your boys and get that list of drugs together. Jayne you'll go out to make the rendezvous."

"Yessss!" Jayne hissed.

Mal ignored him and continued. "Wash and Kaylee take the dump yard."

The pilot and mechanic shared an eye-roll and a mental groan.

"Riddick, if you're flying us in I want you to know every possible exit out of that hospital right down to any windows big enough to jump out of. Book, I'll ask you to take a look at the topographical maps. You find us a safe point in those mountains. I want an in and out that's out of the eye line of the city. You can do that from the bridge and monitor the cortex; keep an ear open for anything unusual. Everybody's got a job. Git." He ordered.

*T*F*C*

_ An hour later…_

Earlier, while the crew had been being briefed, Riddick had only been half-listening to the plan. He'd heard it a hundred times before and didn't need a rundown of the details again. He had been formulating an entirely different plan in his head; one that involved trusting yet another person. He shut down the cortex screen in the spare shuttle and leaned back into the chair. River had said they were breathing the same air as the Blue Hands. He'd promised to take care of it and, as far as he could guess, it was his fuck up on Tyrus that had caught their eyes.

If he had any doubts about River's claims that it wasn't just her they were looking for anymore, they would have been resolved by the information he'd just learned. The contact for his bounty had changed. He was no longer just on the merc's list; he shouldn't have been surprised. The contact for his bounty was now listed under the same as the Tams. He found it interesting, however, that the dead part had been removed. The escaped convict couldn't resist the tiny, vindictive smile which broke out on his face when he realized how many mercs were going to be pissed off about that one.

_/Can we trust Jayne? /_ He thought –spoke to River, who he knew was in the infirmary with her brother.

_/ The Hero of Canton; The man they call Jayne! /_ Was cheerfully sung back to him.

Riddick let his head thud against the rest. _/ Is that a yes? /_

He could almost hear her sigh. _/ He believes he owes the girl a debt. Saved Sunshine from Mother's wrath. /_

_ / Good. Where's he at? /_ At least that was something to work with.

_ / Preparing to fetch. / _

_ / I got a plan. You ain't gonna like it. /_

_ / Will she have to die? /_

_ /No. That definitely ain't in the plan. /_

_ / Then it is preferable. /_

Riddick audibly snorted. _/ You say that now. /_

_ /Her inability to Read him openly is frustrating./ _ His smirk returned as she thought at him.

_/ Her inability to speak in anything besides fucking riddles is frustrating. /_ He countered.

_/ It is irrelevant. He will share his plan with Jayne, and she will read it from his mind./ _ He could feel the smugness in her thoughts.

_/ Fucking Readers. /_ The thought was more heavily laced with humor than anger.

_/ Fucking Furyans. / _She retorted.

Alone in the darkness of the spare shuttle, Riddick barked out a dark laugh.

*T*F*C*

"Cobb." Riddick kicked the door to Jayne's bunk. A second later, the hatch dropped and Riddick slid down it.

"I'm thinking a gun ain't such a good idea," Jayne scratched his head as he stared at his weapon selection. "Ya know with it bein' Core and all."

"Probably right." Riddick rumbled as he raised the ladder; he wasn't looking to be overheard.

Jayne exhaled and resigned himself as he debated on how many knives he could get away with before he just looked like some kind of psycho blade freak. At first, he had been excited about being on the Core, but his excitement was fading as he realized openly carrying was frowned upon.

"I need a favor."

Jayne's brow furrowed as he slowly turned around to face the convict. "What kind of favor we talkin'?" He eyed Riddick suspiciously.

"Ain't really a favor, more like preventative murder." Riddick toyed with a blade he picked off of Jayne's wall, "Weight's off." He remarked causally after flipping it a few times.

"I know." Jayne dismissed the remark about his knife and caught it as Riddick tossed it back to him. He was personally more focused on the two keywords in Riddick's last sentence. "Preventative murder? Kinda sounds like a fancy way of sayin' killin' somebody 'fore they kill you."

"Told you weren't as dumb as you played." Riddick's lips twitched.

"You got a bounty hunter on your ass?" Jayne asked.

"More like you do." Riddick waited for Jayne to process that. "So does Sunshine, Zoe, Wash, Book, Mal, Inara, Simon. Fact is, me and River are the only ones they want alive. I can break out of a Slam; you can't fix dead."

"Who we killin'?" Jayne didn't hesitate. He had been sold the minute Kaylee's name had been brought into it. "And why ain't you told Mal?"

"This job requires a bit of finesse. You got finesse, Jayne?"

The merc snorted. "I got finesse by the shitload, and you're full of… shit. You mean you don't want Mal to get froggy and blow atmo."

"Man's got a tendency to run when he should fight, and fight when he should run. I'm lookin' to end this. Here and now."

"You still ain't said who's looking." Jayne pointed out even though, at this point, it was really irrelevant.

"You in?" Riddick raised his brow.

"'Course I am. Just like to know whose it is I'm shootin' at, is all."

"Two-by-two; Hands of Blue." Riddick chanted.

"Sounds even creepier when you say it." Jayne shuddered slightly but was otherwise unfazed by the revelation. "Don't get it though. Iffin' they're here and lookin' to blow us all to Hell, why ain't the Feds just raided us? We been docked for near half a day. Shouldn't we be land-locked with every ruttin' Purple Belly rushin' the ship? Thought you and Book said they might as well be Alliance."

"There's a difference between might as well be and are. They fucked up bad when the Doc broke his sister lose, so they're tryin' to keep it quiet-like. There's a thing between Purple Bellies and Blue Sun agents. There's a line. One doesn't answer to the other and it makes them tetchy."

"What's the plan?" Jayne asked as he dropped down onto his bunk and reached beneath it to remove a smaller trunk. He kicked the lid open to reveal his own personal stash of explosives. "And tell me I get to blow somethin' up."

"Finesse Jayne." Riddick reminded him, though he took a peek into Jayne's stash. "Where the Hell did you get EMP flashers?"

Jayne grinned. "Got me a half-dozen offa some bloke in a poker game a while back on the Georgia Space Station."

"Next time you play poker, I want in." Riddick rumbled distractedly as he eyed some of Jayne's other toys. "You can bring those."

"Shiny. Been waitin' for a chance. Didn't ever bring 'em out 'fore 'cause I figured Cap'n would be right pissed if _Serenity_ was anywhere near the blast radius."

"Need you to make a call first."

"Huh?"

"You're turnin' on me, Jayne. Shoulda known I couldn't trust you." Riddick smirked darkly. "All that money, too good to pass up."

"What?" Jayne snapped confused. "Who the hell said that? Ain't done shit."

Riddick shook his head and a low half-growl, half-chuckle rumbled its way through his chest. "That's a part of the plan, Jayne."

"Oh." His brow furrowed. "Oh." His face lit with understanding. "Shiny."

*T*F*C*

"Nothing like a watching a sunset in a junkyard." Wash joked sarcastically as he tossed a rotor dampner into Kaylee's makeshift shopping cart.

Kaylee snorted in agreement. "First time on the Core and what do we get to do?" She tossed away a fractured regulator coil. "Dig through trash."

"I could be glowing in the dark right now." Wash grumbled as he tripped over a catalyzer. He stopped to pick it up. "Oh, the irony." It was the fourth one he'd found.

"I could be shopping at the triplex or…" Her face lit up suddenly. "Oh! Synchronizers!" She held up the thin set of white metallic tubes. "Shiny."

"Could be worse." Wash shrugged as he tossed the catalyzer between his hands in an attempt to juggle it. "We could be getting all that medical jargon shoved down our throats." He abandoned his juggling and heaved the catalyzer off into one on the larger junk piles. It clanged heavily against something as Wash turned. "Hey, Kaylee!" He called back over his shoulder as his eyes landed on their prize.

"What?" She popped her head out of an old oil drum which was loaded with smaller bits.

"Our job here is done." Wash said proudly as he pointed to the hunk of metal the catalyzer had bounced off of.

"Shiny." Kaylee grinned as she scanned over the shell of a med transport. It was dirt-covered, dinged up, and, without a closer look she had no idea whether or not she could get it running. She however, as usual, chose to be optimistic about the whole thing. "A little bit of love and a whole lot of spit and she'll do us just fine."

Wash's smile faltered. "Just one problem though."

"Yeah? What's that?" Kaylee asked as she tried to unsuccessfully blow a strand of hair out of her face.

"How in the gorram hell are we supposed to get it back to the ship?"

"Huh." That indeed was a problem.

*T*F*C*

Jayne Cobb's fascination with the Core wore off some five minutes after he walked off the ship. In those five minutes, he had counted thirty-four face scanners and twelve pairs of Feds. He kept his head low and wasn't even tempted to stop in for a whiskey at the first bar he passed. Well, perhaps he was tempted; nothing made a man need a drink more than the distinct possibility of rotting away in Slam for a decade or so. The temptation died as two Feds exited and dragged a drunk out behind them. Jayne wisely decided to move on.

The rendezvous point was less than five miles from the ship. Jayne figured he'd covered about eight by the time he made his way there. He may have been anxious to get back to the shelter of _Serenity_ but as Riddick had, on occasion, pointed out, he wasn't a gorram idiot. A direct line between two places was too easy a trail to trace. The designated pick up point was a public wave terminal which, for some gorram reason, was located directly outside the triplex shopping center. It made sense as he turned it over. Very public, too many faces in the crowd for the scanners to catch them all. Jayne tried not to think about how badly he stuck out. The more suspicious you thought you looked, the more suspicious you acted. He forced himself to meander his way to the terminal, stopping every so often to inspect something and hanging onto the edges of large crowds.

He didn't hesitate to dial up the number Riddick had provided him with. To be honest, however, he wasn't sold on the plan. Riddick was convinced that the number provided would connect directly with their targets. It was with a shrug that he punched in the last number. He figured if Riddick said so, it because River had told him. He also figured betting against a psychic was as dumb of an idea as the Rigner 598. That model had damn near blown up in his hand; twice. He was gonna need a drink after this.

*T*F*C*

Nine and Twelve both looked up from their screens as the wave indicator flashed.

*T*F*C*

Jayne followed Riddick wordlessly towards the con's dorm as he walked back onto _Serenity_ carrying two large duffel bags. Neither man spoke until they had sealed themselves inside.

"We good?"

"It's set." Jayne grunted as he dumped out the contents of the duffels. Medic uniforms, med kits, and, most importantly, ID badges and keycards spilt out.

"They bought it?"

"Hook, line, and sinker. Told them you had me set a meet with some black market med dealers. Ain't got a reason to doubt that a merc got greedy." Jayne inwardly flinched over the fact that, a couple of months ago, none of this would have been a lie. "Point of interest, they were real curious 'bout how close you two were."

"What'd you tell 'em?" Riddick asked curiously.

"I played dumb. Told 'em the fact you were huntin' down meds should be enough." Jayne shrugged as he leaned against the wall of Riddick's dorm. "Right creepy they were. Like Fanty and Mingo but all mechanical-like."

Riddick merely grunted. Apparently his fuck up on Tyrus had been bigger than he thought. "Took you long enough." It wasn't a complaint, more of an observation.

"Had to set us up with a ride. We ain't gettin' off this boat with a shuttle without waking the whole crew. And Mal will most like set up a watch on the bridge since we're gettin' set for this job. So even opening the airlock to get out tonight ain't workin' and I'm sure as hell not walkin' all the way out to the meet point. It'll be a hell of a hike as it is once we get into those mountains."

Riddick merely nodded. "Doc wants you in the infirmary."

"You gonna splice up the badges?" Jayne asked.

Riddick nodded again as he crouched down to sort through the mess.

"Kaylee make it back yet?"

"Book just got a call, on their way." Riddick looked up at the merc. "You nervous, Cobb?" He asked with a bit of amusement.

"All sorts of ironical is all." Jayne shifted uncomfortably.

"Ironical?" Riddick arched an eyebrow and hid his smirk.

"Never thought I'd be just **pretendin**' to turn on folk is all."

"Never thought I'd trust a merc." Riddick grunted without looking up.

"Or go sweet on a crazy-ass psychic." Jayne grinned.

Riddick did look up this time. "Cobb."

The merc in question took a step back with both hands up but his grin never faded. "Ain't judgin' a man." He repressed the urge to chuckle. "You can't tell me you're willin' to pull all this _gou shi_ (crap) for the sake of my skin or anybody else's on this ship; and iffin' it was your own you were worried about, you'd just hop ship and leave the rest of us to rot."

"Things change." Riddick replied quietly as he took the badges over to small desk in his dorm.

"_Serenity's_ got a way, that's for damn sure."

*T*F*C*

_Two hours later…_

Simon spun around quickly and pointed at Mal. "Um…uh..." The captain stuttered for a moment. "Patients were cynical and not responding and we couldn't bring 'em back." He squinted one eye open and it was enough to see the good doctor flinch slightly.

"Cynical patients are the most difficult." River giggled from her perch on the infirmary bed. "Physical health is a state of mind. Pessimistic patients rarely recover."

"Huh?" The trio of guns grunted in almost perfect unison.

"Cyanotic. The patients were cyanotic." Simon said patiently.

"Gorramit!" Mal snapped and kicked the cabinet.

"Okay…" Simon exhaled deeply. "So they were _cyanotic_ and _non-responsive_ and you were unable to…" He said pointedly to the captain.

"They were cyanotic and non-responsive," Mal repeated slowly.

"And we were unable to…" Simon hinted.

"Re… resuscitate…" Mal and Zoe started at the same time; the captain however beat her to that one.

"Yes, resuscitate." The first mate reconfirmed as not to be outdone.

Jayne stood back slightly blinking. _What in the rutting Hell?_ His face scrunched.

"Okay, good." Simon continued and then directed his attention to Zoe. "Which methods did you use?"

"We tried pulmonary stimulators and the cardiac," She had started off confidently, but her face faltered, _Lan bi_ (_rotten cunt_)_!_ , she swore mentally. "Cardiac… uh…cardiac…" She tried to force the next word out but only succeeded in jerking her head oddly.

"Infusers." Simon gave in.

"Right, infusers. Gorram fucking infusers." She stomped her foot. "Sorry Doc, Riv." She apologized grudgingly. "Pulmonary stimulators and cardiac infusers," Mal repeated the words in unison with her. Jayne remained silent with his brow furrowed.

"Right…" Simon continued slowly as he looked to Jayne. "What about cortical electrodes?"

Jayne blinked. "Um." He smacked his lips together. "We forgot 'em?"

River nearly fell off the bed laughing. Jayne glared at her. "She is sorry." River sobered up. "She has great faith in the man named Jayne." Her comment was pointed and, for once, Jayne got the double meaning. She wasn't just referring to the hospital job.

"River, why don't you see if you can't help Wash, Kaylee, and Riddick with the transport?" Simon gave her a look which said it wasn't really a suggestion.

"Fine." River slid of the bed petulantly. She turned to glare at the foursome before walking out. "The patients were cyanotic and non-responsive; we were unable to resuscitate after application of pulmonary stimulators and cardiac infusers. The application of cortical electrodes was unable to stimulate a neural reaction from either patient." She huffed, stomped her foot and spun off towards the bay.

"Rutting geniuses." Jayne snorted.

"Alright." Simon said, shaking his head and making a poor attempt to conceal his laughter. "Let's try this again."

*T*F*C*

"So's we only need this thing to run once right?" Kaylee asked as she pushed up her welding mask.

"What's the problem?" Riddick rolled out from underneath of the transport.

"Fuel cells are _gou shi_ (crap), power regulator's guaranteed to fritz, and there's a real good possibility that the sound coming from the port-side thruster ain't healthy."

"So what you're sayin' is fiery death is a possibility?" Wash summed it up.

"Forty-seven point three-five-two." River chimed in helpfully as she passed Riddick a wrench.

"Ain't different from a day on _Serenity_." Riddick smirked, unconcerned as rolled his way back underneath.

Kaylee frowned at him, but couldn't really argue the point.

*T*F*C*

"Here's where _Serenity_ is going to be waiting." Book placed the portable cortex screen between himself and Wash as the crew settled into dinner. Several members leaned in for a view. "Zoe was entirely correct. The magnetic signature in the metals they mine from those mountains make radar useless. So you'll be flying completely blind."

"Favorite way to fly." Wash snorted as he studied the map.

"That's not the only thing though." Book added as he reduced magnification and refocused the map on another sector. "You want to avoid this sector all together."

"Why's that?"

"There's a large concentration of untapped radioactive ore there; not only will it interfere with your nav, but it will scramble our comms. too. You find yourself there and the hospital team will never find you."

Riddick's ears perked up at that and he leaned over to get a look himself. He and Jayne exchanged a look. The crew was otherwise engaged and River was the only one who had noticed.

"Any more delicious surprises?" Wash asked.

"The mountains tend to fog after dark." Book informed him.

"Keeps get shinier and shinier." Wash groaned.

"Can you do it, Wash?" Mal asked looking up.

"'Course he can." Zoe answered for her husband as she threw her arm over his shoulder. "Ain't nobody can fly like my mister."

There were a few eye rolls but no one contradicted her. "How about you, Riddick?" Mal asked next. "You gonna be able to get the transport through there."

Riddick reached over and pulled the screen towards himself. River leaned in for a look. He zoomed out, refocused it on the rendezvous point and memorized landmarks. "Where am I comin' from?"

_/ You got this? /_ Riddick asked her.

_/ He trusts her? /_ Her brow visibly furrowed.

_/ Repetition is irksome. We've been through this. /_

_ / She is able./_

_ / I. /_ Riddick corrected her thoughts.

_/ I./_ She pinched him underneath the table; forcing Riddick to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from reacting.

_/ Fuck girl! /_ He snapped inside her head. _/ Wasn't stabbing me enough? /_

_ / She slashed; not stabbed./ _ She pouted visibly. _/And she has already received forgiveness for the action./_

_/ Logistics. /_

_ / Are everything. /_

"Here," Book got up and walked around to tap a point at the edge of the mountains. "You'll need to swing wide, but it takes you out of line-of-sight from the city first. Once you break into the mountains, the fog and the lack of radar should lose anything you pick up."

He slid the screen back down to Wash without comment.

"I can download a map to a portable cortex for you if it helps." The preacher offered.

"No need." Riddick grunted and went back to his plate.

"You can't tell me you've memorized that already?" Zoe asked.

"Don't need to."

"How you plannin' on flying?" Wash asked skeptically.

"Don't need the map, got River."

River frowned as the skepticism of the crew hit her.

"Might not be the best to count on. No offense, Little Bit." Mal covered quickly. "But you're gonna be in that hospital first, if somethin' goes wrong…" he let his words trail off.

Surprisingly or perhaps not so surprisingly so, it was Simon who came to her defense. "If she says she can handle it, she can handle it." He said firmly and was rewarded by his sister's beaming smile. Riddick grunted his approval though it didn't have as much of an effect on the doctor.

"Hell, I wish I had a psychic flying through that crap." Wash joked.

"Right then." Mal nodded. "Iffin' you're up to it, still feel mite bit less tetchy 'bout this whole thing iffin' you took the map anyway."

Riddick and River shrugged simultaneously and went back to their food.

"Anyway…" Mal continued, slightly creeped out by their synchronized gesture. "What's the status on that transport?"

"She'll fly." Kaylee said, although she didn't sound wholly convinced herself.

"Inara checked in." Book remarked as he cleared away the cortex screens on the table. "Two more nights before she's ready to go."

"I want this job done 'fore she docks again. Wave her back and tell her we'll meet her outside the city. Tell her I'm too cheap to pay for the extra day's docking fees." Mal said sipping off his coffee.

"Well, that ain't hard to believe." Kaylee snorted from her end of the table.

"Hey now!" Mal defended, slightly offended.

And like that, the tension of the job ahead dissipated as the crew broke out into laughter.

End third.

*T*F*C*

_That night…_

_/ No. /_ Riddick blocked the doorway to River's dorm.

_/ You need her. / _ River poked him in his chest, dead center in his fresh stitches.

_ / I need her alive. / _Riddick didn't flinch.

_ / You trust her. / _ River insisted.

_ / I trust Jayne, too. / _River quirked an eyebrow at him, and to say he was a bit surprised by the admission himself would have been an understatement.

_/ She is capable. /_ River mentally argued.

_/ She can come back out on a job when she learns how to use the word I. /_ Riddick retorted smugly.

River glared at him. He glared right back; his, however, lost a bit of the effect since his goggles were on.

_/ This is not a job. This is preventive murder. /_ She crossed her arms over her chest.

_/ Pluck that out of Jayne's head? /_

_ / Irrelevant. /_

_ / No, it ain't. You twitched out and tried to ruttin' kill me when you felt them lookin'. What's gonna happen when you get yourself stuck in their heads? /_

_ / That is what The Rock is for. /_ She argued stubbornly.

_/ And what fucking good did the Rock do you last night? /_ He snapped back.

The rhetorical question deflated her, albeit slightly. _/ He was planning to kill her. /_

_ / We were planning to make you sleep to sneak you into a hospital; not kill you and slice open your brain. /_ He put his hands on her shoulders and guided her over to her bed, forcing her to sit. _/ That got lost in translation. /_

_ /She was fine on Tyrus. / _River refused to acknowledge the fact that she was just whining now. It wasn't that she really wanted to go on the job. She was afraid for him.

_/ And she wasn't when she tried to stab me./_

_ /Slash./_

_ / Ni tama (Fuck you- one of several variations). /_

_ / Yao wo (Bite me)./_

Riddick actually smirked and quirked an eyebrow before he purposely projected a scene of him biting her.

_/ She withdraws the insult. /_ River turned a deep shade of scarlet.

_/ Thought so. / _ He chuckled but his face reverted back to seriousness quickly. _/ You're staying. If shit goes wrong and Jayne and I fuck this up, you get your scrawny ass gone. Dong ma? (Understand me)/_

River resigned herself and slowly nodded.

_/ You do whatever it is you have to do to get them the hell out of here./_

_ /They won't believe her. She's crazy./_ River said sadly as she drew her knees up and tucked them under her chin.

Riddick crouched down in front of her and drew her chin up. _/Then you take Wash down, seal yourself in the bridge and fly the ship out of here yourself./_

_ /She is not a pilot./_

_ /You're a fucking genius, you'll figure it out./ _ His smirk was once more in place.

River rolled her eyes. _/ There is an eighty-eight point five percent chance of failure. / _ He could feel her misery.

Riddick didn't respond right away; this morning he'd decided he'd die for her, and she was willing to face the Blue Hands to ensure he didn't. _/ Those are my kind of odds. /_ He smirked at her as he rose and allowed his fingers to trail along the line of her cheek and jaw._/ We'll be back before dawn./_

*T*F*C*

"Son of a bitch!" Jayne exclaimed as his toe smashed against the corner of his bunk in the darkness. Once again, he lamented his inability to see in the dark like Riddick and made a mental note to ask about it soon. If there was a way in Hell he could get it done, it would be right shiny in situations such as the one he found himself in now. He wouldn't have to be late for murder because his left boot had gone missing in the darkness.

"Huh? What?" Kaylee shot forward from a deep sleep.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!_ Jayne swore at himself. "Ain't nothin' _bao bei_ (darling/treasured one)," he whispered quickly and made his way over to her. "Just, um, uh, hungry."

Kaylee yawned and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?" Her voice was mumbled and she was already curling herself back into the blankets.

"Late," He whispered, "Go on back to sleep., " I'll be back in a minute."

"A'right." She yawned into their pillows. "Love you, Jayne."

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Love ya, too." Carefully, he backed himself away. He waited for the sound of her soft, breathy snore before he moved or even breathed again himself. It took him another several minutes to locate the missing boot. He regarded Kaylee for a moment longer, adjusted her blanket, and as quietly as possible, slid the small duffel over his shoulder before making his way out of his bunk.

*T*F*C*

"You're late." Riddick rumbled quietly as Jayne met him on the catwalk over the bay.

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to sneak past the bridge and your girl know's we're sneakin' out to do some crime." Jayne snorted.

"She ain't my, girl Cobb. You got this shit all wrong." Riddick shook his head.

"Bullshit." Jayne snorted again as he unzipped his duffel and handed Riddick his jacket. "If she ain't, why were you holed up in her dorm this morning?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ain't what you think." Riddick snapped as loudly as he thought it was safe. "What's this for?"

"The hood," Jayne grunted as he zipped his bag back up. "You wouldn't even believe the number of ruttin' scanners I counted out there. It won't dodge 'em but it will make it harder to get a clear read."

"You really ain't as dumb as you play." Riddick said appreciatively as Jayne followed him towards the second shuttle.

"Ya know, one of these days, that might actually start hurtin' my feelin's." Jayne grumbled.

"You're a merc, you ain't got feelin's unless it's directed towards something that's got a pussy between its legs." Riddick deadpanned as he cracked open a grating and shoved Jayne's duffel into the vent.

"I'm an uncomplicated man." Jayne shrugged as he pulled himself into the vent shaft.

"Crime and trim." Riddick snorted as he boosted himself in afterwards.

"I'll drink to that." Jayne grinned which was promptly followed by a frown. "How in the rutting hell does River do this shit?" He complained as he crossed over a drop which tested the limits of his flexibility.

"Quit your bitching."

"Ain't bitching."

"Jayne."

"Yeah?"

"Get your ass out of my face."

"Should feel privileged to have the view." He grunted as he pulled out a power driver to unscrew the slated panel which would lead them outside.

*T*F*C*

"I believe we are walking into a trap." Twelve chose his words carefully as Nine rotated the digital mapping of the mercenary's coordinates. "We cannot take the ship in."

"Our transport will be adequate." Nine dismissed him.

"Does it not seem coincidental?" Twelve tried again.

"Regardless it is also logical. If Quarry R. Riddick wishes to use Subject E-7 for her purpose, he will need to fully stabilize her. Her brother, the doctor, would have advised the convict as which medications could be of use. They cannot obtain them legally."

"It is not inconceivable that she is aware of our presence."

"Awareness and her ability to communicate such are two different matters entirely."

"Quarry J. Cobb cannot be trusted." Twelve countered as he pulled up the mercenary's file.

"We are not trusting him." Nine assured his comrade as he brought up another screen that displayed the surveillance feed of _Serenity._ "They left alone; there has been no other activity. They will need time to acquire transport. We will assure ourselves of the upper-hand in this meeting. We do not offer a chance to speak." Nine removed from his pocket a small black rectangular box. "We incapacitate, but do not kill. R. Riddick is needed alive. J. Cobb can be coerced into giving us valuable information regarding who has been in contact with the Subject during her flight. All contacts must be silenced."

Twelve was not fully convinced. Their current plan was flawed. Subject E-7 had escaped on their watch, however. They had been spared from termination only because of their extensive knowledge of Subject E-7's capabilities. They had never failed before. Nine was losing his objectivity. This was pride. This was unacceptable. There was nothing to be done about it.

"The disappearance of R. Riddick and J. Cobb will not go unnoticed. However, it may perhaps go uninvestigated." Nine was at this point speaking to himself. "We will remain by our timetable for the capture of the Companion. Her disappearance will spur action."

"And should they choose to run?" Twelve tried one last time to make his partner see reason without openly contesting the plan.

"M. Reynolds does not run." The corners of Nine's lips twitch. "He is a hero."

*T*F*C*

"I figure, if we're gonna kill two of these government boys, in the Core, might as well go all in." Jayne's grin remained plastered firmly in place as he led the way down a small side street and headed east.

"You wanna elaborate on that Cobb?" Riddick smirked.

"It's a fifty miles to the mountains from the yards. First, I figured I'd just hotwire us one of the dock's mules, but then there's those damn scanners. Got a shitload of coin waitin' be made on this rock and I ain't lookin' to run 'fore it's made." He turned off into a smaller two-way alley. "Maybe I stopped for a drink while I was out before."

Riddick waited for him to go on.

"And, maybe I went looking for a bar that don't serve to the rich folk. Some place that ain't really supposed to be there but is 'cause somebody pays somebody who pays somebody else to be there."

"You got a point?" Riddick's head ticked ever so slightly as Jayne stopped to light a cigar.

"Well," he took the first inhale of his cigar. "Places that ain't suppose to be there, ain't in places where there's scanners, or active vid feeds."

"You hunted down a gang bar?" Riddick shook his head biting back the urge to laugh.

"I'm a tracker, didn't take long, you just follow the right person in a crowd is all." Jayne shrugged. "Didn't find a bar though."

"What did you find?" Riddick thoroughly interested now as he followed Jayne down another twist in the alley.

"Core or not, where there's money there's crime, and where's there's crime, Jayne Cobb goes." The merc said with a smug wink over his shoulder.

"Cobb, you ever wink at me again and I'm gonna take out your eye."

"Speakin' of eyes-," Jayne started, nonplussed by Riddick's threat.

"It can be done by a doc, more often than not people wind up blind." Riddick saved him the trouble of voicing the question he knew was coming; though he did leave out the distinction of whether or not he had used a doctor himself.

"What kind of blind odds are we talkin' here, cause I'm willing to go as high as seventy-thirty." He grunted as he and Riddick pushed themselves over a low divider wall.

"More like ninety-ten." Riddick informed him.

"So's yours ain't done by a doc then."

Riddick's step faltered nearly imperceptibly.

"Ain't a man that would take those kind of odds." Jayne explained his reasoning without being asked. "One day I'd like to hear that story though."

"One day you just might." Riddick rumbled back. "Where are we heading exactly?"

"Oh, right." Jayne refocused himself. "Like I was sayin' I didn't find a bar. What I did find-," Jayne halted before the alleyway split off again. His head jerked towards the option which lead left, the short alley continued another twenty or so yards before coming to a blind turnoff. "Down that way there's a chop shop." Jayne grinned. "Ain't just any chop shop neither."

Riddick was extremely interested at this point. "What kind of chop shop?"

"Cycles." Jayne smirked.

"We got another three hours before the meet, how many guys?" Riddick asked immediately.

"During the day there wasn't more than ten. This is Ariel, figure crime is down under the carpet, but all quiet and clean like, less guns, more money."

"No more than six there this time of night then." Riddick was calculating odds. "How much you wanna bet it's a bunch of rich kids playing thugs?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh," Jayne feigned thoughtfulness. "I'd bet my entire ruttin' cut from this hospital job on it."

"We kill the power; can you stay on my six?"

Jayne's smirk grew. "Step ahead of you." He reached into his pocket and uncapped a marker; he stepped around Riddick, and made three small dots on the back on his jacket. "I can hit a man clean in the head from more than a thousand yards; I can keep on your six with those three dots."

"You really ain't dumb at all, are you?"

Jayne shrugged, "Kaylee's got machines," he took a last drag off his cigar before stubbing it out. "I got guns and crime."

"All gotta be good at somethin'." Riddick smirked.

*T*F*C*

**To be continued…**

*T*F*C*

**Endnote: Okay. Whew. Give me a couple of days to get the second half of it up and running. Hope you enjoyed.**

**Til After Now.**


	43. Ariel 2:1

**Super big, groovy, hug, massive, shout out to aisling13, celticicegoddess, sxevlbtch, librarywitch, Rachet, Darkdreamer1982, , pyrobabe7713, bianca, lizziebug, Elliesmeow, JadeSea, ArtLightLove, GenocideWolf, erinsailorditz, Hidden Relevance, Sabrina1204, ArxSerpens, CloakedInsanity, and Forestreject.**

**I know I say it alot but I truly mean it, you guys rock. I can't tell you how much your reviews help, especially on days when my brain starts to pour out my ears. It means so very much to me. To all of you much love.**

**To Thuggie- Hmmm...let's see five more episodes, six more interludes, three lost episodes, a movie, three more lost episodes and another move...to late to run screaming now lol. Thanks for hanging out woth me until the wee hours to bang this baby out. **

**As usually and unfortunately, I am making not a cent. They're other people's imanginary friends. They' re just cooler than my own.**

***T*F*C*  
**

The warehouse district was silent; as it usually was in the hours between midnight and dawn. Jayne had been right. On Ariel, crime was more polished and refined than on the Rim. It was done under the carpet, cleanly and efficiently. Money made deals here, not bullets or blades. This was unfortunate for the occupants of one particular warehouse as the two men who entered after the lights went out were rather fond of bullets and blades.

The five young men who occupied said warehouse all had promising medical and political careers ahead of them. None had any need for the coin that could be made on the wrong side of the law other than the distraction from boredom it provided. They had no reason to be anxious when the light's first went out. They were untouchable. This was just a game; which was also unfortunate for them. Not because it wasn't a game for Riddick and Jayne, it was, but the pair was much better at it.

Less than ten minutes after the first of the gunshots went off, a heavy steel-reinforced door blew open. From the resulting cloud of smoke, two sleek, metallic high-speed hover-cycles appeared and rapidly disappeared into the night.

*T*F*C*

On a remote moon in a neighboring planetary system, a highly caffeinated curly-haired man sat before a wall covered with several dozen cortex screens; all of varying sizes and each displayed a different feed. His head jerked up as one of the top most monitors flashed. Dexterous fingers moved quickly across one of six keypads and the selected image transferred to the one immediately before him. It was a high-security alert from Ariel.

"My, oh my, somebody is behaving badly." His eyes gleamed in a fashion reminiscent of an old woman who had just received a juicy bit of gossip. Those nimble digits began another spate of furious motion as he hacked his way further into the system.

_An explosion in the warehouse district? Blatant crime on one of the 'verse's most heavily policed planets? Now that is interesting. _

The warehouse was located in a vid blackout zone. Now his hands flashed across several keyboards as he brought up every vid stream in the surrounding area.

"I've found you." The strange man giggled to himself; partially because there was no one else in which to share his enthusiasm. His screens focused on a frozen image which caught a blur of motion. He isolated the image, slowed the feed, and picked up another angle. He zeroed in on the faces of the two riders, altered the angle once more and increased the resolution. The first face, he recognized immediately, and nearly fell out of his command chair in the resulting burst of laughter. The second face took only a moment longer and it was familiar only because he monitored the Merc Guilds for several of his clients.

"Jayne Cobb, what are you doing with Richard B. Riddick?" He mused over the question only momentarily as his fingers started up once more. It took less than five minutes for him to isolate and track the bikes through the city. One-by-one he downloaded the feeds, killed the vids, and destroyed all traces of his presence and that of the two criminals.

"Now, if you're here, Jayne " His voice trailed off as he hacked into Ariel City's docking feeds, "Ah yes there you are. Why, hello, Hoban." He chuckled to himself once more. "I wonder if you, or your Captain, knows I'm not the only one watching? Let's find out, who is this other party, shall we?"

*T*F*C*

Riddick killed his engine a mile from their designated point. The grin on Jayne's face as the merc pulled up alongside him mirrored his own thoughts.

"I'm keeping it!" Jayne declared as he yanked off his goggles. "I don't care if Mal gives me septic for a month once we get caught openin' up the airlock to get these babies back onboard." He pulled out his cigar and relit it. "He can kiss the darkest part of my muscular ass."

Riddick's head ticked slightly as Jayne drew his first inhale. "Smells like shit."

Jayne shrugged. "Gotta smoke 'em when I can. Cap'n won't let me smoke onboard, 'count of the recycled air and such. Real shame we blew that warehouse to shit. How much you think one of these babies would go for on the Rim?"

"More than they can pay." Riddick grunted as his eyes scanned the hilly expanse ahead of them. "Bet you the month of septic we're gonna get, that they're already waiting for us up there."

It was dark but the sky was clear and two of Ariel's moons were nearly full. Book hadn't been exaggerating about the fog. It hung thick around the mountains and drifted lazily down towards the ground beneath them. Foliage was sparse but clumps of evergreens and pines littered the hilly ground here and there; more common were large groupings of rock clusters that jutted out from the earth at odd angles. However, the trees thickened a half mile ahead of them and shielded their meet point from view.

"Won't take that bet." Jayne snorted as he joined Riddick in his survey of the landscape. "I can tell ya they are. I would be."

*T*F*C*

"Malcolm Reynolds, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?" The curly haired man asked thoughtfully. This information was useful; very useful. _Serenity _was useful. A _Serenity_ with a Richard B. Riddick on board was even more useful. He was practically salivating over the amount of money which could be made. Not turning him, in of course; no, Riddick was worth far much more as a free agent. He had built a small one-man empire as the eyes and ears of the criminal underworld. People would pay for Riddick's services. An old friend of his, well more of a competitor really, had once handled Riddick's jobs and it had proven extremely lucrative.

There was also another, more personal matter, he could use their services for and it would be an excellent opportunity for an introduction to the infamous Riddick. He was giddy. His fingers began to feverishly work as he hacked back into Ariel's security feeds. He wanted to know the second they crossed back into city limits. If he covered their tracks, it would be a delightful incentive for a positive professional relationship.

*T*F*C*

"Wash?" A sleepy eyed mechanic yawned as she climbed the bridge stairs.

Wash, who was otherwise occupied with a dinosaur battle of epic portions, didn't hear her at first. Needless to say, he gave a very non-dinosaur-like yelp of surprise when Kaylee reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Sorry," Kaylee giggled softly. "Who's winnin'?"

"Surprisingly Lucy." Wash grinned, "It was touch and go there for a minute, but this old girl-," he displayed his green triceratops proudly, "-she's got some tricks in her plates."

"That's nice," Kaylee yawned again as she dropped into the co-pilot's chair.

"Somethin' wrong?" Wash's brow furrowed immediately. "Jayne didn't-"

"Oh, gosh no," Kaylee forced herself to sit up straight, "I was actually lookin' for him. He got up for a snack, but that was-" she yawned again, "-a while ago."

"Nobody's been up," Wash's furrowed brow spread to his lips. "I usually hear people this time o' night down in the mess; it's too quiet not to."

"Huh." Kaylee stifled a yawn and forced herself awake. "Guess I'll check the bay. Maybe's he's workin' out?"

"Salutations and greetings!" Both Wash and Kaylee jumped slightly as River bounded up the bridge stairs.

"Somebody's feelin' shiny." Kaylee giggled.

"There is an epic battle of titans to attend to." River sang playfully.

"Lucy's winning." Wash informed her.

"It is her time." River said sagely as she picked up the green triceratops. She handed Kaylee, Frank the blue stegosaurus and Wash, Tom the duck-billed goose juggler. "It will be a battle for the ages."

"Riv, it's real late. I gotta find "

River cut Kaylee off, "Wash has been alone. He was lonely." Her face was the picture of sorrow.

Wash frowned again, he hadn't realized it before, but he had been getting rather lonely since Zoe had gone to bed.

"It **will **be fun!" He added quickly. "We're the brains of _Serenity_, us three. The others, they get to bond over gunfights and bullets. We can do it with Dinosaur Wars!"

Kaylee suddenly felt terrible. Wash was always the one stuck up on the bridge when all the excitement and fun was everywhere else. Jayne was probably working out in the bay. He did it a lot when he couldn't sleep at night. What would it hurt if she stayed up and had a Dinosaur War? He would come looking for her when he was done. "Alright." She smiled brightly. "What we fightin' over?"

"We aren't just any dinosaurs," River whispered fiercely. "We are Independent Dinosaurs. The Alliance has us surrounded. Marshall was a traitor."

"Lucy was right!" Tom cried horrified.

"What should we do?" Frank was beginning to panic.

"To the disproportional volcano!" Lucy cried.

*T*F*C*

"I am uncomfortable with this location." Twelve remarked rather tersely as he scanned their surroundings from the forward viewport of their transport. The clumps of trees thickened at the base of the mountains and the large boulders gave ample room for cover. "Quarry R. Riddick has ultra-violet vision. We have given him the advantage." Even with the outboard lights of their transport, there were still too many blind spots for his liking. This was not how things were done. They did not deal with criminals.

"Your concerns are unfounded." Nine remarked dryly. "The device ensures our advantage."

"The device requires that we are within eleven feet of our Quarry." Twelve reminded him.

"J. Cobb will ensure that distance is obtainable."

"J. Cobb is a criminal."

"J. Cobb is greedy."

"J. Cobb is here." Twelve informed him as the two men in question cleared the tree line.

*T*F*C*

Jayne and Riddick were silent as they neared the tree line. The sleek, metallic black transport was already visible; curves of metal gleamed every so often in the moonlight as the wind stirred around the light traces of fog which had meandered its way down the mountains. The two men had been all jokes and cusses in the initial stint of the trek but the two who neared its completion were wholly different.

"You ready for this?" Riddick rumbled quietly to Jayne.

"Gonna hurt like a bitch." Jayne flicked his holster clip open.

"Just remember they got chest armor. Head shots are the only ones that count."

"You're gonna owe me a drink after this." Jayne replied conversationally as they climbed up over a low ridge and a cluster of small rocks. The black transport's door hissed opened. "Evenin' boys!" Jayne hollered "Nice night for crime."

"You got our meds?" Riddick barked out across the fifteen or so feet which remained between the two pairs of men. His face took on an appearance of sudden clarity as the men stepped closer without responding. He spun on his heel, gun drawn, and leveled it on Jayne. "You son of a bitch! You sold me out!" He roared and fired. Jayne was thrown back a foot as the impact of the bullet exploded against his chest and landed in a small cloud of dust as he hit the ground.

Riddick did not hesitate as he spun again, this time leveling his gun on the two men who were still moving closer. "Ain't goin' back to Slam." His voice was lethal. He had an eight count before he knew Jayne would stand. The plan was simple. Riddick would take the one on the left, Jayne the one on the right.

"Slam?" Nine flicked on the small device in his hand and Riddick dropped. "No, not for you."

*T*F*C*

"Lucy!" Tom cried. It took Wash and Kaylee a moment to realize River was no longer involved in their game. "River?" Wash's voice was edged with panic as the young woman began to convulse slightly after hitting the grating.

"Oh God, Wash!" Kaylee cried, running to her friend's side. "Wash, get Simon!" She yelled louder.

Wash was already moving and flying down the bridge stairs.

"River, River " Kaylee sobbed. "River, please."

River opened her eyes.

Mercurial ones met hers.

Shirah.

_**Don't ask me any questions.**_

_**I press my limits in this.**_

River blinked as Kaylee shook her, but the world blurred in and out of focus.

_**I cannot keep you long.**_

_**See what he becomes.**_

Pain rippled through River's head. Images blurred in front of her eyes; voices reached her, garbled. Vaguely somewhere, she registered her brother and yet, almost beside her, Riddick as well.

_**Stay with me, Little One.**_

_**Witness the fall of your tormentors.**_

*T*F*C*

Riddick felt the trickle of warm blood which ran from either ear. Searing pain sliced through his mind as the world shifted out of focus. He was snarling and trying to force himself off the ground but the sound.

_That fucking noise._

It shattered any semblance of thought he could have formed. Vaguely he was aware of voices, of Jayne's body twitching to his left, that he was fucked. Something clawed inside his head, snarled, and woke up.

**Furyan.**

_**Her**_ voice roared through his head. A surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins. Images, memories that weren't his flashed through his mind. Needles, restraints, _**electricity.**_

**Bear witness to their crimes, Furyan.**

Riddick felt heat in the center of his chest. The heat radiated outwards and he felt it move through his body. He stopped suffering. He fed himself off the pain. Riddick's fingers wrapped around his blade.

**Make them bleed.**

"You will kill him if you do not shut down the device." Twelve remarked simply.

"He is in no danger." Nine dismissed his counterpart. "It is unfortunate he terminated his accomplice. The restraints."

Twelve merely nodded and turned back toward the ship.

"I must thank you for bringing Subject E-7 home to us." Nine addressed Riddick as he crouched down before him. "We will take good care of her, I assure you."

Riddick's eyes burned a brilliant cerulean. "Fuck you." His arm arched and his blade buried itself into Nine's chin. Riddick yanked back and viciously took with him the lower portion of the agent's jaw. The device clattered to the ground as the man threw himself away with blood spewing from the gaping hole which was now his mouth. Riddick impaled the device next. The relief was instantaneous.

Slowly, he rose to his feet. One arm was soaked in blood as his veins pulsated an electric-blue beneath his skin. Jayne was coughing, conscious and pushing himself up to his feet as Riddick steadied his gaze on the second man he had come to kill. He stalked forward as the fog swirled around his body and his vision narrowed. He could smell the man's fear as adrenaline pumped through his system and sharpened his senses.

Twelve was terrified. The raw emotion was almost exhilarating... almost. They had underestimated R. Riddick. The twitching, bleeding body of his superior was evidence enough. The man that stalked towards him was not a man. Men did not glow. Men did not fight the device. A gunshot echoed and Twelve's head jerked to see J. Cobb empty a full clip into his comrade's skull. It had all been a trap. They had been set up. They had underestimated both of these men. It was inconsequential. He had twenty steps to his transport. On his next breath, Agent Twelve committed a sin; he did what no other Blue Sun Agent would ever consider. He ran.

"Cobb." Riddick did not need to yell. Jayne unclipped a flasher from his belt and tossed it. The convict caught it without turning his head and pulled the pin. It took him a tenth of a second to realize Jayne had not tossed him a flasher. "Fuck." He hurled the grenade into the transport's closing hatch, spun on his heel and booked it back towards Jayne.

The mercenary was confused. It didn't help his confusion any when Riddick, who was glowing, grabbed him by his collar and threw them both over the small ridge they had climbed over. The sudden explosion, however, brought clarity in the form of flaming metal.

"Shit!" Jayne snapped and covered his head as pieces of rock and smoldering ship parts came plummeting from the sky above them. When the literal and figurative dust settled, a heavy silence fell over the clearing. Jayne coughed up a lungful of rock dust. "Guess that wasn't a flasher." He grunted as he tried to roll himself over.

"You fucking idiot!" Riddick spit out blood, not sure when he had actually bitten into his tongue. "Fuck!" The world wasn't spinning, it was throbbing. The fact that his veins were illuminated beneath his skin was not lost on him either. He was being willfully ignorant.

"Got the job done." Jayne found it in himself to smirk as he turned his head. "Hey, Riddick?" He asked, deciding that the head turn was an accomplishment to be proud of at the moment.

"Yeah, Cobb?" Riddick answered as he shook his head in an attempt to clear the ringing from his ears. It only seemed to make it worse.

"You sure about this not bein' the radioactive part?" The merc asked skeptically as he closed his eyes.

"Told you already." Riddick tried to stand again. It was less successful than his first attempt and he went down hard.

"Yeah, but you're kinda glowin'." Jayne groaned; the throbbing inside his head was at a near skull shattering level.

"Noticed that, did you?" Riddick tried to will the world back into focus by pushing out pain with every exhale.

"Kinda hard not to, bit creepifying." Jayne grimaced as he plucked a small metal shard from his bicep.

"Yeah, it'd fuck with my head, too." Riddick leaned himself against a boulder as he examined his own electric-blue veins. The color seemed to almost hum before it began to fade.

"You owe me a new shirt. Hell, I got blood coming out of my ears. That can't be good."

Riddick snorted.

"What the fuck was that thing?" Jayne managed as he forced himself into a semi-upright position, more than slightly relieved his partner had literally dimmed back down.

"Don't matter now."

"Woulda been nice to have a _psychic_ 'round that coulda told us about that." Jayne grumbled. He patted himself down as he leaned back against a rock and looked for his cigars. "Gorram ears won't stop ringing. Chest hurts like a bitch." Jayne complained as he lit one up.

"Jayne."

"What?"

"Quit your bitchin'." The convict gave a sort of half-smirk.

"Ain't bitchin', that was a helluva party." Jayne tipped his cigar. "'Cept that one bit, damn ears." He frowned. "Still didn't get to try out those flashers." He shrugged. He heaved himself forward and up. There was a moment where he thought he might have gone right back down but he shook himself. "Right. You comin'?"

Riddick tried to force himself up; his stagger was much more visible than Jayne's.

"Whoa." The merc steadied him and helped him back down to the ground. "Suppose glowin' ain't as easy as it looks.

Riddick merely snorted but accepted the flask of whiskey Jayne passed to him as he propped himself against the rock next to him. "So, about that whole glowing thing?"

Riddick managed a bit of a bitter, dark chuckle.

"Not really something you overlook in a person." Jayne mused.

"Suppose not." Riddick was still breathing heavily and took another swig of the whiskey. It was the cheap shit; the burn did what he needed. "What if I told you River wasn't the only one who heard voices in her head?" He tossed back another sip.

"You know what, Riddick?" Jayne puffed off his cigar, "I do believe, few months back, 'fore a crazy girl popped nekkid outta a box, that information woulda bothered me." Jayne replied honestly. "But ever since then, shit's just gotta weirder and weirder. Hell, Mal got hitched."

*T*F*C*

_**Cut them, they bleed.**_

_**My child bleeds them for you.**_

_**Embrace what you are.**_

"River!" Simon snapped his fingers in front of her face. "River!" He clapped his hands together. A rush of air whooshed past his lips as she blinked. The entire crew had been awoken by Wash's panicked yells and was now hovering over her, albeit slightly out of focus. "Give her some space." Simon ordered and the crew shuffled themselves back a step or two.

"Gave us a scare, Little Bit." Mal grinned, relief evident on his features.

"She is well." River continued to blink rapidly.

"What happened?" Zoe asked.

"Nothing." River replied simply as she pushed herself up and on to her feet. "She thought it was something, but all is well. Goodnight." Without another word she turned and walked down the bridge stairs.

"Doc?" Mal arched his eyebrow.

Simon shrugged. "It could have been the medication. She seems alright; most likely she was dehydrated and fainted." The doctor was surprised by how easily the lie had rolled off his lips. Given the events of the last two days he had a feeling it was very far from nothing; Riddick's absence added to it. He was supposed to be watching River at nights. If he wasn't here, something bad was happening somewhere and Simon had a sneaking suspicion whatever it was, River had just watched it unfold.

"I didn't want to ask before, but that bruise on her face, Doc?" Zoe asked. Simon wasn't the only one who had been watching Riddick and River together. And what Zoe had really meant was that she didn't want to ask in front of Riddick.

"She had a nightmare." Once more the lie rolled easily off Simon's tongue. "She woke up screaming and fell off the infirmary bed. She hit her jaw on the cart on the way down."

"Ouch." Kaylee groaned in sympathy.

"I should get her settled again." The doctor excused himself off the bridge. He wanted to know what his sister knew and he wanted to get away before anyone could ask any more questions.

"Where's Jayne and Riddick?" Kaylee asked suddenly. Now that the danger had passed, she noticed their absence. It seemed to her that Riddick should have been hovering and growling as he tended to do whenever River had a spell. Wash had woken the ship, so why hadn't Jayne come running from the bay?

"They weren't in the bay when I ran for Simon." Wash informed her.

"If they're not in the bay, not here and not in their dorms " Kaylee's look of concern quickly turned to one of anger.

Mal processed that for a second. "You don't think?" He looked to his first mate.

"Why would they?" Zoe countered his question with one of her own.

"Um, guys " Wash cut in as a red light flashed on the console. "This may or may not be directly related, but I got a wave comin' in and you'll never guess who it is."

*T*F*C*

Jayne had time to think as they drove the cycles back towards the city and _Serenity_. He had told Riddick earlier that he was an uncomplicated man. This was complicated. Thinking about this made his head hurt and he still had a bit of a headache from whatever the fuck that thing was the Blue Sun guys had used on them. The whole thing was just weird. Men glowing and hearing voices inside their heads, Riddick had said something about his genetics being different but that was really the part where Jayne had gotten lost. In the end Jayne decided to look at the matter practically. Riddick could see in the dark, smell better than the hounds his Pa had kept, and could hear a man's heartbeat from forty feet away when he focused. Richard B. Riddick was also on Jayne Cobb's side.

Jayne had no illusions about the nature of his line of work. He had long ago far surpassed the life expectancy of a freelance merc. It had never bothered him before but things were different now. Now, he had Kaylee and waking up next to her every morning made him want to have a whole lot of more mornings. He'd never admit it, but he'd found himself thinking about quitting and finding some kind of honest work. It'd be boring as hell but it would mean a whole lot of more mornings with Kaylee. That was worth kinda boring. Having Riddick around however, significantly increased his chance of being able to have those extra mornings, and still be able to blow shit up too. It didn't take him long in other words to realize he could work with a glowing badass gun-hand and a crazy psychic. Long as it meant he got those extra mornings, Jayne was willing to put up with a whole bunch of weird shit.

"What are you gonna tell them?" Riddick asked without looking at the merc who pulled up alongside him. There were only a few miles left between them and the ship. If Jayne was going to make something of this, Riddick wanted it here. He really didn't want to have to kill Jayne; it was another thought he stored away for later. The truth was, he couldn't afford it now. If the merc forced his hand, he wouldn't hesitate. River's safety easily trumped the worth of Jayne's life; regardless of whether or not Riddick had actually started to like the guy.

"Nuthin' to be told." Jayne answered truthfully. "We broke out for a few drinks and stole us some bikes."

"Handlin' this real well, Jayne." Riddick watched the merc carefully; nothing in his body language or tone had changed in the slightest. There was no intake of breath or sudden jump in heart rate. The man was being honest.

"Point of interest," Jayne remarked, he was beginning to like that turn of phrase. "Glowin' ain't real manly-like. It's a little sissified, iffin' you ask me."

Riddick barked out a laugh as he fired up his engine. "Fuck you, Cobb."

"I'm just sayin' is all."

*T*F*C*

"River," Simon called into his sister's dorm softly before entering and closing the door behind him. She was sitting up on her bed, wrapped almost completely by her blankets. "Do you want to tell me where Riddick is?"

"He is taking care of her." River replied, though it was somewhat muffled by the blanket.

"Taking care of who? You?" Simon asked as he sat down next to her and tried to pull the blanket away from her mouth at least so he could hear her properly.

"Two-by-two." River whispered and her brother's eyes widen. "They were waiting. Like snakes in the tall grass, they wait, always waiting. It is inconsequential."

"Inconsequential! ? !" Simon almost shouted. He checked himself and lowered his tone. "Inconsequential? River, we have to get away now."

"No." River answered simply as she inhaled deeply. Riddick's scent was still heavily entrenched in her blankets. "She will not run any longer."

"River, we don't have a choice." Simon scolded her, "I have to tell the captain, now." The doctor jumped up from the bed. He didn't realize his sister had moved until she was standing in front of him, blocking her door. He blinked.

River slowly shook her head. "They are no longer a threat. He took care of it. He promised to take care of her, to never let them take. He kept his word."

"He " Simon let his words trail off knowing his sister could hear his thoughts well enough to finish the question off.

"He made them bleed." She smiled a smile so dark and satisfied that Simon once more forced himself to blink. "She makes her _ge-ge_ nervous when she smiles like a cat that got the mouse. She shouldn't be happy when blood runs. They deserved to die, _ge-ge._" River took a step away from the door and closer to her brother. "She told you. She walks in darkness. There are things, things that scream and chew on flesh in the darkness. He asked her why she needed Riddick. She didn't have an answer. She does now. Now, she knows."

Simon swallowed hard and brushed away a strand of River's hair that had fallen in her face. He would deal with this. He would accept this. This was who his sister was. He would not be afraid of her.

"He is the most dangerous thing in the darkness. He is the one who stalks the night. The one who makes his home in shadows. She walks in the darkness; in the valley of death and she fears no evil. There is no evil more dangerous than the one who stalks. River was afraid of the things that screamed and pricked and chewed. She cannot see through the dark. She was blind and alone. _**He**_ came and she can see through his eyes. She sees they are not monsters in the dark, but things that bleed; things that can be killed. He shows her _Dao_."

"River," Simon started slowly, "I don't understand." He admitted as he pulled her into a hug.

"He doesn't have to; don't be afraid of her, Simon."

"I'm not afraid of you, River." Simon told her firmly. He wasn't afraid of her, but he was afraid of what they had done to her.

"Not of River, of the girl. He mustn't be afraid of the girl. The girl ensured the survival of River. River had to hide. She had to go away. She got lost in the darkness. Riddick will find her again and all will be well. She understands now, _ge-ge._ She must find River."

*T*F*C*

The entire crew, save Simon and River were waiting in the bay when the airlock door opened. It wasn't lost on them that River was conspicuously absent. Nor was it lost on Wash and Kaylee that she had shown up on the bridge precisely as Kaylee had decided to go looking for Jayne. The mechanic was planning on having a conversation with her friend regarding the rules of being a girl. Particularly the one regarding covering for boyfriends.

"Aw, hell." Jayne groaned as he and Riddick walked their bikes up the ramp. He had been holding onto the delusional hope that they would be able to sneak back on board. Riddick had been somewhat a bit more prepared, River having warned him the crew was awake and waiting.

"One of you two ruttin' geniuses wanna tell me why I got a weird little man holding some security feed over my head?" Mal was seething. His tone remained steady and even but it was the shade of the skin of his face which belied his true emotion. "We got a job, one that's gonna rain hard cash on us from the gorram sky and ya'll just decided to go and blow up warehouses in the goddamn Core!"

"Needed a drink." Jayne grumbled.

"A drink? A gorram ruttin' drink? !" Mal snapped.

"Who's the little weird guy?" Riddick asked, unconcerned with Mal's mini-stroke.

"Mr. Universe." Wash informed him. "And he's got a whole lotta captures of you two."

"Aw, hell." Jayne groaned. The only thing that was beginning to look up was the fact that nobody seemed overly concerned with the piece of high-tech shiny metal he was securing.

Riddick hid the slight twitch of recognition with a shrug. "So we got another job lined up after this one."

"One that don't pay." Zoe pointed out.

"Fuel's comin' outta both your cuts for it." Mal barked. "And you're both on septic for the next six months."

"Six months?" Jayne complained. "Aww Mal " he groaned.

"Don't you even start, Jayne Cobb!" Kaylee shrieked. "You know what in the gorram hell I've been goin' through?" She yelled as she stormed her way over.

Had the general mood been less tense, and the circumstances different, several of the crew would have found the way the six-foot plus merc flinched rather amusing.

"_Bao bei,_(darling/treasured one), it ain't what you- Ow!" He yelped as the right hook he never saw coming slammed into his jaw.

Riddick snorted out a chuckle he covered with a cough.

"What the hell was that for! ?" Jayne yelled at her.

"What the hell do you think ? ! You coulda been dead, you coulda been pinched, you coulda been bleedin' out somewhere!" Kaylee spun on her heel and turned her glare on Riddick. "And you! He's not smart enough to pull this off by himself! I know-,"

Mal, Zoe, Wash, and Book, began to see the humor in the situation as Kaylee's temper got the best of her, and she did what must grown men would be too terrified to do.

"Hey!" Jayne protested but one glare from Kaylee silenced him.

"You know River had another fit while you was gone?" Kaylee snapped accusingly as she whirled back around on the convict.

"What? !" Riddick bellowed. She had left that bit of information out when she had warned him.

_/ What? !/_ He corrected himself and mentally snapped.

_/ She felt them scream. /_

A low growl reverberated through his chest.

"Don't you growl at me, you big... big... thug!" Kaylee snapped. "And shame on you both for bringing River into it!" She huffed.

"What do ya mean? We didn't bring River anywhere?" Jayne defended as he rubbed his jaw. Girl really did have a mean cross.

"I woke up to go lookin' for you and she convinced me and Wash to play Dinosaurs instead. Don't you lie to me, Jayne Cobb, you're already in trouble!"

"His fault." Jayne grumbled as he jerked his head towards the convict.

Riddick shrugged and turned to head toward River's dorm.

"Ain't done yet, Riddick." Mal commanded. "Mr. Universe is gonna be wavin' us again and he wants to talk to you."

Riddick arched his brow. "Me?"

"The hell if I know," Mal snorted. "But you're gonna handle this, Riddick. This job's worth too much to us to have to run 'cause you pissed off the blackmailer."

*T*F*C*

"And there he is, the star of my film!" Mr. Universe clapped his hands together as Riddick came into view on his cortex screen. "Mal, do stay, as this concerns you as well. Is Zoe there?" Zoe slid into the view of the screen. "There she is, you minx you! What about my dear undeserving friend? Ah! Hoban, there you are. So we're all gathered now, hmmm?" He strained his neck as though somehow shifting his position would allow him to see from an angle other than the one his screen presented. "Where's the other star?"

"Gettin' his ear chewed off by my mechanic." Mal grunted.

"Cobb is with Kaylee?" Mr. Universe asked, however, he didn't wait for an answer. "Suppose she got tired of waiting for me; it's not a very worthy substitution." He frowned slightly before the expression vanished and he continued. "Very well, then. After your stunning display of blatant crime-," Mr. Universe directed his attention to Riddick, "-I tracked you through the city and identified you both. As it is, Jayne, I knew already as a dear friend of my own dear friend Hoban."

Wash rolled his eyes and spun in a circle in his chair.

"Hoban?" Riddick smirked.

"Wash." The pilot corrected with a slight groan.

"Are there anymore interruptions?" Mr. Universe snapped. Once more, he didn't wait for an answer before continuing. "I was curious to see if the whole ship was on Ariel as well or if Mr. Cobb had just gone rogue. And there you were, _Serenity_, a shining beacon of defiant metal."

Riddick's face crinkled slightly as he noticed the others were either rolling their eyes or looking extremely bored and irritated. Apparently, this was usual behavior for the weird little shit.

"You got a point?" Riddick barked. He really wasn't in the mood.

Wash let his head thud against the console. "Mistake." The pilot groaned.

Mr. Universe's nostrils flared. "You can't rush genius. Genius like this?" He gestured wildly around himself at things the crew was not privy to see. "I am the eyes and the ears of the 'Verse my violent friend and, as such, I am privy to information which, in the wrong hands, could be very unfortunate for you. You don't want my assistance; fine. I'll take my vid feeds and the information regarding your ship being under surveillance and I'll bid you goodnight." He reached over to kill the feed on his end.

"Wait!" Mal rushed. "Surveillance?" He asked nervously and shot Riddick a half-glare from the corner of his eye. "Mr. Universe- " He plastered on his slickest salesman smile. "You'll have to forgive him. He's new onboard and doesn't know what a man of your extraordinary talents is capable of."

"No, I really don't feel as though we can maintain a pleasant professional relationship any longer." Mr. Universe huffed.

"Mr. Universe," Zoe slid in front of the view. "Now, you know how much we appreciate your help." She smiled at him.

"Zoe, you minx." He grinned at her. "Your husband's right there, you stop making those eyes at me. Hoban, my friend, you are a lucky man. If I had less of a moral standpoint, I'd take your beautiful Amazon for myself. She, clearly, is more in love with me, but alas, you **are **a dear friend."

Wash swiveled around in his chair.

"Now, we're still not hung up on that whole flight school thing?" Mr. Universe teased, his mood clearly repaired.

"You cheated." Wash snorted.

"I altered." Mr. Universe corrected. "Now, about those vid feeds. As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted and my genius so thoroughly dismissed-," Mal shot Riddick a warning glance. "I wasn't the only one looking for _Serenity_. I was wondering, Malcolm Reynolds, if you knew just who you were carrying on your ship?"

"Enlighten me." Mal said biting back the snappy retort on his lips.

"Richard B. Riddick, River M. Tam, Derrial R. Adams, and of course, Simon G. Tam." He stated with a bit of a dramatic flourish. "Now, how did I acquire this information, you ask? Well let me tell you. I was not the only one watching. Someone else was. You can't stop the signal, and they left dirty foot prints behind. I traced their hack back to their ship, downloaded their onboard computers and infected them with a particularly delicious little virus I had implanted into the Ariel military satellites in order to do some banking. Which reminds me-," His brow furrowed and his chair slid out of view of the cortex screen.

"You do business with this man?" Riddick asked as he raised a brow.

"Believe it or not, he's the best." Wash groaned. "He's got some hygiene issues, and he's stranded himself on a moon encased in an ion cloud alone for the last five years, so he's "

"Fucking batshit." Mal grunted.

"Don't piss him off." Zoe warned. "Man's got a vindictive streak and an ego that loves to be stroked."

"That's where you come in, minx?" Riddick smirked.

"I will shoot you." Zoe deadpanned.

The man in question rolled back into view. "Were you talking about me?" He asked coyly but he didn't wait for an answer. "Of course you were. Who wouldn't? The tales of my feats are known far and wide."

"Um, Mr. Universe, about those people who were watching us " Mal cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes, right, well they won't be following you in a ship anytime soon, or when they try rather, they will find that once they turn on main thrusters well they won't find anything." His brow furrowed. "They'll be dead. Point is, however, bloodshed and surveillance aside, that's Blue Sun, or was, or will be whatever, you get the drift." He waved a hand and dismissed the issue. "Blue Sun of course will send more, and I can't get into their system, it's all closed circuits." He added with a bitter snort. "Now, their communications is another matter entirely, but I digress."

The assembled crew let out an almost collective growl as the weird little man continued to ramble.

"What I can do for you, however, is something which usually costs a great deal of money, because it requires a great deal of skill, both of which I have plenty of and, alas, no one to share it with. Which brings me to the point. You pull off this a job I have for you and not only will I turn over all of the evidence of the warehouse assault, but as a gesture of good faith and the beginning of a beautiful business partnership, I will hack into the Alliance database and destroy the facial recognition files on your four convicts. The next time a scanner sees you, you'll draw nothing but a big blank in the eyes of the Alliance. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Are we shiny?"

"What's the catch?" Riddick rumbled darkly.

Mr. Universe blinked. "Excuse me?"

"The catch? Offering a lot for one job."

"Mr. Riddick, you are indeed a wise man." Mr. Universe's fingers began to move rapidly across his keyboards. The end result was unknown to the crew but the curly haired man smiled. "And worth so much more as a free man."

"What am I missing?" Mal asked confused.

Mr. Universe ignored the captain. "You will sever any connection with-," his face distorted as if he had tasted something bitter, "-Andre, and book solely through me. I, of course, will collect a standard fifteen percent finder's fee and we will indeed be shiny."

"Captain is still missing something." Mal snapped. "And we don't work through bookers, we're free agents."

"I wasn't talking to you, Reynolds." Mr. Universe deadpanned. "You're such an egotist."

"Hey!"

"I was talking to the convicted felon and highly sought after criminal Richard B. Riddick. If you would have told me sooner, _**Hoban**_, I would have had a slew of business opportunities for _Serenity._ His name alone will throw you into five and six-figure jobs."

The crew turned their eyes on Riddick. "Andre's dead." The convict explained.

"Wonderful." Mr. Universe clapped his hands together. "Then there is no disagreement and I have a handful of new clients to pursue. Reynolds, you'll be hearing from me in regards to that job in no longer than a week's time. Tootles!" The connection died.

"What in the gorram hell just happened? And why in the Hell do I have a feeling a lot more than a drink and some breaking and entering went down tonight?" Mal eyed Riddick.

Riddick was still staring at the now blank cortex screen. "Son of a bitch!" his fist hit the metal support beam.

"You done now?" Mal arched an eyebrow at the convict who was looking like he just might rupture something in his brain pan.

"Jayne and I tied up a few loose ends is all." Riddick rumbled.

"I take it those loose ends wore blue body armor." Book asked archly as he stepped on board the bridge.

Riddick turned to look at the new voice on the bridge.

"I may be old Riddick but I'm not an imbecile. We **are **on Ariel."

A low growl rolled its way through Riddick's body as he shouldered past the shepherd and walked off the bridge without another word.

"He can't really think the conversation ends there?" Mal looked up at Zoe with a bit of incredulity.

"Seems like it, sir." Zoe deadpanned.

"Anybody else catch that whole mention of five and six-figure jobs?" Wash asked.

"Yes, husband." Zoe nodded.

"Sooo, maybe it's okay to end the conversation there?" Wash quirked an eyebrow.

"He did use the word slew." Zoe pointed out.

"Slew is a lot, right?" Wash grinned out of her.

"I believe so." Zoe returned his grin.

"What the hell?" Mal jumped out of his chair. "I'm the gorram captain!"

"Sir, you really gonna argue with somethin' that got us a _slew_ of _five _and _six-_figure jobs?" Zoe asked her captain in disbelief.

"Well, no." Mal huffed, slightly deflated. "Ain't I supposed to be bothered by my crew going behind my back?"

"You mean, to set up lucrative jobs and discreetly kill of people who are potentially trying to kill us first?" Wash challenged.

"When you say it like that," Mal frowned as he dropped back into his chair. "Kinda takes away my ability to hand out septic duty."

"You'll find something else to do, sir."

"Book, what the hell happened here tonight?" Mal looked up at the shepherd.

"I was asleep." The older man replied.

"Don't play old man on me, preacher. I know you know something."

"Riddick may or may not have mentioned a warning that he believed we were being tailed. The Alliance wouldn't have been quiet, Blue Sun would have. I only connected the dots."

"Should we be running?" Wash asked nervously.

"I doubt The Company is even aware their agents had picked up a trail. Failure is not tolerated. They wouldn't have informed their superiors unless then had already successfully completed their objective."

"And what would that objective be?" Zoe asked.

"Kill the crew, blow the ship, destroy any evidence the Tams existed and return River to her handlers."

"It's the ease at which you say that, that bothers me." Wash said warily.

"Why kill us? Why not put us in Slam?" Mal asked.

"Because you would remember River. It doesn't matter now, Captain, whether or not they stay aboard this ship."

"I ain't interested in fightin' another war." Mal told him tersely as his eyes drifted towards the window. "Just want to fly."

"We can't just turn them loose," Zoe argued. "Tams would be as good as dead we set them out, you know it, sir."

"Didn't say I was plannin' on it, Zoe." Mal replied without taking his eyes off the window. "Just needin' to have us a little ship meetin' about secrets. We stay one step ahead, the fight won't find us."

"And just how do we do that?" Wash asked skeptically.

"We got us a psychic."

"One that can't tell apples from people most days." Zoe said; there was no cruelty to her tone, just honesty.

"She's been all sorts of twitchy last couple of days, right 'fore the explosion, too. She tried to tell us somethin'; saved Kaylee's life most like in the process. Got a feelin' we just ain't listenin' to her right. We woulda known they were on our tail iffin' we'd given what she said more than a snort. Maybe it ain't that she can't tell apples from people, but she's seein' somethin' more in them apples than we give her credit for."

"I would say that's a safe assumption." Book agreed. "If Simon can get the answers he needs at the hospital, I would also assume it will make understanding her a great deal easier as well."

"So that's the plan?" Wash asked.

"We've had worse." Mal smirked.

"That's not as comforting as you might think, Mal." Wash deadpanned.

*T*F*C*

Riddick went directly to the infirmary. River was waiting, humming to herself as she fingered a suture needle and sat cross-legged on the main bed. Wordlessly, Riddick pulled off his shirt and slid on the bed next to her. River made no comment other than to continue to hum as they moved together to allow Riddick to lie back as she positioned herself over him. She cut away a few of the strained stitches her brother had placed and added new ones to the spots along his wound which had reopened completely. Riddick threw his arm across his face as River worked his stitches. For several moments, he just listened to her hum and gave into his exhaustion. He was surprised he'd made it all the way back on the bike and sat through the entire conversation with that weird little shit without his legs giving out.

_/When you start humming her songs again? /_ He thought to her as she finished the last of her stitches.

_/ When she saved you. / _River thought back without looking up as she knotted off the last stitch.

He lifted his arm off his face to look at her.

_/ She felt it. She is in there. /_ She poked at Riddick's forehead. _/ She felt __**her**__ move through you. __**She **__is extraordinary./ _ Riddick didn't miss the slight awe in River's thoughts.

_/ You went down? / _ He asked as she picked up a pair of tweezers and began picking small pieces of metal out of his skin. He hadn't even noticed them before.

_/ __**She**__ was angry./ _ Riddick knew which 'she' River was referring to. _/__**She **__wanted her to see. __**She **__opened the door./_

_/Shirah came for you? / _Riddick thought, a bit incredulously.

_/ Wanted her to see./_

_/ See what? /_

_/ They can be killed. /_

_/ Thought you didn't want to kill. /_ Riddick smirked at her, but there was no mocking in the tone of his thoughts.

_/ They deserved to die. /_ River thought firmly and looked up to level her eyes on his goggled ones. _/ I am not theirs to claim. They have no right./_

_/ What did she say to you?/ _ Riddick asked curiously.

_/ To embrace what I am./_

_/What are you?/ _ Riddick promoted.

_/ What they made her./_

_/ And that is? / _He thought patiently.

_/ A weapon. /_

_/ You ain't-/_

River cut off his thought. _/ She is. /_ Riddick watched her eyes intently as she spoke next. _/ She is also a girl. A girl named River. River had to go away. She had to hide. River is not broken. River is still inside. The girl hid her in a place they could not find her. The girl hid her too well./ _ She tapped her index finger against her head. _/ River is lost in the darkness, but the one who sees is the dark has promised to protect her. The one who sees in the dark will help the girl find River. /_

_/Finally starting to make some kind of sense./ _

_/ She has no reason to be afraid. They don't bleed blue. They bleed red./ _ That caught Riddick's attention for several reasons; the first, Shirah's command to make them bleed. The second, something River had said when he first told her about the plan. _Red and Blue make Purple._

_/ Red and Blue make Purple?/ _ He asked her, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer, the next to come at them would be Alliance. They wouldn't give Blue Sun another chance. The warrants were public already but information was restricted to within the Guilds. He had a feeling that restriction would be lifted real soon and he had an even sicker feeling that River being alive wouldn't matter so much anymore either. She was a Blue Sun investment but she was an Alliance liability. It occurred to him that allying themselves with Mr. Universe might wind up working in their favor, especially if the man could really hack into the Alliance deeply enough to trash their facial data.

River frowned. She didn't remember ever saying such a thing. She shrugged._ /Don't ask any questions, she doesn't have the answers./_

_/Liar. They're in there./_

_/ Somewhere._ /

**Endnote:**

**For those of you confused as to what the gorram heck just happened, Shirah did not enter River's mind. She can't, River's not a Furyan. What she did do was called to the part of River's mind which was bonded to Riddick's and already inside of his head. It's only a small piece of River's consciousness, which is why the Furyan woman had such trouble trying to keep River with her. The majority of her mind was still awake in the conscious realm. It would have been much easier if River was sleeping, but that is for another Interlude my friends.**

**Anyhoo, a secondary side note: Riddick glows. Yes it's true. The director's cut of CoR. Now here's my reasoning why. Bioluminescence. Furyan's are from a world shrouded in darkness. They can see in the dark and they are bioluminescent. Remember how I made that note about there being a difference between Fury and Furya? Well, the majority of survivors who settled on Fury lost their genetic adaptations after a few generations. The Alpha lines and the last of the purebred Furyans retained them. Riddick never experienced the "glow" before because it is a natural response to extreme emotion. Riddick growing up believing he was abandoned, closed him off emotionally. He never allowed himself to truly feel anything. The new information regarding his birth has acted like almost a catalyst for his dormant Furyan abilities which are heavily tied to emotion. (In the wild bioluminescent animals flash in response to danger, mating, territory, etc, etc, you get the drift) **

**Hmmm**** Riddick's Furyan abilities are link to emotion. River is an Empath, emotions are her stock and trade. Shirah you sneaky, sneaky, woman you.**** Now a lot of you have made some guesses as to where River and the Academy fits into the Riddick 'verse, for those of you wondering, River was not made in Riddick's/Furyan's image. She is something entirely different. Soon**** well**** perhaps soon**** all will be revealed. **


	44. Ariel 2:2

"Al'right," Mal began at the head of the breakfast table, "Ya'll aware that Jayne and Riddick's little adventure caught the eye of Mr. Universe. We agree to the job he's got and the evidence of it disappears. Doc, what you, your sister and Book missed of that conversation is he's also willin' to hack into the Alliance database and erase your facial ID data."

"Are you serious?" Simon asked, nearly choking on his coffee. "That's... that's... "

"Costly." Book finished for him. "What is the job I missed?"

"Don't rightly know yet. He said he'd wave us in a few days with the details. We'll deal with it when we get there."

"That ain't it." Wash grinned.

Mal rolled his eyes and released an annoyed sigh. ""Ccording to Mr. U, he's got a few jobs waitin' for us after we get his done."

"Got my attention." Jayne's head snapped up. "We talkin' jobs, like plural?"

"You know the word 'plural'?" Simon quipped.

"Watch it, Doc." Jayne snapped.

"I believed the word he used was _slew_." Wash informed them to advert the possibility of violence over breakfast. "Wasn't that it, honey?"

"I believe it was, husband."

"Like the sound of that." Jayne grunted and went back to his breakfast. The Shepherd was a surprisingly good cook. "What kind of take we talkin'?" He asked Riddick.

Wash, however answered, "Five and six-figures." He grinned, imagining fresh food and big, comfy hotel beds.

Jayne's eyes bulged slightly. "Slew?"

"I wouldn't get so excited." Riddick rumbled from his end of the table. He and River had remained silent for most of the meal. In truth, Riddick was still feeling the effects of last night and was making an effort to not allow it to show. River's silence was that of resolve intermingled with fear. She knew her brother needed the scans, she knew Jayne would protect her and Riddick would not be far, but it didn't stop it from terrifying her.

"Steady work, what's not to be excited 'bout?" Kaylee asked.

"I wasn't a smuggler." Riddick answered simply. The implications of his words hung in the air.

"That aside, we still got this job ahead of us and that is what we're focusin' on." Mal rapped on the table. "Deadline is tonight, we break away from Serenity at 0300. Ya'll make sure, at some point, you catch a few extra winks. It's gonna be a long one."

*T*F*C*

"Again." Simon ran his hands through his hair.

"Pupils were fixed and dilapidated-,"

"Dilated." Simon dropped onto his stool. "Pupils were dilated."

"Dilated, dilated!" Mal stomped his foot as he jumped out of his stool. "_Qing wa kao de liu mang_(frog humping son of a bitch)!" He yelled.

"Done?" Simon quirked an eyebrow.

"We're shiny." The captain grunted.

"Try it again."

*T*F*C*

"Fuck." Riddick swore under his breath as he peeled his shirt off. His stitches had torn again.

"He should not have lifted." River scolded as she threaded a needle. They had slipped into Simon's bunk since the infirmary was otherwise occupied and discretion as to the cause behind his stitches being paramount.

"Ain't like Kaylee could have lifted the part to bolt it in." Riddick snorted; biting back his hiss as the needle broke his skin.

"The port thruster will not make it." River warned him.

"Yeah, no shit." He grunted. "Don't need to be a psychic to know that." He caught her hand. "You're shaking."

River pulled it away and went back to her stitches. "Neurological response. Fight or flight. Autonomic, involuntary."

"Jayne won't let anything happen," Riddick assured her, "He's too afraid of what I'd do to him." He ended with a smirk.

"Too many variables. She can't track the outcome. A left instead of a right, changes everything."

"River."

"She'll take away Christmas. She'll ruin the surprise." She tied off the last stitch.

"What?"

"There are eyes." River deadpanned.

"Anytime you want to start making sense again." He rumbled pulling back on his shirt and resisting the urge to flinch as he did so.

"She doesn't want to die." She answered quietly.

"Been through this River."

"She is aware. She must die to be reborn. She must sleep to find River. They took away the doors. Simon will find the key."

"River-,"

"She is fine."

"The fuck she is."

"Your confidence overwhelms her." River retorted sarcastically.

"Your fucking riddles unnerve him." Riddick snapped back.

"Don't be angry."

"I'm not." He nearly barked but adjusted his tone as he dropped onto Simon's bed. "I'm fucking tired." He called for the lights and pulled off his goggles. A low growl emitted from his chest as he rubbed his hands across his face. He was exhausted and felt drained, weak, in a way he had never felt before at a time he could afford it the least.

"He must speak with Shirah."

"Since when are you are her side?" Riddick snorted as he looked up.

"She is on his side."

Riddick couldn't decide if she meant herself or Shirah. "What happened to I?"

River rolled her eyes. "Logistics."

"Are everything." He smirked as he quoted her. "Walked right into that one."

"_**I**_ am on your side, just as he is on mine."

"Us against them."

"We'll bleed them all." Riddick felt a quick flash of heat inside his mind. River's presence seemed to harden and solidify.

"Love it when you talk murder." He chuckled darkly.

*T*F*C*

"...by the time we got there, the patients were cyanotic and, uh not responding..." Mal stammered.

"Non-responsive." Simon corrected as he paced.

"Non-responsive. We tried, but we uh, couldn't revive them... shit... resuscitate them uh, despite our best efforts. They kicked." Mal looked up hopefully.

Simon merely shook his head.

"Uh, uh..despite our best efforts... "

Simon took pity on the captain and turned instead on Zoe. "Which methods did you use?"

"We tried pulmonary stimulators and cardiac infusers." The first mate stated confidently, her face faltered after a half of a beat. "Or is it cardiac stimulators and pulmonary infusers?"

"Right the first time." Simon snapped his fingers and spun on Jayne. "What about the cortical electrodes?"

Jayne didn't hear him; he was huddled over a small scrap of paper, mumbling to himself.

"What is that?" Simon asked.

"We, uh, we applied the cortical electrodes."Jayne tried to cover as Simon crumpled his cheat sheet, rather condescendingly. "Yep, we used them electromagnetic, uh... "

*T*F*C*

"That look like the right shade of red to you?" Wash asked Kaylee as he mixed the paint for medical emblem.

"Looks like the last six shades you showed me." Kaylee shrugged as she loaded another canister of white.

"There's a difference." He said a bit indignantly as he tried a few sprays against the side of a piece of scrap. "I mean does this red say, 'Ah! I'm bleeding,' or 'Yay! Somebody's savin' me?'."

Kaylee quirked an eyebrow.

"Is this a bad time?" Book asked with an amused smile on his face. He was carrying a portable cortex screen in one hand. "I just wanted to go over the flight route with Wash."

"Do you think this is an amputation red or a healthy red?" Wash asked.

"Excuse me?" The preacher quirked an eyebrow that was similar to that which the mechanic had quirked just moments ago.

"This really isn't that hard to understand," Wash pointed at several different red-sprayed swatches. "This was the first and you see how it looks more like a moldy congealed red?"

Book tilted his head as he examined it. "No. It's red."

"You know," Wash huffed, "River gets me."

Book didn't have a reply for that.

"She noticed right away that sample number three was too dead bloody and not healthy bloody."

Book didn't have a reply for that either.

"I thought you didn't want a bloody red?" Kaylee asked confused.

"Only if it represents the amount of blood which is healthy." River chimed helpfully as she and Riddick came back into the bay.

"See?" Wash cried. "She gets it! River, thank Buddha. What do you think about sample six?"

*T*F*C*

"Reaction from, uh, the ah," Jayne snapped his fingers as he stomped his foot in a effort to shake something loose. "Reaction from uh... We were unable to get a neural...uh... We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction..." Jayne swore and stomped as he spun himself. "Reaction, unable to get a neural..."

"Response." Simon deadpanned.

"Response!" Jayne snapped. "Hell, I don't know!" He dropped himself onto the stool. "If I wanted schooling, I'd have gone to school, gorraamit."

"Jayne." Simon admonished patiently.

"I'll get it." The merc answered firmly.

*T*F*C*

"We set?" Mal asked as he gulped down his coffee.

"As much as we'll ever be, sir." Zoe acknowledged as she dropped into the copilot's chair. "Rest of the crew is gettin' in an hour or so of some sleep before we start preppin'."

"You ain't sleepin?"

"I ever sleep 'fore a fight, sir?"

"We walked right back into the war didn't we, Zoe?" Mal mused as he stared out into the darkened docking yard from the pilot's seat.

"Don't see how, sir."

"Harborin' wanted fugees, breakin' into government facilities to get intel, killin' off government men, you ain't seein' the resemblance? Usually more observant that that, Zo."

"We ain't breakin' in for intel, we're breakin' in for meds." The first mate pointed out.

Mal didn't dignify that with an answer, he just shot her a look.

"What they did wasn't right, sir." Zoe admitted tersely after a few minutes. "Girl wasn't nothin', just born smart, kinda kid anybody would want, I figure. We don't stand, who will?"

"That's the question that got us in trouble in the first place."

"Thought we liked trouble, sir?" She asked archly.

Mal gave his best friend a smirk, "That we do, Zoe. That we do."

*T*F*C*

"River." Simon said softly as his slid open the door to her dorm.

"It's time to die now." She looked up from her sketch pad.

"_Mei-mei, _you're not going to die, just sleep."

"You're going to suspend cerebral, cardiac, and pulmonary activity in order to induce a proto-comatose state."

Simon blinked, a partial smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "That's right."

"I don't want to die." She swallowed hard.

"River, you said it yourself; it's not death, just sleep." Simon tried to coax her arm away from her body.

"No!" River snapped and jumped back on her bed. Her thoughts raced and her heartbeat sped up.

"River," Simon tried again patiently. "No one is going to die." He assured her. "The others are going to take care of us."

"No, please..." She backed herself away and into a wall.

"Give us a minute, Doc." Riddick rumbled from the doorway.

Simon looked between his sister and Riddick for a moment. With a sigh, he pushed himself off the bed and handed the needle off to Riddick. The con stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"She doesn't want to go to that place. She doesn't want to die." River said quickly as soon as they were alone. "It isn't safe."

Riddick didn't speak at first. He slid onto River's bed propped his back up against the wall and jerked his head. River hesitated for only a second before crawling onto his body. Riddick rested the needle on the bed next to them and encased River in his limbs. "Is that the girl that doesn't want to go or is it River?" He asked quietly.

"No." She shook her head furiously. "She won't."

"You trust me?"

"I do." She didn't hesitate.

"Close your eyes."

River compiled as he pulled her closer against his chest. He bit the cap off the syringe and slowly pushed up her sleeve. "I won't be there when you wake up." His voice was a rough whisper against her cheek. "I'll be up here." He tapped her temple as he pushed away strands of hair from her face. "Keep those eyes close." He warned her as she tried to move to look at him. "Won't be any more nightmares, River." He pricked her skin and pushed down the plunger. "Be right here, last voice you hear will be mine River." He removed the needle and pushed down her sleeve. "Just sleep, girl, we'll get our answers."

Riddick held her until the drugs worked through her system. When he felt her heart rate slow and her breathing become even, he kissed her forehead. "Things'll be different soon, River."

*T*F*C*

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're ready to save some lives." Simon grinned approvingly as he looked over the transport and the three "medics".

"Shame our only patients will be dead." Zoe smirked.

"About that-," Simon removed two syringes from his pocket. "As soon as the coast is clear," he handed them off to the captain, "It should take no longer than ten minutes."

"If it does?" Jayne asked nervously. He could shoot a security guard, but if anything went down more along the med lines, the Doc and River were humped. Hell, he still didn't even know what a cortical electrode was.

"It won't." Simon said firmly as Riddick walked into the bay carrying a comatose River.

"Got one corpse." The con rumbled.

Simon helped secure his sister before climbing into the second pod. He injected himself and let the meds wash through his system. "See ya on the other side." Jayne grinned as he slammed the lid down.

Simon's last conscious thought, ran somewhere along the lines of, _How comforting._

*T*F*C*

Wash lowered the airlock doors from the bridge after piloting a good distance from the yards in order to avoid the transport being caught on any scanners leaving _Serenity_. "Baby Goose, you are green for disembark."

"_Baby Goose?"_ Riddick's voice came back over the comm., "_You gotta be fucking kidding me."_

"That's, you've got to be fucking kidding me, **Papa Goose**."

"_I ain't sayin' it."_

"I am." Wash replied cheekily.

"_Don't provoke the convict, baby."_ His wife's voice came back over the comm.

"The pilot doesn't get to have any fun." Wash groused. "Z_hen ta ma yao ming zhu yi_ (watch your back)." He added seriously.

"_Always do."_

"Alright, Baby Goose, go make us some money."

"_Fuck you."_

*T*F*C*

The flight into Ariel City was quiet for the most part; aside from that unhealthy noise the port thruster continued to make despite Kaylee's best efforts.

"ETA in three Mal." Riddick yelled back behind his shoulder and over the thruster.

"We speak only when spoken to." Mal yelled at Zoe and Jayne. "We avoid any unnecessary contact and we stay together until we reach the morgue. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Zoe replied dutifully. Jayne, however, had his eyes closed and head leaned back as he mouthed his words over and over again.

"Applied the cortical electrodes. Unable to get a neural response..."

"Jayne?" Mal called.

"Yeah, yeah!" The merc snapped back. "I got it."

"We gonna have any problems?"

"I know what I gotta do, Mal."

"I mean with you and the Doc. No messin' with him just for a laugh."

"Well, I was plannin' on tattooin' him while he was out." Jayne grunted.

In the pilot's chair, Riddick barked out a laugh.

"Jayne." Mal warned.

"It was a joke, Mal. I got just as much at stake here too. Part of them drugs is goin' to my little brother."

"I got the list, Jayne." Zoe assured him. "We'll get the meds."

Jayne merely grunted and went back to his mental recitation.

"Comin' around." Riddick called back.

*T*F*C*

"Sooo, this is what you two do?" Book leaned against the rail in the bridge.

"Yup." Wash's lips smacked together. "Welcome to the wait and worrier's club, you are now an official member."

"Ain't so bad," Kaylee shrugged as she spun herself around in the copilot's chair. "That's when we figured out how to do a Crazy Ivan, when we got stuck waitin' on the Cap'n, Zoe, and Jayne that time on Regina."

"It's therapeutic, plotting ways to escape death while my wife is out there facing it." Wash tried to say cheerfully even though the undercurrent of real worry in his voice was apparent.

"I suppose." Book replied slowly.

*T*F*C*

The foursome wordlessly hopped out of the ambulance; Mal and Zoe unlatched Simon, while Riddick helped Jayne with River's.

"Cobb." Riddick rumbled.

"I'll keep her safe." Jayne nodded.

Riddick merely grunted in reply before circling around to Mal."Only got a few hours 'til the morning shift."

"We won't be but an hour." Mal assured him.

Riddick climbed back aboard the transport as the three rolled away the Tams. "Check in one." He radioed back into Serenity.

"_What was that, Baby Goose?"_

"Not saying it."

Riddick could hear Wash sigh. _"Check in one. Roger. Papa Goose is moving towards rendezvous." _

*T*F*C*

Mal took the lead as Zoe and Jayne each guided a stretcher down the walkway. The receiving area was cold, sterile, and had a smell to it that burned the nostrils. It wasn't as bright as Mal would have thought it should have been. There was, however, an unnerving amount of people for the night shift. Captain Reynolds straightened his shoulders and immediately sauntered over to the desk.

"What have you got?" A tired and disinterested nurse yawned as they rolled up.

"Got a coupla of DOAS, by the time we got--,"

"Take them down to the morgue." The nurse cut him off as she stepped around him to scan the body pods in.

The trio of guns/medics, blinked as the nurse turned back away without another glance and went back to her paper work.

_That was easy._ Seemed to be a shared mental thought.

"We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural response from either patient!" Jayne blurted out. He'd be damned if he'd learned that _gou shi_ (crap) for nothing.

Mal shot him a look which could only be translation as, _Are you ruttin' kiddin' me?_ Jayne ignored it.

The nurse looked up for a moment and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I see you've completed your medic training. Morgue. I have things to do." She snapped a bit abruptly.

Mal gave her an apologetic nod, "New guy." He shrugged.

"Do I care?" The nurse asked archly.

"Don't suppose you do." Mal muttered and jerked his head forward, Zoe and Jayne followed.

*T*F*C*

Riddick was not usually the man left waiting in the getaway transport. Waiting just pissed him off. It also gave him time to think. He was fucked. He let his head thud against the rest several times. It wasn't the only thing he realized either. He needed _Serenity._ The 'Verse wanted River and, last night, it had almost gotten her. She would have had at least a chance aboard _Serenity_ still. If they had been alone in the Black, they would have gotten her. It wasn't safe to take her away.

What were a few more dirty jobs if it meant a clean swipe when he walked past a scanner? He wouldn't be the guy in the transport again; that was incentive enough. _Serenity_ was a good ship. The crew, although unprofessional, knew how to think and land on their feet. The money was shit, but that would be changing if Mr. Universe held true to his words. He could get used to it.

_What the fuck am I doing?_

*T*F*C*

The morgue was a large circular room. The vast majority of wall space was taken up by cold chambers and the smell, if possible, was even more nauseating than that of the receiving area. Mal and Zoe went directly in while Jayne faltered for a moment. He had no problem killing folk and stepping over corpses during a job, but being surrounded by them, all bluish and dead-like, just gave him the willes.

"Let's get 'em out." Mal's order snapped Jayne back into focus.

Zoe and Jayne lifted River first and then Simon onto two steel tables opposite one another while Mal prepped the two syringes Simon had given him. He dosed the doctor first and then River.

"That should bring 'em out of it. As soon as they're up, get them to the diagnostic ward, let Simon do his thing, then haul it back to the rendezvous point. Fifty minutes, Jayne." Mal reminded him as he and Zoe grabbed the two now empty body pods and headed towards the door.

"I got it, Mal." Jayne eyed the corpses nervously. "I'll just sit here," he said to himself as the door closed behind the two. "With all these creepifying corpses." He shuddered slightly. "Place fucking smells." He fidgeted for a moment before moving towards a cabinet to dig out some scrubs and a hospital gown for River. "Gorram creepifying hospitals, corpses, smells like shit." He muttered.

*T*F*C*

"_Erzi yi e moshu shie _(son of a goose juggler)!" Wash swore as he jerked the controls quickly. "Weren't exaggerating about that fog." He frowned as he adjusted the heading. Visibility had sunken well below desirable levels for a ship the size of _Serenity._

"It gets worse deeper in," Book leaned forward as he checked their heading against his portable cortex. "You'll want to gain some more altitude."

"It gets worse?" Wash's tone began to take on a nervous edge.

"Nothin' you can't handle." Kaylee assured him.

"That's right." Wash told himself. "I am a leaf on the wind."

"In the fog." Kaylee corrected.

"In the mountains." Book added.

"Really not helping."

*T*F*C*

Jayne was beginning to get more than a little antsy; being stuck in a room full of dead people had a way of crawling under a man's skin. Not to mention one of the cold chambers had been left open. He could see a pair of bare feet poking out of it and it was just right unnerving. He got up to close it. He couldn't stare at the bright yellow toe tag any longer.

"Boo!" Jayne gave a very unmanly like yelp and then spun to glare at River who was giggling. "Scared you."

"Did not!" He snorted as he tossed her the hospital gown. He jumped a little again as Simon suddenly shot forward; immediately doubling over into a hacking cough. "What's the matter with you?" Jayne grunted as he tossed the scrubs at the doctor.

"Just the after effects." Simon paused to cough some more. "I'll be alright. Just give me a minute."

"Quit bein' a wuss, you're sister's fine." Jayne snorted.

The sister in question took the opportunity to throw up all over the floor.

Jayne sneered slightly; that really didn't help the smell. "Get dressed. We gotta move."

_/You with me, girl? /_ River felt Riddick push through the haze.

_/ She is. / _ She focused and forced the world to still itself.

_/ Forty-two minutes. /_

*T*F*C*

Zoe followed Mal out of the elevator. "Two lefts, two rights, and we're there." Mal said quietly to her. She was fully aware. "You see anyone, you just smile."

"I don't think people smile in hospitals, sir." Zoe cracked from the corner of her lips.

Mal smiled at a nurse who passed. "Course they do. It's the Core. Everybody's rich and happy here." He smiled at a doctor who passed him next. "Why wouldn't they smile?"

"Excuse me "

_Crap. _Mal swore to himself.

"Excuse me!" The doctor the captain had been gracious enough to smile at turned back around and yelled.

_Oh crap._ Mal thought to himself again,_ Shouldn't have smiled._ "Hi." Mal turned with yet another smile plastered across his face. In for a cooper, might as well go for the platinum.

"Where are you taking those bodies?" The doctor demanded.

"Just downstairs to the morgue." Mal lied easily.

"Downstairs is that way." The doctor pointed out and to the other direction.

"Right." Mal shrugged. "Musta gotten turned around."

The doctor looked back and forth between the two medics. "Let me see your badge." He eyed them.

Mal and Zoe exchanged a pointed look between them. Somehow, reciting some _gou shi_ (crap) about stimulators and infusers just didn't seem like it was going to get them out of this one. Well, infusers perhaps.

*T*F*C*

_/Hold it together, River./_ Riddick pressed into her mind as he felt her shift. _/You listen to my voice, not theirs./_

_/ Eyes. Eyes. They're everywhere. No one sees. They can't see. They don't know. They will know. He's going to die./_

_/ Who's going to die, River? /_

_/That's when they'll see; that's when they'll open their eyes and see./_

_/Stay with me, River./_

"We're doing it backwards. Walking up the downslide." River muttered from her wheelchair. It was almost too much. Pain; everyone was in pain in this place. She could feel their bodies rotting away and their minds crying out. Too many thoughts. Too much pain. They ached. She ached with them, for them, it rolled over her in waves.

"Keep her quiet." Jayne snapped in a hushed whisper from the corner of his mouth as they passed by a cluster of doctors.

"River," Simon leaned down close to her ear as he pushed her chair, "This is the recovery ward. This is where people come to get better." He tried to sooth her.

"They're going to die." River corrected him. This room reeked of it. Death coated ever surface.

"No one's going to die River." He corrected her gently.

"He is." River pointed at an older man lying unconscious in a bed as they passed.

Simon pushed her hand back down. "No, he's not. That man standing next to him is his doctor. He's going to help him. He's not going to die."

River's head ticked slightly to the left. "He's not going to help him right, and then they'll see."

"River, the doctor's here are the best in the system." He assured her, though he spared a look back over his shoulder. "This is one of the top hospitals in the Core or anywhere else."

"Where you should be." River said solemnly.

Simon did his best to leave that remark alone. Now was not the time to have that discussion again. He nearly tripped as River grabbed the wheels of her chair and stopped them. Her head flew around and she moved to push herself out of the chair.

"Ain't goin' nowhere." Jayne rushed in a whisper as he pushed her back down.

"You have to help him." River looked up pleadingly at her brother and tried to push past Jayne's arm.

"River, we don't have time-,"

"He's killing him!" River cried as her whole body flinched in pain. Rivers of fire shot through her veins and she felt her lungs close as she gasped for air.

_/River, stay with me, goddamnit./_ Riddick snapped into her head.

Monitors and alarms began to blare. Simon's head jerked rapidly from his sister back up to the patient they had just passed.

"Code Blue!" The attending doctor yelled and a handful of nurses converged around the bed; a few of them noticing the young girl being restrained by the large medic and shooting a questioning look before focusing on the man in front of them.

"Help him, please, help him." River begged Simon.

"Stay here." Simon ordered. He wasn't going to be able to calm River unless he helped the man. "Don't move."

"Doc " Jayne warned.

"I'll be right back." Simon turned and jogged over to the bed without another word. "What do we have?" He demanded as he pulled the stethoscope off of the man he had assumed had been a doctor. Simon realized now from a glance at his badge that the man was just an intern. He had a moment to wonder where the attending was before the sounding of more alarms refocused him.

"Forty-two year old, double bypass, post-op." The young intern looked relieved to see a doctor, even if the man did look a year or so younger than him. "Prognosis was positive."

"B.P.'s sixty over twenty, pulse is thready." A young nurse announced as her hands moved in a flurry of action.

"Who are you?" The intern asked suddenly as he realized this was his patient, and the nurses had stopped talking to him.

Simon was saved from answering by the second nurse. "He's crashing."

"Get the cart." Simon ordered.

"We're flat-lining." The first nurse announced as she pulled the crash crate over towards the bed.

"We've got to crack him." The intern rushed nervously as he eyed the monitor.

"We're not cracking a post-op." Simon looked at the man with incredulity. _How the hell are you even an intern?_ He refrained from adding out loud.

"He's not responsive, should I call a code team?" The nurse asked, no longer acknowledging the intern in the slightest.

"Get the infusers and point four of Atropine." He called over his shoulder and then refocused on the intern. "What did you give him?" Simon demanded.

"Just twenty of Apresaline push." The pale faced intern answered quickly.

Simon looked at him in disbelief as he took the infusers and syringe from the nurse. The needle held between his teeth, he charged the infusers. "Clear." He gritted out around the needle. The medical team stepped back and Simon zapped the patient. There was no response. "Clear." He shocked him again.

"He's going tachy." The intern snapped accusingly as the monitor roared back to life beeping frantically.

"Yeah, but his heart's beating." Simon answered without taking his eyes from the monitors he handed the infusers to the nurse behind him and uncapped the syringe. He fed the fluid directly into the man's IV line. The monitor immediately stabilized.

"He's okay." The intern announced in a sort of mesmerized disbelief. The two nurses, one brunette and one blonde exchanged a look.

_/River!/ _ Riddick snapped.

_/ It's okay. He's going to be okay. /_

_/ Who?/_

_/ Ronald Steven Marten./_

_/Who?/_

_/ Father of six, widowed. They would have been alone./_

_/Get your asses moving./_

"Explain to me how you justify administering a vasoconstrictor to this patient?" Simon demanded with controlled anger as he circled the bed and moved to stand in front of the intern. The man had a good five or six inches on Simon; _Serenity's _doctor was nonplussed.

"Apresaline is a painkiller, not a vasoconstrictor." The intern replied tersely.

"Unless you combined it with Dilaftin." Simon bit off. The two nurses watched the exchange with interest. Victor had a tendency to turn down his nose at nurses and they were more than willing to watch the handsome young doctor tear the arrogant intern a new one. "Which any first year should know is the standard prep medicine your patient was taking before his surgery!" Simon snapped as he yanked off the intern's stethoscope and shoved it against the man's chest. "Your patient should be dead." Simon glared at him a moment longer before turning away and walking back towards Jayne and River.

River watched him with adoration, Jayne, although slightly pissed over the hold up, had to admit even he was a bit impressed. Simon, who had always seemed a bit prissy and sissified to him, was a whole nother man entirely as Dr. Tam. He refocused himself on the job at hand with a new intensity, if the Doc could save that man; Matty had a chance.

"He does." River answered looking back up at Jayne and beaming. "Dr. Tam will save him." River assured the merc.

Jayne didn't know how to respond to that. Just because Riddick had filled him in on some of the details didn't make the girl any less creepifying when she just pulled shit out of his head like that.

"She knows, she has been told." River sighed as she resettled herself in the chair.

Jayne chose to ignore that as Simon walked up. "Let's go." The doctor ordered as he took back the handles of River's wheelchair.

_/ Girl, you got thirty one minutes left. /_

_/ She is aware. /_

_/ Then move your ass./_

_/She is being wheeled. She has no control over the speed at which she moves./_

_/ Keep fucking with me. /_

The two nurses watched the doctor wheel his patient out alongside the overly large medic. "Did you catch his name?" The brunette whispered out of earshot of the sulking intern.

"No." The blonde shook her head. "But I sure want to find out."

"He was cute, wasn't he?" The brunette giggled.

"Did you see the look on Victor's face?" The blonde laughed. "Where's a capture when you need one?"

"I don't think I've ever seen that doctor on this floor before."

"Maybe he's got privileges? That girl he was pushing, she looked more like a pysch patient than anything."

"He had a St. Lucy's badge." The brunette pointed out. "Maybe he's new."

"Cover for me Anna." The blonde whispered deviously.

"Where are you going?"

"My brother works in security, he'll know."

"You mean he'll know what time the new doc's shift ends?" The brunette giggled again.

"And if I happen to bump into him on the way out " The blonde shrugged with a smile.

"Conniving." The brunette teased, "Go on. I want to know, too. Just be back before that dragon Dr. Malckovey gets back on shift."

*T*F*C*

"Walk with me." The doctor snapped as he dropped Mal's badge.

The captain exchanged another look with his first mate. "Where we going?" Mal tried to sound unconcerned.

The doctor spun back around. "You see this badge? It says 'doctor'. I say walk with me, you walk with me.

Mal didn't take a step as he watched Zoe sidle up alongside a crash cart behind the now sputtering doctor. "Yeah, but where we going?"

"You must be new here." The doctor sneered. "Don't get comfortable; your type doesn't last long here. When your supervisor hears about the rude and disrespectful attitude—"

Mal smirked as the man dropped.

"Clear." Zoe arched her brow, the infusers still in hand.

"So, it ain't just Simon." Mal grunted as he and Zoe moved to quickly stash the doctor's body into one of the pods.

"What's that, sir?"

"They're all a bunch of self-important _hun dans_ (bastards)."

"Now that ain't fair, sir." Zoe smirked.

"Truth ain't. Let's get moving."

*T*F*C*

Jayne Cobb now knew he hated hospitals. They smelled like shit and, as it turned out, each room was more creepy than the last. He couldn't blame River for flinching as they walked into the diagnostic room. The walls were a smooth white metal and the only things in the room besides a really disturbing looking metal examine table was a small console off to the left and several transmitters. He didn't try to guess at which switch did what. He stood back and didn't touch shit.

"River," Simon said softly into his sister's ear as he tried to pry her fingers from the arm rests of the wheelchair.

_/Relax. /_

River exhaled and forced herself to release the arm rests.

"Ready?" Simon asked.

She nodded. It was a lie.

*T*F*C*

"Twelve-oh-five, here it is." Mal stopped his stretcher in front of a blue metal door. He looked around briefly, grateful they had not run into anymore curious doctors. His look of relief changed quickly to one of anxiousness as his keycard slid into the lock and proved to be a dud. "Zoe."

The first mate stepped forward without any other prompting and swiped her card twice. The light refused to change from red. They'd been ripped off. "They must have been de-magged."

Mal grunted as he popped open his stretcher only far enough to reach in and grab the doctor's keycard. He slid it through the lock and the door hissed opened. "His works."


	45. Ariel 2:3

_/Relax, River./_

_/No needles./_

_/No needles. This is your brother. He's not going to take from you. /_

"That's it, River, just relax; nice, deep breathes." Simon spoke soothingly to his sister before jogging over to the console. He slid a data chip into the terminal and, with a deep exhale, powered up the imager.

Jayne took a step back further from the equipment as a loud electric hum filled the room.

*T*F*C*

The first mate and the captain gaped at the sheer wealth that confronted them when the door hissed open. They were expecting a supply closet, even with the blueprints which clearly plotted out the room's dimensions. It was hard to wrap their minds around such a thing when, on the Rim, kids died from infections earned by scraped knees. Their daze lasted only a moment; in the next, they went to work.

Mal unceremoniously dumped his rider on the ground and jammed up his shirt sleeve, running down the list of meds quickly, before scanning the shelves. Zoe went straight for Jayne's list and cleared it in less than forty seconds. God bless the Core and their need for organization; everything was alphabetized. They focused on immune-boosters, antibiotics and vaccines, things they knew were in demand on the Rim. Four minutes and thirty seconds after they had walked in, they were rolling out.

*T*F*C*

"River, I'm going to start the scan now." Simon informed her. "Are you ready?"

River didn't answer. She didn't hear the question and didn't register it was being posed to her. She was on a table. The walls were white, too white, and the smell too familiar. The feel of cold metal burned memories against her skin. Pain echoed in this room and it wasn't only her own.

"River?" Simon pressed her.

_/Don't know what you're hearing, River; don't care, none of it matters. My voice is the only one you hear./_

_/The eyes are looking, searching, they'll find her. They'll scream her secrets. Christmas is ruined!/_

_/ You don't have the luxury of crazy right now, River. You have twenty two minutes. Get your shit together./ _

"River?" Simon asked again.

"Just do it!" She screeched.

River flinched as the three-dimensional image of her physiological structure materialized and hovered just inches above her. There was no pain, but her mind was already processing the images. Simon began de-layering, one by one her systems vanished until nothing remained except an image of her brain; which hovered neatly over her head. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to see.

_/Breathe. / _

*T*F*C*

"Oh, come on, Jerry." The blonde nurse whined. "I never ask you for anything."

"What about that five thousand credits?" Jerry grumbled as he swiveled in his chair. "I give you everything you ask for, don't try that shit. Do know how much trouble I could get in for giving you someone's personnel file?"

"I'm not asking for the file, Jerry. I'm asking for a name and what time he gets off shift." She snapped.

"No, Mary."

"If you tell me, I'll have mom at my house for Christmas." She tried to bribe.

"Deal." Jerry grinned, maybe now his wife could have one holiday where she didn't break down into tears.

Mary made a noise which vaguely sounded like a little squeak of happiness and hugged her brother. "Mom always did want me to marry a doctor."

Jerry just rolled his eyes.

*T*F*C*

Simon set the console to download all collected data to the chip and walked around the back to the exam table. Curiosity got the better of Jayne and he hovered a step behind the doctor. Simon reached into the 3-D image of River's brain and rotated it. He drew a line down the center and spliced the image. His forehead creased heavily.

"What?" Jayne asked.

"They opened up her skull. I knew that because of the surgical scars on her scalp, but I didn't know how many times. They went in over and over again. There's at least six entry points I didn't know about."

A single tear slid down River's cheek.

_/ Stay with me. /_

"Why?" Jayne asked, and Simon was surprised by the expression on the mercenary's face.

"The only reason to make an incision in someone's brain is to lobotomize them to remove damaged tissue I thought I thought they'd only taken samples. They did it over and over again. I don't understand why would anyone cut into a healthy brain?" Simon magnified the image and rotated it again. "They stripped her amygdala." His voice came out no louder than a whisper.

"Her what?" Jayne's face scrunched as he tried to see what the doctor was seeing.

"You know, uh, you know when you get scared or worried or nervous, but you don't want to be scared or worried or nervous so you push it back to the back of your mind. You try not to think about it." Jayne nodded. Simon had stopped adjusting the image, but his eyes never left it as he spoke. "Your amygdala is what let's you do that. It's like a filter in your brain that keeps your feelings in check."

Jayne tried to reach in and poke the image, Simon caught his hand. "Why'd they do that?"

"I don't know She feels everything though, she can't not." Simon went back to work on the image. "There's more, too." He bit off angrily. "_Tian sha de e mo_ (goddamn monsters)."

"What?" Jayne asked anxiously.

"The rostral cingulate cortex is connected to the amygdala; it processes our bodies emotional responses how is this even possible?"

"What, Doc?" Jayne snapped, he had been lost the second word in.

"They managed to enlarge it. The absence of the amygdale is forcing it compensate, except it can't because it's not meant to do all River's mind is forcing it to try to do."

"Huh?" Jayne asked as he looked from image to River. The girl was silent but tears were streaking down her face. Apparently, she knew exactly what the doctor was implying.

"My theory about her Delta and Theta frequencies was correct as well. It's like they've flipped some kind of switch in her mind. Our brains weren't meant to work this way."

"I don't get it."

"She wasn't meant to see." River said quietly, her voice was rough and cracked.

/_She wasn't meant to see./_ She repeated back to Riddick.

_/ I wasn't meant to live./ _ Riddick countered. _/ The fuck if I'll let it stop me./_

"There isn't enough processing power in her mind to compute everything she feels. Think of your brain like an electrical system, when you put too much on the same grid what happens?"

"It shorts out." Jayne grunted.

"That's what's happening to River."

"How the hell do you fix that?"

"I don't know."

"You don't." River deadpanned as her eyes flashed opened.

"What the hell?" Jayne asked as the image began to light up and flash in various shades of neon.

"River?" Simon asked as he eyed the spiking numbers cautiously.

_/River?/ _ Riddick thought at her at the same time.

_/ Eyes, she told you. They peek in the closet and spoil Christmas, leave nothing but coal, the eyes are opened now. Open and they see./_

_/ Move your ass!/ _ Riddick barked into her head. _ /Mal's got ten minutes, he ain't back I'm coming for you without him./_

River pushed herself outwards frantically, exhaling only when she felt two familiar threads of thought. _/Eta in three./_

_/Move./_

"It's time to go." River pushed herself up.

"River, I'm not done yet."

"It's time to go." She swung her legs off the table.

Simon scrambled to pull the data chip out of the computer, "River, what's wrong?"

"Don't matter, Doc," Jayne growled as he peered out the door window. "Psychic says it's time to move, we move."

*T*F*C*

"Holy shit." Jerry spat his coffee out across his monitor as the facial scan completed.

"Oh my God." Mary slid of the desk she had been perched on. "Jerry, they're terrorists."

*T*F*C*

"Stop." River skidded to a dead halt and jerked her head up to a moving camera. "Go." She pushed the two men forward and around a corner.

*T*F*C*

"Find them!" McGinnis snapped. "I want every camera we have up on the board. Mobilize the emergency teams. Call this in to Central. Seal off all entry points and lock down every gorram room in this building. I want to know how the hell two terrorists got in past security and I want to know now!"

*T*F*C*

Riddick had the transport powered up as Mal and Zoe jogged through the rooftop doors. He hopped out of the ambulance and grabbed the end of Zoe's stretcher.

"Why are we powered up?" Mal asked.

"Gotta move."

"What happened?" The captain demanded.

"Trouble."

Mal was still eyeing his gun-hand as they locked his container into place. He was about to demand answers when alarms sounded. "Why can't it ever go smooth?" He groaned.

"We got a location on the other team?" Zoe asked as she climbed back into the hatch after Riddick.

"No." He rumbled as Mal sealed them in.

"We ain't leavin' them!" Mal yelled over the sound of the bum thruster.

"Didn't say we were." Riddick yelled back.

"How the hell are you supposin' we find them then?" Mal asked. "Drop me and Zoe; we'll go back in."

"Not without gettin' pinched." Riddick retorted as he banked the transport low along the eastern wing.

"You got a better idea?" Zoe shouted, already pulling her guns out of a duffel in the back of the transport.

"Gotta trust me on this; I don't have time to go through all this shit."

"What shit?" Mal asked as he clipped on his holster.

"Later, Mal."

"Gonna have a talk about secrets onboard my ship." The Captain grumbled as he squeezed past Riddick to reach for the comm. "Wash." He barked.

"_Papa Goose is in position, we all good?"_

"Are we ever?"

"_Coming in hot?"_

"More'n likely, be ready for us. Get Book or Kaylee on the Cortex, find out what in the hell is going on."

"_Roger that, Baby Goose. Sunshine is hitting the waves."_

*T*F*C*

"You people wouldn't know discretion if it smacked you in the face." Mr. Universe informed his monitor as he shook his head over the image of a transport pulling away. "Well, here's Mr. Universe to save the day." His fingers began flying.

*T*F*C*

"Rutting hell; locked." Jayne furiously whispered.

"We'll have to go back around." Simon peered back around the corner.

River's head snapped upwards, her eyes glazed slightly. "No."

"No?" Jayne snorted, "You got a better idea, girl?" He pulled on the door again as if by some miracle it had managed to unlock itself in the last five seconds.

"She does." River said simply. "Hands." She looked at Jayne.

"What?"

"Hands." River said more pointedly this time.

"Uh okay?" Jayne held out both his hands palms up.

"Hold strong." River pushed his shoulders down so he was kneeling. "Hold steady, do not move."

"Uh okay?"

"River?" Simon asked.

River ignored him and took four steps back. She pushed off her left foot, the same foot on her fourth step pushed off Jayne's outstretched forearms. Her right pushed off his shoulder and she was up the wall, bracing herself using a length of pipe and the emergency sprinkler. She pushed up a ceiling tile and disappeared inside.

"Well, that was unexpected." Jayne grunted as he stood back up.

Simon was still trying to register the movement when the previously locked door opened from the other side, River's head peeped out from around the door. "Time to go." She whispered fiercely.

*T*F*C*

"Bombs, bombs, everywhere, everywhere, here and there, bombs, bombs, bombs!" Mr. Universe giggled with childish glee as his fingers danced across his keyboards and, one by one, high-military sectors lit up across his monitors.

*T*F*C*

"Sir, Central is unable to respond."

"What?" McGinnis spun on his lieutenant. "We have two known terrorists wandering the halls of my facility and their too busy?"

"Sir, there are bomb alarms going off all across the city, Central is ordering a complete evacuation of all government facilities."

"What? !"

"We've been instructed to start emptying our children's ward and ICU."

"I just locked this entire hospital down to find these goddamn monsters and now I have to open everything back up?"

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant answered a bit fearfully.

"Henrys!" McGinnis barked at Jerry. "Yes, sir," the man in question snapped to attention.

"Why haven't our cameras found them yet?"

"I don't know, sir. We're looking but its like they've disappeared. Either that or they know where our cameras are."

"That's impossible!" McGinnis barked.

Jerry refrained from correcting his superior, by pointing out the obvious. "We're looking, sir."

"Find them. I'm not moving one patient until we have them. The bomb scares are most likely a diversionary tacit. They'll know where the real bombs are."

"But, sir-," the lieutenant tried.

"Find them, Garret, or kiss this posting goodbye."

"Yes sir."

*T*F*C*

Inara woke abruptly to the sounds of sirens shrieking throughout the city. Confused, she pulled on a robe and climbed out of bed. Outside of her room she could hear hurried footsteps and a few shouts. She pulled back the gauze curtains and took a step back, horrified. Across the expanse of the city, giant spotlights littered the skyline and sirens could be heard in every direction.

"Miss Serra!" Inara whirled around at the sound of her name to see a panicked looking young nurse. "You must get dressed quickly, they're evacuating us in ten minutes. Terrorists have attacked the city!" The nurse didn't wait for Inara's acknowledgment before rushing back out the door.

Inara dropped back onto the bed. There was no fear or panic in her face. It was decidedly anger which was written across it and perhaps even the slightest trace of humor. After a moment, she let herself smile, ever so slightly, as she tugged off her robe and climbed back into bed.

_Take care of them, _Serenity_._ She thought to herself. _Couldn't behave yourselves for three days._ The wave from the Shepherd suddenly made an entirely different kind of sense.

*T*F*C*

"_Ah, Baby Goose, we got heat flying all across the city."_ Wash's voice came back over the comm.

"Care to elaborate?" The captain called back.

"_Bomb alerts going off all across the city Central is ordering a full evac. There was a high-security alert in the hospital, too, but it's been bumped to get the evacs under way."_

Mal and Zoe exchanged a look. "This look like Mr. U?"

"_I can smell him from here. This has got his prints all over it. There's even an alert coming out of Ariel City Zoo. Something about rabid parrots attacking panda bears."_

The three occupants of the transport all exchanged a look.

"_Upside is, it should clear a path, they'll be scrambling so bad they won't even notice a transport headed out of the city."_

"We got some lost lambs to collect first." Mal radioed back.

"_Roger that, Baby Goose, Papa is in position and waiting with open arms."_

*T*F*C*

"Where in the gorram hell are we?" Jayne's jog slowed as they entered a room which seemed more suited to belong in some kind of horror vid then inside a hospital. The ceiling was high and the floors cement, niches were cut away into the walls at random intervals, and there wasn't anything more than a single power box in the room.

_/Talk to me River, where are you coming out? /_

"Easiest way to find someone, use your eyes, no one ever does." River wasn't sure where that particular comment came from, but it slipped past her lips regardless.

"What the hell does that mean?" Jayne barked as he quickened his step.

_/River!/_

"Security substation. No need for eyes inside the brain, they think they see everything... they don't. The girl knows the holes. The holes in their eyes, she walks in the shadows, where the eyes don't see. They taught her to find the holes. She'll use it to find her way free."

"Doc?" Jayne asked, a bit annoyed.

"I think she means there's a way out this way. They don't have as many cameras inside the substation because they didn't think anyone would be dumb enough to try to break in at the entry points to the station."

"Lucky for us, we're dumb enough to try to break out that way." Jayne grunted.

_/River you keep ignoring me-/_

_/Bi zu! (_Shut up) _She is looking./_

"Not dumb. Smart, wise, genius. This way." River hurried as she pushed herself through another set of doors.

"She just call me a genius?" Jayne asked.

"I doubt it." Simon retorted.

River swung herself through a doorframe and launched herself down a flight of stairs, "Almost there, almost there." She chanted to herself.

_/West, Tower two, third floor, fifth window from the left. Shoot. Shatter. Jump. /_

_/ Less than two. /_

*T*F*C*

"I've got them, sir." Jerry yelled from his station. "West wing, Tower two."

"Mobilize the teams." McGinnis ordered and spun on his heel to bark an order to his lieutenant. "Begin evac in the East Wing ICU."

*T*F*C*

"Open up the hatch!" Riddick yelled as he leveled the ambulance alongside the hospital.

"What? !" Both Mal and Zoe snapped in unison.

"Open up the hatch. Fifth window from the left, blow it out!"

The captain and first mate exchanged a look. "Rid-," Mal started.

"Mal, just fucking do it!" The convict barked.

*T*F*C*

River shoved her way through the access stairwell's exit door on the third floor. She paused a step outside, causing her brother and Jayne to slam into her back and send her sprawling.

"River and Simon Tam, by the authority of the Union of Allied Planets, you are hereby bound by law!"

"Hell." Jayne groaned as he stared down at the six-man security team, sonic blast guns leveled.

Simon stumbled to help his sister up. "River." He breathed.

"Hands up!" One of the officers barked again.

"No," River whispered. "Down!" She yelled and pulled both men with her.

Over their heads and behind them a large glass window shattered. A spray of automatic gun fire ripped through the gaping hole where the glass once stood. The security team dove for cover.

"Go!" River shrieked as she jumped up and spun, four steps and she was flying through the window. She rolled neatly into the transport's hatch. Her brother was a half of a breath behind her, though he didn't so much jump as be thrown by an impatient Jayne, who barreled into Mal as he landed. The four passengers collided together in a heap as Riddick banked the transport hard and took off into the city. River was the first to untangle herself and she lunged for the hatch controls.

"Jayne! Get the hell off me!" Zoe snapped as she planted her boot into the merc's stomach.

"Ooff!" Jayne grunted as his head smacked into the wall. "Hell, I didn't mean it Zo!" He yelled.

_/ Nice landing. /_ River could hear the smirk in his thoughts which was absent on his face.

"Everybody got their parts?" The captain asked, his voice raised over the painful noises now being emitted from the port side thruster. He didn't wait for an answer. "Riddick, how the hell did y-"

"Not now, Mal." Riddick gritted out as he banked hard again to avoid another speeding transport. The city had fallen into absolute chaos in the handful of minutes since the first of the sirens began screeching. It always amused Riddick how quickly civilization fell to Hell.

"River?" Simon called, "River, are you alright?" He rushed out hurriedly.

"The girl is functional, _ge-ge,_ now is not the time to question her sanity." River replied shortly as her eyes rapidly scanned their projected path as Riddick careened through buildings and around other transports.

Mal reached past them both and grabbed the comm. "Wash!" He barked.

"_Come in, Baby Goose."_

Mal mentally growled. "We've got our lambs and we're making a break for you now, be ready for us."

"_Roger that, Baby Goose. ETA?"_

Mal looked down at River and Riddick. "Twenty minutes forty three seconds." River recited in a robotic voice and then yelled, very human-like, "Brace yourselves!"

No one listened and, as a result, the entire crew went sprawling together to land in a heap towards the back of the transport as Riddick braked hard and spun the transport to starboard. The action let them narrowly avoid being sighted by one of several armored Alliance crafts.

"They're sealing off the city." He grunted as he shoved down hard on the throttle.

"South." River told him firmly and tossed her head back to look at the captain who was picking himself back up. "Estimated time of arrival has been adjusted; Twenty nine minutes fifty one seconds."

"Got a whole lotta talkin' to do when we get back to the ship." Mal grumbled as he reached for the comm again.

_/That thruster going to hold? /_ Riddick thought spoke to River.

_/ No. /_ River didn't so much as outwardly flinch; from the corner of his eye he could see her head tilt slightly and her eyes glaze over. He knew if he could get a better look he would see her eyes twitching rapidly.

River reached up and grabbed the comm. "Papa Goose, this is Baby Goose."

"_River!" _ A jubilant Wash returned her call. _"Finally somebody who makes sense! Talk to me." _

"Baby Goose's wings are broken. Adjust position twenty-four point fourteen kilometers southwest."

"_Roger that, Baby Goose. Papa is swinging wide."_

"What the hell?" Jayne asked. "Whose wings are broken? Why we changin' course?"

"Mother must come to her wounded." River calmly informed him without turning her head back.

"What?" Jayne asked confused.

"Thruster's about to crap on us!" Riddick yelled over his shoulder.

"_St. Lucy's transport."_ The occupants of the transport froze as an unfamiliar voice crackled over their comm.

"Got a tail." Riddick rumbled as he reached up and flicked several switches.

_/This is how I'm going to kill that thruster, ain't it? /_

River merely nodded.

"_St. Lucy's transport, you are not cleared for city evac; return to point of origin."_

"Riddick," Mal shoved his way forward and directly behind the pilot's chair.

"Hold on." The convict smirked as he slammed the thruster all the way forward.

*T*F*C*

"Book, need you in the bay, be ready to slam the airlock closed behind them." Wash ordered and the preacher slid down the bridge access ladder without protest. Wash hit the ship wide, "Kaylee?"

"_Ready to roll." _ The mechanic chirped back cheerfully.

"Alright, Baby Goose, where are you?" Wash squinted through the fog.

*T*F*C*

"That's two on my ass now!" Riddick barked as he cleared the city.

"Jayne, hatch!" Mal barked. The merc nodded and slammed down on the controls. A rush of air blew into the craft as Jayne and Mal leaned out the hatch door.

"That's armored, Mal," Jayne yelled. "Bullets ain't cuttin' through that!" He felt a tug on his jacket and whipped his head back inside.

"Doesn't need to cut." River shook her head. "Flash."

Jayne's eyes widened. "Small black duffel."

River squeezed her way past her brother, who was looking slightly pale. "River?"

She ignored him as she dug into Jayne's bag. Her fingers wrapped around the canister she was looking for and she tossed it to the merc.

"Riddick!" Jayne barked.

"What? !" The convict shouted in irritation as he dodged the craft around a cluster of rocks; he was keeping low and moving around large obstacles.

"Need to put a bit more space between us and them!" Jayne yelled back.

_/ This is going to kill it. /_

_/ Being first is not required. /_

Riddick didn't question her he brought the transport up and banked hard to avoid a ridge that cut through the thickening fog.

_/Now!/_ River yelled into his mind and Riddick slammed back on the craft's brake. The two armored crafts went speeding ahead of them. Riddick hovered as the crafts came around to pursue.

"Now?" Jayne looked at River she shook her head. "Now?" Jayne's fingers twitched over the pin.

"Now!" River yelled; Jayne yanked the pin at the same moment Riddick slammed down the throttle. The transport shot forward and banked to the southeast. A silver canister caught the moonlight. It bounced off the windshield of the first craft and exploded in a blinding flash of light.

*T*F*C*

"Sweet Buddha." Wash breathed as a sudden burst of light broke through the fog. "Baby Goose?" He called over the radio cautiously.

"_Wash, I swear to shit__" Riddick's voice was abruptly cut off. "Papa Goose, ETA four minutes twelve seconds." River chimed pleasantly._

"Good to hear, Baby Goose."

*T*F*C*

"What the hell was that?" Mal asked as he dropped himself onto one of the benches.

"EMP flasher been waitin' forever to blow something up with one of those." Jayne grinned as he closed the hatch. "Didn't think I'd need it," he shrugged, "But then I figured why the hell not?"

Mal was about to remark on that, whatever it was he was planning on saying was lost as the port thruster warning alarm began to buzz. "You gotta be ruttin' kidding me!" The captain yelled throwing his arms up in the air. "Just one gorram ruttin' job; just one."

"Gonna get real interestin', folks." Riddick rumbled as he kept one hand on the controls and quickly flipped several switches.

"Define interesting." Mal asked in a tone that meant he already knew the answer.

"Probably gonna kill us all." Riddick smirked as the transport rocked violently. The thruster gave one last unhealthy whine before sputtering and dying.

The transport spun violently as Riddick fought for control. He threw the starboard thruster into reverse to counter the spin as the craft began losing altitude. The tail end caught the rocky side of a cliff and the port side wing and useless thruster slammed into the rock wall. The ambulance bounced once, rolled, and skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust and falling rocks.

*T*F*C*

"Keep your eyes open, Shepherd." Wash called over the comm. to Book. "Should be seeing them any second now." He started flashing the outboards, trying to signal through the fog. "Come on, baby, where are you?" He added softly as he cautiously dropped altitude.

"_Wash,_" _Book's voice yelled over the ship wide. "I have a visual. Swing back around... they went down hard."_

"We got a landing?" Wash asked back as a nervous pit formed in his stomach.

"_Less than a klick from their crash site. When you come around you should see a pronged rock cluster, set her down there."_

*T*F*C*

The first light of dawn began to slip its way into the mountains, the fog began to recede, and somewhere in the distance, the early morning song of several birds filtered its way through the busted cracks of the small ambulance pulled himself free of his restraints; warm blood trickled freely from his temple, but there were five strong heartbeats in the shuttle with him still.

"River," Her name was choked out.

"Present." A small voice groaned.

"River?" Simon called out.

"She has already established she is alive." River groaned again, but managed an eye roll as well.

"Captain's fine, nobody worry." Mal pushed himself up. "Zo?"

"Breathing." His first mate croaked.

"Jayne? Doc?" Mal yelled. The yelling was not entirely necessary, though the captain felt it was due to the incessant ringing in his ears.

"Alive," Simon groaned. "Think I'd rather be dead." He muttered as he ripped a piece of his scrubs off and tied it around a gash in his left arm.

"Gorram leg." Jayne grunted, the sound ended on a hiss as he pulled a piece of metal from it. "Sonofabitch!"

"Jayne?" Mal blinked.

"Under control Cap'n." The merc snorted. "Hell of a landing."

"Anyone you walk away from." Riddick slid himself down in the pilot's chair to kick out the busted remains of the windshield. "We gonna blow up, River?"

"Negative." The Reader shook her head and regretted it instantly.

"Cargo make it?" Jayne asked.

"Hell, Jayne I ain't even sure if I made it yet." Zoe pulled herself up into a crouch.

The sound of _Serenity's_ engines shook the wreckage of the small transport.

"Ain't a sweeter sound," the captain grunted as he pushed himself up. "Alright, everybody out." He ordered. "Let's find out iffin' we just crashed into the side of a mountain for nothing."

*T*F*C*

Wash was out of the pilot's chair the moment _Serenity_ set down and sliding down the bay access ladder. "We ready to roll?" He asked as he caught a flashlight Kaylee tossed at him.

Kaylee didn't answer. She was too busy trying to quell her own panic. She merely nodded as she kick started the ATV.

"Shouldn't be more than a klick." Book reassured them both as he climbed aboard the trailer a med-kit in hand. "I didn't see any fire when we flew overhead, Riddick's a good pilot, he got them down safely."

*T*F*C*

"Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do their share," Mr. Universe sang to himself as his fingers danced across his keyboards once more. He was blacking out feeds all across the city, sorting through footage that contained glimpses of the transport and wiping out the computer data banks at St. Lucy's; all simultaneously. "My, my, Reynolds you and your crew certainly do require some looking after."

*T*F*C*

The last of the alarms began to die in the city as the first light of dawn crept through Inara's window. She rolled over and powered up the small cortex screen and linked into the city's news feed.

"_As of yet there have been no arrests-" _

Inara clicked off the screen. It was all she had been waiting to hear. She rolled back over and with a yawn finally drifted back off to sleep.

*T*F*C*

"Found one!" Jayne yelled over his shoulder as he dug out one of the pods from beneath a pile of fallen rocks. He popped the lid and grinned. "It's all here, won't believe this but not even a vial busted!"

"Jayne, you get down from there and let the Doc look at that leg!" Kaylee yelled at him.

"Gorramit, woman, ain't nothin' to look at!" Jayne snapped back.

"Got the other over here!" Zoe called some twenty feet to Jayne's left, "Lost a couple cases in this one, but not much. Wash, baby, help me with this."

"River, look at me." Simon turned her jaw, "Follow my finger." He instructed. River rolled her eyes.

"She is fine, _ge-ge."_ She swatted away his hand.

"Humor me?" He smiled at her.

River huffed out a rather dramatic rush of air but complied.

"Never were one for landings." Book mused with a slight grin as he stood next to Riddick surveying the damage.

"I landed." Riddick shrugged.

"You crashed." Mal snorted. "Point of fact, my pilots don't crash, they only **threaten **fiery death."

"I didn't see any fire." Riddick toed a piece of scrap metal.

"And you're all still alive." Book pointed out.

"Still crashed." The captain shook his head.

"I'll work on it." Riddick snorted.

"Well, see that you do." Mal clapped him on the shoulder. "Beautiful morning." The captain mused as he surveyed the scattered wreckage and his crew.

"God's small gift." Book remarked.

"Don't go ruinin' it, Preacher." Mal smirked as he turned away. "Let's get those containers loaded onto that ATV, people," he yelled at his meandering crew, he limped only slightly. "We're due to rendezvous with the Ambassador in a few hours, let's not be late to get the hell of this rock."

"Someplace with a beach, Sir?" Zoe suggested.

"Someplace with a bed," Wash waggled his eyebrows.

"Nope, a dead rock with an ion cloud. Ya'll can thank Riddick and Jayne for that one."

*T*F*C*

The moment the shuttle locks thudded into place, Wash had _Serenity _burning into atmosphere. As a precaution and a direct result of Riddick and Jayne's adventure, he was sure to dump three Nav Sat screamers on their way out. It never did hurt to be overly cautious.

Inara was unsurprised to feel the rush which accompanied a hasty atmo departure. She powered down her shuttle and awaited the knock she knew wouldn't come. Almost on cue, the captain sauntered into her shuttle. A slightly battered and yet still infuriatingly cheeky grin on his face.

"So how was your thing?"

"As advertised," she eyed him carefully. "Needles, cold exam tables. I gather the terrorists had a much more enjoyable time." Her lips curled into a playful smirk. "Those sirens kept me awake all night, I'll have you know."

"Had nothing at all to do with that." Mal shrugged in all honesty. That had been all Mr. Universe.

"I'm sure."

*T*F*C*

"River," Simon called her softly from the doorway of the infirmary.

"Time to sleep again." She looked up from her drawing pad and Riddick from the blade he was sharpening.

"No, it's time to wake up." Simon said thoughtfully.

Riddick tensed slightly, "What's that mean?"

"It means," Simon exhaled and crossed the room to take a seat on one of the common room chairs. "I need to slow her mind down. She's processing too much. The 'fits' are what happens when her mind goes into a sort of sensory overload, her reality matrix scrambles. It's why she's calmer when she's with you. Whatever it is that allows her to project at you allows her to plug into your mind as an extra power source."

"If I close it down, she can't." Riddick assumed.

"Correct, if she can only read what you let her she can only take what you give." Simon swallowed. "We need you."

Riddick put down his tools. "What's the plan?"

"River," Simon took his sister's hand. "I want you to be okay with all this. I don't want to make you do anything you don't feel comfortable doing. I can find other ways."

"Thank you." River whispered softly. "This way is acceptable."

"Good." Simon smiled warmly at her before turning back to Riddick. "I think I've figured out a med combo that will work. It's a combination of neruo-supressors, it's only enough to act as a damper, an artificial dam so to speak. It will still allow the information through, but it should dull the onslaught. The second half of the treatment would require a lot more from you Riddick." Simon said hesitantly. "If she can pull processing power from you, her mind should stabilize itself."

"That's what we have been doing." Riddick rumbled.

"No, you've been doing the opposite." Simon corrected. "She used you as the dam, she needs to use you as the power source and allow the medication to build the dam.

"_Shi li _(strength)." River whispered.

"You knew the answer the entire time." Simon said with a hint of awe in his voice. "River, your mind operates in an almost dream state, dominated by Theta and Delta waves. That was why they kept you in an induced coma. Alpha and Beta waves are dominate in our conscious state; their barely active at all in your mind. Your active mind didn't have to divert power to keep the rest of her body going; instead it could focus all of its energy on receiving. The neruo-surpressors will dull the sensitivity of your receptors and stem the flow of information, less information, less strain, less occurrence of overloads."

"And I fill in the gaps? Human battery?" Riddick didn't actually mind the sound of it. It meant River would need him.

"There has to be a reason why she can plug into your mind and not anyone else's." Simon mused aloud. His thoughtful look turned serious, and a slight line wrinkled his brow. "I doubt Mal would be willing to break into another hospital to run another set of tests anytime soon."

_/Do we tell him?/_ Riddick left the choice to River.

_/ He is not ready to understand./_

_/ You got any idea how to do what he says we have to do? /_

_/She thought she was./_

"The rest of the crew is going to want to know what I found." Simon unknowingly interrupted. "What do I tell them?"

"_Dao."_ River answered.

"I'm not even sure what that is anymore." Simon admitted.

"We tell them what they did, how it works. That River and I can communicate. This shit, with the Blue Sun Agents; this was only the beginning, Simon. It's gonna get worse. The longer she stays free the deeper the shit's gonna get. There's always going to be another agent, another merc, another security guard with a hard on to be an Alliance hero." Riddick said as he picked his tools back up. "Only chance we have is to stay a step ahead. Only way we can do that is if everybody knows what's coming."

"And if Mal doesn't want the risk?" Simon asked nervously.

"He's a Browncoat." Riddick shrugged.

"The War's over." Simon quoted the captain.

"He only tells himself that." Riddick grunted. "It won't ever be over for Mal."

"How do you know? How can you be so sure he won't dump us dirt side the first chance he gets?"

"_Serenity._" River said softly as he fingers caressed the metal. "Captain Daddy was a volunteer. He believed. He still believes. He would die for her."

"Believes in what, River?" Simon asked curiously.

"Freedom."


	46. Interlude 9 Foundations I

A/N: Remember the days of 4000 word interludes? Well apparently they are gone LOL. I didn't go where many of you may have thought I was headed. This Interlude however is vital in a number of ways and I hope you sincerely enjoy, at the end of the Interlude there is an author's note which I hope you take the time to read as well.

**Thug**:** I probably would have pried out my eyeballs with a dull pair of chopsticks if it wasn't for you. Thank you so very much for putting up with my gou shi, even if you don't let me kill of main characters you're still the shiniest beta there every was.**

To: CloakedInsanity, Sabrina1204, ArtLightLove, forestreject, , angelwingz21, Rachet, sxevlbtch, serenitie1, librarywitch, Hidden Relevance, Elliesmeow, Bianca, Darkdreamer1982, ZenRyu, JadeSea, Alexydra, Amethyst246, & Zen007.

Holy Sci-fi Conventions and Yoda action figures! That was a new record for reviews. You guys are amazing; the reviews were much appreciated :D I can't tell you just how much. I am unworthy of such praise. Thank you all for hoping aboard this insane ride. Much much much much luv ya'll.

Side note to sxevlbtch: I hope you are not disappointed, believe it or not this entire Interlude was dreamed up after your message, the original Interlude trashed and the concept completely altered. Personally I think it was a good thing, but the plot line and dialogue def. began to take on a life off its own. So while you might not get exactly what you had been expecting it's in there. (Read, please don't kill me)

As usual, none of it is mine…

*T*F*C*

River closed her eyes and slowed her heart rate. Her spine was straight; legs intertwined in a lotus position, right palm placed against the top her left hand, fingers spread and her thumbs interlocked. She inhaled deeply and, on the exhale, pushed her mind out. Eight separate trains of thought; eight small streams of consciousness contradicting The Flow and The Rock. Thirty-nine hours since the first injection. Her world-view was beginning to sharpen and become focused. **River** was beginning to sharpen and become focused.

The ideology was wrong. The hypothesis was wrong. Simon had been wrong. About what? Where? Numbers, calculations, formulas drifted through a less active part of her mind. They did not overwhelm her; they were classified and regulated. Her mind worked them, but it was done subconsciously. Her mind sought answers she did not know she was looking for. Precognitive ability was absent. The past, however, was fresh and raw in her mind. She remembered. Everything. It was out of sequence. Nonsensical. The pieces fell together in a random order and fashion. Insanity tainted memories. None of it made sense.

She was not overwhelmed. That too was classified and regulated; the thoughts registered, were validated and then dismissed. _Dao._ What was _Dao?_ The medication was working. The neuro-suppressors were building a dam far superior to that of The Rock; but still The Rock had a purpose. Everything had a purpose. A mission. How did a Rock power a River? It was illogical. She did not require a stronger River. The River was too strong already. The medication was controlling the River, why should The Rock power it? It was a contradiction. They were walking up the downslide again. Why?

She needed to find River, River would have the answers. River was gone though. She was sure of it now. She had spent the last three days in one form of meditation or another looking for her. There were fragments. Nothing tangible. Broken bits. Dream figments with no solid foundation or base. She needed parts; parts to repair River. Parts to rebuild the girl and fashion something new.

_**Embrace what you are.**_

What was she? She was a girl, an empath, a telepath. In the days before, she was a genius, an artist, a dancer, a sister. She was an expert in hand-to-hand, single weapon, dual weapon, blade, gun; she knew twenty seven ways to kill with a pen. There were too many parts to embrace River as she was. A new River had to be built. The foundation of the old was rotted through; it could not support the additions.

She inhaled and exhaled again as she pushed her mind out further; her head ticked slightly as she passed through Sunshine. Warmth, unconditional love, innocence, unwavering faith; the sensations of such emotions were as near to divine as River had ever felt. She could not stay. Sunshine was not meant for her. The parts of her would burn the girl. She could not walk in such light. She continued to move through the ship. Where the Sunshine was, the man-named-Jayne was near. He was raw. His mind linear. There were new lines where there had never been. In the beginning, there had been Jayne, all lines moved from himself and to himself. Family. Greed. Money. Lust. Gratification. New lines where formed now. They smelled of the Sun; honesty, love, devotion, faith. These were not for her. They were for Sunshine; she had no right to claim them as her own. She moved on.

A laugh. She followed it. Up the stairs to the bridge. A burst of bliss. The Amazon and the Dinosaur warrior. Their world was not hers. It was layered, complicated, flawed, illogical, and the pieces fit. Only for them. She could not stay. Three were not meant to live in a nest built for two.

Mourning. She felt the chill of it run down her spine and filter through her. She followed the trail of decrepit trees and broken gravestones. The leaves swirled in the wind carried by poetry and life. Unwavering strength kept his fractured world together, but disillusionment festered in the cracks. Captain Daddy. Unrequited and unacknowledged warmth and hope fought to blossom, but bitterness stifled it like weeds. She could not stay here. She could not heal this. She moved on.

Incense, sandalwood and clove. Sweet and strong; exotic and familiar. Grace, compassion, love, but there was no peace in this mind. There was confliction; the bird had escaped the cage and she was ashamed that she ached for it once more. There was ritual and tradition in the cage. It was a game she knew the rules of and it was one she was adept at playing. Everything was different. Away from the watchful eyes of those who had clipped her wings under the guise of setting her free, she had begun to question. She had begun to change. She was afraid. River could not stay here.

The girl moved on. Down the walkways and corridors, no one saw her pass. No one saw what the eye could not see. Mother knew. Mother always knew. Mother sang to her as she searched. She needed a framework, a basis, a foundation to build herself upon. An example of what it meant to be real and alive because she no longer knew.

The Shepherd. A flock to tend; stubborn sheep lead by a stubborn ram. The wolves were circling and a storm was brewing. He'd lived in the world too long to not feel the crackle of electricity in the air. His fingers itched for metal which he had forsaken. His fingers itched for pressed cellulose and cow's flesh. He sought answers man could not provide and so he looked up. He had no answers for himself. There was nothing for River there.

_Ge-ge._ He loved her. Unconditionally. Irrevocably. Unfortunately, it was flawed; he saw her as perfection. His world was the world of River the dancer, the artist; the little girl who tried to build a tower to heaven. There was no heaven; only hell and existence. She did not belong in his world. She could stay, for awhile. She could be his light and his Sun. He would orbit her until the end of all existence and time. He would be a prisoner and wear his chains gilded in devotion. He would never regret, but she would. She would absorb him like a black hole, not a sun, but he would only see the light. The River would consume him. He deserved more. She moved on.

There was only one place left to go. _**His**_ mind. There was silence that was tainted with curiosity and amusement. He was always amused; always curious. The 'Verse was his playground and he was the biggest in the yard. There were doors and pathways, all bolts and dead ends. There was no force pushing her away. Here, she could stay and remain all of her days. The Flow of his mind ran in sync with hers; the currents intertwined and could carry them together, but he had nothing to offer her. There was peace and empty space. She was already empty. The River was dry here; cracked fossilized remains of things that once were protruded from the hard packed mud. There was The Rock. It was massive, steadfast, and strong. It was a foundation.

A foundation. Her fingers trailed along the cold stone willing it to share its secrets. To teach her how to build up. Threads of her mind interwove itself through the stone. Stone was porous; it absorbed her.

Understanding lit the waves of her mind; broken pieces fell together and solidified. She could go no further. The Rock was just a foundation, an anchor, she rooted herself into. She needed parts. There were no parts to gather. The parts were behind the doors. The doors were stone. Stone was porous.

*T*F*C*

Riddick passed his blade against the whetstone. It didn't need to be sharpened. He just needed something to do with his hands. His head ticked as he felt something shift inside of it.

_River._ He thought only to himself and enjoyed the sensation.

The crew had taken the knowledge of River and what he and she were capable of well. Zoe and Mal had been unsurprised to learn River had some kind of combat training; they had realized it in the same way he had. It was the way River moved, even in her least lucid moments. There was fluidity, control, and strength. They had dismissed it at first, the same as he had; she was just a tiny slip of a thing, after all. He had stopped Simon from mentioning the behavioral programming and trigger words. Those were secrets he was not willing to share. They had accepted it, after learning Riddick could feel her shifting moods and speak to her silently. It amused him that they could feel safer knowing Richard B. Riddick and River M. Tam could communicate telepathically. The two most dangerous and wanted people in the known 'Verse were aboard their ship, could speak without being heard, and they actually felt safer. If only they really knew.

Three days of drugs and he could feel the difference. There were less jagged edges; she moved softly, more quietly and seamlessly through his mind. He could feel her on his every inhale; coupled with her scent, he was never alone. She was his constant companion. She hadn't come out of her room in three days. She said she needed time while Simon said her mind and body were adjusting. He had continued to spend his nights with River and, although his presence seemed to halt her nightmares, the few attempts he had made to help her were proving useless. She didn't need him to give her strength. The attempts they had made had triggered near-violent reactions in her.

They'd be landing on Beylix in a matter of hours since Mal had decided he wasn't going to sit around and do nothing while they waited for Mr. Universe's call. Jayne's family was on Beylix. The rock was also a factory world with more scrap yards and reclamation centers then hospitals and schools. The perfect place to unload some meds and stock the ship. Half the crew would be occupied with the ship and the other half Jayne's family. Riddick was hoping to slip away. He'd be back though; he wasn't going anywhere without River. A few hours without somebody banging on his bunk door, without nine other scents and heartbeats crowding his mind, without someone barking out his name, or demanding something; without having to pretend he didn't see himself reaching over the mess table to gut one of them. It wasn't them, it was him; and he knew it. He wasn't used to existing alongside others, the constant demands on his attention and time, and he sure as hell wasn't used to taking orders.

His hand suddenly froze. He set down his tools in the darkness of his dorm. A thin sheet of metal was all that physically separated him from River; there was no mental separation. He could feel the shift in her mind. He wasn't going to make the same mistake he had made before Ariel by leaving her alone.

*T*F*C*

River was aware when to door to her dorm slid open. She was aware of who opened it. She did not open her eyes nor did her posture alter in the slightest. She heard the creak of metal as he sat himself down in his chair. She listened to the swoosh of fabric against skin as he removed his goggles. His chair, in her dorm. Her mind, in his mind. She pushed the thought away. Now was not the time for esoteric musing.

"Garuda." Her hands ticked slightly, to indicate it was the name of the position they held themselves in. "To heighten one's third eye and elevate one's self to a higher consciousness."

"Something is different." He rumbled.

Her hands shifted positions and went to rest, palms up, on her knees. The fingers of her left thumb touched her middle and ring fingers while her right thumb connected with her middle and index fingers. "Pushan Mudra. Symbolizes the ebb and flow of energy. The ebb and flow of The River. The girl does not require a stronger River, it is illogical. The River was too strong already. "

Riddick didn't speak; mentally or verbally. His curiosity drifted through his mind and into hers. He waited for her to continue.

"Everything has a price." River's voice cut through the silence of the room, she did not open her eyes nor did her posture relax or tense in the slightest. "Precognitive ability has suffered. She cannot _See_ no matter how hard she looks. She wasn't meant to See; cut away the diseased parts and the mind and body can breathe. The neuro-suppressors are working, just not how you think; excess energy, excess processing power, the mind no longer has to combat the disease. Simon was wrong. He assumed. She remembers. She remembers everything. Not how it is supposed to be, out of sequence, the edges do not align. Insanity has tainted the memory; it is nonsensical and whimsical. Why did the princess sleep on a pea? Something was wrong with her spine. She wasn't a sty. She had a mission. She had a purpose. The Rock has a purpose. Just not what you think."

"Go back." Riddick leaned forward in his chair. "You can't _See?"_

"Precognitive ability has suffered. Keep up. Repetition is irksome." She ignored the slight growl which rolled its way past Riddick's lips and continued. She needed to make him understand. "Nothing is free. Precognitive ability was the final stage. She remembers things. Simon came and took her away but they weren't finished with the girl. The design was nearly complete. She remembers. Out of sequence. It doesn't make sense. Pieces are raining from the sky and they land jumbled and distorted. Insanity taints memories; the recollections are jagged and nonsensical. But she remembers. Everything. Cut away the diseased parts, the rest of the mind can breathe. Slow The Flow of The River and she can count the twigs which drift on the stream." She was aware that she was rambling, but the words were spilling uncontrollably past her lips. She understood. He needed to understand.

"You can still Read?" He questioned her.

"She is still a Reader. She was born to be as such. Always she felt whispers; always she felt things. Things which crawled and twisted. Felt; did not know. They fractured her to pieces when they forced her to know. Took away her ability to feel and made her know. She wasn't meant to know. You cannot fix what was created to be flawed. They pushed too far."

Riddick relaxed back into his chair. "You can still hear what people are thinking... you still know what they're going to do before they do it."

"Calculating probabilities takes time. Probabilities are assumptions. The element of chaos cannot be quantified. Remember the letters? A and sometimes C but not B or F."

"Wouldn't want to get bored would we?" He asked her with a smirk.

"He thinks of killing them still." River announced with a surprising amount of detachment. She was being harsh and overly blunt, but his lack of understanding of what she thought was perfectly clear was becoming frustrating.

Riddick's smirk faltered. His posture stiffened.

"He counted five steps. Slash. Spin. Shoot. Bang, bang, bang. Dead. Four down. Wash would come from the bridge. He would be waiting. Stab. Simon from the infirmary. Spin. Shoot. Sunshine, and there would be darkness. Dead. The Companion is inconsequential. A blink and it would be The Furyan and The Girl_._" River's voice was emotionless as she spoke. She did not flinch, she did not hesitate, nor did she even open her eyes. "Liabilities. Complications. He has one speed. They will slow him down."

"Not supposed to be in my head like that." Riddick growled low in his chest.

"Thoughts are not actions." River said simply and Riddick understood. It didn't matter what he thought, the action was never carried out. Relying solely on the chaos of someone's mind, of indecision and fantasy, was operating off of assumption. Assumption was a failing of the weak. It still, however, did not answer his non-question.

"Where did you get that from?" His voice held a tension he had no control over and slipped through in his tone regardless of his effort.

River did finally open her eyes. "Different pathways, different doors. She was designed to be a key. A key that unlocks, a key that whispers secrets; moves through doors both metaphysically and physically, a shadow that whispers in the darkness. A shadow that breaks and steals your secrets. Precognitive, final stage, active deployment estimated four hundred, twenty-three days, then Simon came and stole her back into the stars."

"Answer the question."

"She did. He was not listening. He needs to listen. He needs to understand what she…" River stopped herself. "What I am saying." The pronoun took effort; an effort that was not lost on Riddick. "Everything has a price. She is stronger now. She sees her purpose. She has a mission. Focus. Direction. She needed to find River and she did. She assumed the girl would be as she left her. She was wrong. Can't walk up the downslide. River as she was cannot come back."

Riddick was quiet. The change in his mind he had felt was now apparently obvious. River was probing, prodding, looking for answers, and he hadn't even realized. He consciously rolled himself back into his mind; one by one, throwing bolts on metaphysical doors. He felt her presence shift, relocate itself to a different part, and push against another door. His head was beginning to throb but he kept the doors firmly in place.

"I can keep you out." His voice was laced with a tone he had not taken with River since their initial meeting. It was a warning laced in a threat.

"For now." River dismissed him and closed her eyes. Her hands ticked and quickly shifted position; her thumbs gently touching her ring and pinky fingers. "Prana Mudra. To pull energy." She exhaled deeply and, on the inhale, Riddick felt her pull. The sensation was startling, his body nearly physically twitched towards her but he forced himself still. "She has found answers. Theta and Delta frequencies; the higher mind. It can be stabilized and strengthen in meditative state."

"I can feel you."

"He should." River acknowledged without the slightest change in her tone or posture. "She learned it from him. She learned it from Shirah. He does the same, calls it a different name, calls it a different place. Where the thing that itches resides, the thing that claws and snarls. Where the girl, where River, where the artist, where the killer, where all the bit and broken pieces reside. It is what separates you from humanity; it is what separates her from humanity. _**She**_ told you that you were enlightened. It is the truth. What others spend decades trying to achieve, Furyans are born to do. Mastery of the mind. Endurance, strength, healing. Conscious regulation of emotion into control; into power. The answer was always there. You cannot rejoin the human race; you are above them, beyond them."

"Find that inside my head, too?"

"Everything has a price."

"You keep saying that."

"It is because it is _Dao_. And you must decide if you are willing to pay the price."

"Ain't following."

"He can keep her out. For now." River briefly opened her eyes but closed them again. "He can lock the doors, but she will find the key. She can force her way inside. When? She doesn't know. Tomorrow? She doesn't know. Ever? Chaos, variables. She will never know. That is the price she pays. That is the price of the neuro-suppressors. The price he must choose to pay? He may have her crazy and remain silent; or he may have her stable and keep nothing sacred from her."

"I feel you." He rumbled darkly.

"Stop her." River's eyes fluttered open; her words were pointed and direct.

Riddick inhaled deeply, closed his eyes and rolled himself further back as the world sharpened. His awareness narrowed as his focus shrunk down to River and, on the exhale, he isolated her inside his mind.

"She can force her way." River closed her eyes again and dismissed him. He felt the pull and push begin again; he felt her presence expand inside his mind. "She can be like they made her and break and force her way inside. Steal his secrets."

"Stronger than you, girl." The words rolled off Riddick's lips and dripped with warning. Reflexively his mind began to push back against hers. For the first time, Riddick tried to force his way inside River's mind. He tried to reverse The Flow of The River. His head throbbed and his vision blurred.

"He can fight." River acknowledged the counter-push against her mind but neither her posture nor tone ever changed. The only visual cue she gave that she was struggling at all was a slight twitch of her eyebrow. "Would he win? Would she win? She doesn't know. She cannot _**See**_. You must give. To give, you must be open. To be open, you must unlock the doors. What parts will you give her? Yes, she has heard the echoes when Shirah came for her. What parts will you give her, Furyan? Will you feed her anger and rage? Will you feed her blood and vengeance? Or will you give her freedom to choose. Feed her what you will and remake her in his image. He becomes like them. Give her freedom to choose and she will remake herself. He must open the doors." She closed her eyes once more and her hands shifted seamlessly back to their original position and Riddick felt the assault on his mind lessen and cease entirely. River's presence reduced itself and finally stilled. "I am on your side. I will not take from you. I will not fulfill their purpose."

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about." He half-snarled. His head was throbbing from the effort of trying to keep her out and yet keep her in at the same time. This was not how things were supposed to work. She was made, he was born. He was supposed to be in control. She was not supposed to be able to move through his mind.

"He offered her the parts, but he gives her only what he chooses. He will remake her in his image. She will never be River again. She will be His River. She would not be real. She would be the incarnation of what he desired. Lethal. Full of anger and chaos and rage. She would rain death from the sky as he wished to, whom he wished; but he would not have River. He would have His River. Not the same. Not real. Simon was wrong. She doesn't need him to power her. The River is strong enough. She needs The Rock. She needs The Rock to absorb what she cannot breathe in; she needs The Rock to root herself to. She needs to build anew."

Riddick pushed himself out of his chair. He was not willing to let River completely back inside his mind; inside his memories. There were things in his head. Things he didn't want to remember; things that clawed at his dreams and what little bit of a soul he imagined he had left. He had done things. He had reveled in the feel of heat which steamed out of a freshly gutted corpse; he had savored the taste of blood from the edge of a shiv like it was a fine whiskey.

Riddick had no illusions about the man he was. He could play the role of the righteous gunslinger but that's all it was; a role. He was not a good man. He was not lying or fucking with her head when he told her he liked blood and secrets. He thrived on the scent of fear; he could get drunk off of it. River had never been afraid of him and he didn't want her to be. He hated the way it smelt on her; the way it oozed from her pores and hung in the air around her like a fog. It was a foul stench on her.

When she looked at him, there was something in her eyes. It wasn't the same convoluted hero-worship he saw in Jack. It was something different; something he didn't have a name for but didn't want to lose either. River slept next to him every night since the night she had attacked him. She slept dreamlessly without nightmares. He spent more of those hours awake than sleeping, but he did not feel the loss. Riddick took the opportunity to study her; to slow his system to fall into rhythm with hers. Never once had Riddick slept beside a woman. He fucked them, left money on the table and disappeared back into the night. He wasn't fucking River and, after the first two nights, the thought had stopped surfacing in his mind.

Things would be different soon. When she could make a choice and he knew it would be rooted in reality. For the time being, he had contented himself with the smell of her and the feel of her skin against his chest. A closeness he had never allowed anyone and had acquiesced to because there was a line. A line she could not cross. His mind belonged only to him. He could keep parts of himself; the ugly, the grotesque, the damned, and she would never have reason to fear him. The look would never leave her eyes.

Would she sleep beside him knowing that, more than once, his mind had wandered to thoughts of ending her as she slept? Of wrapping his fingers around her throat and feeling her life slip between them? No. He didn't want to think those things about her. The thoughts came anyway. She made him weaker, slower; she clouded his judgment and put him at risk. It would be easier. It was a thought. Never an action. She would sigh or mumble in her sleep and turn in his arms and the thought would vanish as though it had never occurred. But it had; there was no escaping that. If he let her back in, she would know these things. The look in her eyes would vanish. The feel of her skin against his as she slept would never be felt again. There would be her scent forever burned into his nostrils, tainted by fear, and it would be all he would ever have. It was unacceptable.

Riddick turned back to face her. The only light in her dorm came from a small dim table lamp on her desk. She had stopped turning on the main lights in her dorm for him. There was an extra pillow on her bed for him. He had blades stashed in her room where he could get to them if they were attacked in their sleep. At the mess table, if he wanted more to drink, his cup was filled when he looked up. If River wanted another roll, it was on her plate before she could reach for it. It had taken less than a week, since the first night he slept next to her to assimilate himself into her life completely. The shift had been so seamless he had barely noticed it until this moment. The purpose of his life had shifted; the focus realigned. He was not willing to go back.

"You're forgetting one thing, River." His voice was no higher than a whisper and it rolled across her skin like sandpaper. His fingers reached on their own accord and trailed along her jaw line. She opened her eyes and leaned into his touch. No, he wasn't giving this up. She would accept those parts. She would take whatever he gave her because she had no other choice. He would have control. She had said it herself, she would rain death from the sky in his name and she would be His River. "I saw you on Canton. I watched you kill a man. I saw the quirk of your lips as the blade slashed through skin. We're killers, River. You can't tell me my version of you is something you're not." He turned to walk out the door. "What do you think is waiting for you behind those doors, River?" Riddick asked her darkly. His voice was harsh, the edges of his tone biting. "I wasn't a smuggler. I wasn't a gorram thief. I was a fucking soldier and a murderer, River. What does it matter? No difference between what I give you and what you'd find if I let you look."

"Strip away a girl and make her a thing. Make her empty. Make her a vessel for your purpose and mission. It becomes hers. She feels everything, she can't not; the everything belongs to everyone else. None of it is hers. Secrets, lies, dreams, nightmares, emotions, none of them are hers. They took that away. She is a void. Filled only when given a mission or purpose. She was not allowed to feel for herself. To feel for oneself gives one experience, experience forms an identity. She was not allowed an identity. She was an instrument; a tool built to fulfill their purpose. Give her a choice in what fills her and she becomes her own; with her own purpose, her own identity. She becomes again River. This is not assumption. This is _Dao."_

"Stop being a fucking cup." He barked back. "Stop filling yourself with shit. You realize how fucked this all is?"

"Sometimes," River said slowly and patiently, "What is done cannot be undone. They changed her. Made her into something else. She is above them and below you. One cannot walk up the downslide. It is illogical. She cannot be like them. She must be like you."

"Then take what I give you." He answered roughly.

"I need you to let me choose." River's words came slowly, having had to think each one carefully before forcing it out.

"I am. You take what I let you, or you take nothing." He turned and left her room without another word. He was angry. His angry rippled off of him in waves and River felt every one roll through her. She did not follow him, physically or mentally. It would have been unwise. Instead, she retreated from his mind, but not completely; she had kept herself secured there for so long, she now feared leaving completely. She receded as far as she was willing, however, and became nothing more than another shadow across his mind.

He was right. He had given her a choice. He would not let her choose the parts, but he would let her choose whether or not she would take them. He would not force them; which the Academy had demonstrated was entirely possible. River uncurled her legs and reached for her hair brush. The repetitive motion was soothing and soon she was humming as her fingers twisted into the long waves of her hair to form braids. He would give her only the Killer. The Furyan knew only blood and anger; he assumed one could survive on that alone. Assumption was a failing of the weak.

River was not weak. Riddick had taught her that. She would not allow herself to be made into a vessel again. She would fill herself with things she chose. She could not build in the minds of others, but perhaps she could siphon from them. Perhaps it was possible to create smaller, thinner, streams which could connect the minds of the rest of Mother's family. The streams would take effort to maintain. They could not be unconsciously held in place as what she was able to do with Riddick. Their minds were different. It could, however, be done. She was not weak. Mother would provide.

*T*F*C*

"You don't stop pacin', you're gonna wear a hole in the floor of my engine room." Kaylee teased Jayne as she dropped a wrench into her tool box.

"She's gonna be right pissed I didn't wave her and tell her company was comin'." She had to bite back the urge to giggle at the look of genuine worry on his face. "She's funny 'bout stuff like that." He finished in a sort loud mumble. "Least it's Sunday, she woulda planned on cookin' anyway."

"Why don't you wave her then?" Kaylee asked with an eye roll.

"It's… it's been a while since I've been home." Jayne admitted as he threw himself down on her hammock. "Iffin' I warned her, it'll be worse."

"How long?" Kaylee asked curiously as she dropped down next to him.

"Left when I was sixteen, the twins were eight, Matty about six. Came back five or six years later, Matty took a bad turn; he wanted me home, Ma called me home. But I ain't been back since, been almost eight, nine years, can't rightly recollect. Time gets away in the Black."

"How come so long?" Kaylee's brow furrowed slightly. Jayne didn't often talk about his home or his family; little bits here and there she'd been able to scrap up when he wasn't paying attention. So now, if he was in the mood to talk, she was definitely in the mood to listen.

"If Ma knew how I really got the money…" His voice trailed off as Kaylee curled into his side.

"What's she think you do?"

"Thinks I work on a transport ship, that I'm a cargo hauler. Ain't a complete lie."

"You ain't been back 'cause you're ashamed of what you do?" Kaylee asked.

"Ain't that." Jayne shook his head. "Money's money, girl; to me anyway. My Ma, she sees it differently. She's, uh,… she's God fearin'. Iffin' I told her I was killin' and stealin', she wouldn't take the money. I suppose I ought to warn people. She don't take to cussin' in her house and uh… well it might be best iffin' you don't mention we share a bunk."

Kaylee did laugh at that. "What?"

Jayne blushed and Kaylee thought it was quite possibly the most endearing thing she'd ever seen and she managed to reign in her laughter. "Told you, she's God fearin'." He snorted. "You want her to go off 'bout your soul burnin' in Hell, go for it." He frowned. "Don't. Never mind. Don't mention it at all, girl. She's liable to tan us both."

Kaylee's slight giggle exploded despite her best efforts. "Jayne Cobb, you're scared of your momma."

Jayne shot up off the hammock. "Ain't scared of shit, woman. Least of all my momma. You wanna listen to her _gou shi_ (crap) you go right on ahead." He snorted.

"Hey, Jayne! Wait! Come back!" Kaylee tried to call after him, but her words were lost to broken snorts of laughter.


	47. Interlude 9 Foundations II

"Alright, people," Mal announced as his crew meandered their way into the bay after _Serenity_ had landed. "We got a day's worth of work ahead of us. Planet time is about ten AM. Me and Zoe are gonna make us a deal; sell off some of the drugs. Book and Wash, it's on you two to restock us. It's been awhile since we been full up on anything 'sides protein mash, now that we got us a bit of coin, I could use a bit of the luxuries." He was interrupted by a few grunts and snorts of agreement. "Kaylee, so long as you gave Book and Wash a list of what our girl needs, you're free to head over with Jayne and the Doc to his people's place. Riddick, you and Little Bit are watching the ship. Once the work is through, we meet back here tonight, I'll split the take on the first sale of the drugs and ya'll can have yourselves a bit of leave for the next day."

"She takes issue." River spoke up from her perch on one of the crates. "She wishes to work."

"This is the first time you been out of your room in three days, Little Bit." Mal shook his head. "You ain't comin', not this time."

"She is well." River argued patiently. She hadn't gone through the effort of braiding her hair and putting on her boots for nothing. Appearance was the first indication of sanity.

"Riddick?" Mal questioned and River's face slowly began to rise in color.

The convict didn't speak; he merely shook his head slightly to imply the answer was a negative.

"She is not Riddick. Your question may be directed at her." River argued again; slightly more forcefully.

Mal took a step closer to her; his first instinct was to throw his arm over her shoulder, but he held back. River was not overly fond of touching. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, Little Bit. I know you can listen into my head and get what I'm trying to say, so's I want you to listen real good. Ain't tryin' to be patronizin' or talk down at ya. You're smarter than me. But here it is, I'm the captain. Captain ain't seen you out of your room in days; only ones that have seen ya are your brother and Riddick and Riddick can tell me how it feels inside your head. When you go hidin', I can't see for myself, I have to go by what Riddick tells me. Can't choose to be part of the crew when it suits you. You either are or you ain't and if ya are, well that means you got to be present. When was the last time you were down in that engine room with Kaylee? She tells me you won't even let her into your room."

"Sorry, Riv." Kaylee rushed quickly. "He asked."

River smiled faintly. She could understand what the captain was saying and his worry was not unfounded. She was what she was and she had given him no reason over the last several days to believe she was functional and stable. Braided hair and boots were not enough, apparently.

"Now I tell you what, Little Bit," Mal began again off of River's crestfallen look. "'Cause I know you wanna work, you keep it together, you go back to work in the engine room, you have seven good days, an entire week, and you can work a job."

"Captain, I don—"

"Ain't talking to you, Simon." Mal interrupted quickly. "This here is a deal between a captain and a member of his crew; ain't it, Bit?" He grinned at River. "This here is a bit of trust."

"It is. She understands. He knows that she is valuable and worthy. He will not risk other members of his family for the sake of indulging one. She must prove she is stable. She must prove she can function as an appendage of Mother."

"That's the jist, I suspect." Mal nodded, he was getting better at River-speak, he thought. "Riddick, you just keep one ear on the comm, case anythin' pops up."

The convict grunted and went back to toying with his shiv. He was still angry over the earlier conversation with River and even angrier he could barely feel her inside his head. He was well aware of the hypocrisy involved with his anger. It only pissed him off further.

"I 'spect Ma will want ya'll for dinner tonight," Jayne grumbled, as he shouldered the duffel full of Simon's meds and supplies. Mal and Zoe would be taking the mule, Wash and Book the ATV. He really wanted to take his bike, but while he was sure Kaylee could ride Riddick's without crashing it, he wasn't so sure about the Doc. One of them could have ridden him, but he wasn't looking to have the Doc hugging up on either himself or Kaylee; so walking it was.

"That would be mighty fine." Mal grinned; he was more than a little curious to see Jayne's people. "Ya'll just wave us when you're ready."

"Uh…" Jayne shuffled his feet. "So's ya'll know, there ain't no cussin' in my Ma's house. And, uh… best not to mention we're smugglers, and, 'Nara, might be best iffin' your job wasn't mentioned."

"Excuse me?" Inara laughed lightly.

"Well, Ma's God fearin'." Jayne scowled. "She, um..."

"Don't worry, Jayne," Inara reassured him. "I won't mention it." She shot the captain a dark look. "Nor will anyone else."

"Well, count me in; I wouldn't miss a Cobb family dinner for all the juggling geese in the 'Verse." Wash grinned enthusiastically; he was practically giddy over the wealth of material that could be found at a Cobb gathering.

The merc merely grunted. "Doc, Kaylee you comin'?" He turned around and headed towards the airlock ramp. "Warnin' ya now too, Doc, you keep your gorram eyes in your head. I catch you lookin' at my sisters, I'll ruttin' take 'em out with a pair of dull chopsticks." He barked.

Simon looked a bit queasy at the thought. Not so much at the visual impalement, but the thought of female versions of Jayne. "I highly doubt I'll have cause to look."

"You callin' my sisters ugly?" Jayne spun immediately.

"Jayne," Mal deadpanned. "Doc is goin' to help your brother; wouldn't do no good to kill him 'fore he got there."

Jayne seemed to agree; however, he did not lighten his look of warning and continued to glare even as they walked off of _Serenity._

*T*F*C*

"We have to take a train?" Simon asked as they crossed beneath a broken chain link fence into the yard.

"Last time I was home," Jayne grunted as he held the twisted metal out of the way for Kaylee to cross, "Matty had a bad spell, doctors here said he needed to get out of the smog in the city. I'd been workin' steady that year, had a bit of coin from a sweet second story me and two other boys pulled. I bought up a patch of dirt outside the city, had a busted up house on it. Cobbs ain't weak; nothin' a little spit couldn't fix. Spent a couple of months piecin' it back together 'fore I headed back out into the Black and moved 'em all out there. Ma and my sisters just ride out for work."

Simon was more than a little surprised at the information. Kaylee, however, was proudly beaming up at the merc. "You're a good man, Jayne Cobb."

He slung his arm over her shoulders, "Don't be sayin' that all loud like 'round here. Cobbs got an image." He grinned at her.

Simon had to swallow back his revulsion. "Where do we buy tickets?" He looked around. The train yard was really nothing more than a collection of rusted metal and ancient wheezing engines. Weeds spurted up through cracked tracks and puddles of oil littered the ground. Jayne and Kaylee both snorted in unison. "What am I missing?"

"Ain't nobody buys a ticket 'round here." Jayne grunted.

"The trains are free?" Simon asked, confused as he tripped over a piece of broken track.

Kaylee shook her head. "You got a lot to learn still, Simon." She giggled slightly.

"That's our train." Jayne pointed to a piece of scraped together metal slowly hulking its way from the station. "Gonna have to run a spell, iffin' we're gonna catch it. Think you can keep up, Doc?"

"What do you mean 'run'?" Simon didn't have time to fully voice the question as both Kaylee and Jayne started to jog. "What's going on?" He called ahead of him as he struggled to keep up.

"When you get close jump and grab on." Jayne told him over his shoulder.

"Jump?" Simon looked alarmed.

*T*F*C*

Zoe jumped down from the mule next to her captain. They wore their guns openly as did everyone else. It was really no surprise that Beylix had produced Jayne Cobb. It was a scrap rock; poor, dirty, and crime-ridden. You were born here and died here; unless you managed to scrape your way off on one of the rickety boats that hauled itself out of a reclamation center. Which, from Kaylee's account, is exactly what Jayne had done; by Beylix standards, he was a success. Zoe felt that said something about this particular rock and she unclipped her holster.

"This the place?" Mal eyed the dilapidated apartment complex in front of them.

"Count six pairs of eyes in those windows, sir. I would think so." Zoe nodded as she moved to grab one of the crates off the back of the mule.

"And four across the street." Mal returned the nod as he pulled down a second crate.

"Wash seems to think that we should cut these middlemen out, sir, double our profit by selling direct to the source."

"Wash seems to think?" Mal cracked an eyebrow as they headed up the steps.

"Just passin' the word, sir." Zoe grimaced and it was not due entirely to the weight of the crate she was carrying. It was a crap idea, honestly. They didn't call any particular rock home, which meant they worked off the courtesy of the middlemen that did. Cut the middleman and the middleman was liable to cut back. She and her husband had enough issues without throwing in who was the better criminal.

"It's a crap idea. We piss on the middleman, we get another Badger. Money might be nice in the short run, ain't worth it in the long." Mal grunted as he shifted the weight of his crate as they waited for the elevator. "You know it too, Zo."

"Just passin' the word." She looked away, not wanting Mal to see her agreement.

Mal, however, was quite possibly the only person in the 'Verse who could read Zoe completely; the problem was that he knew it. He knew her better than her husband. You couldn't huddle with a person in a pool of blood for two gorram weeks and not know them on a visceral level. There would be parts of Zoe that Wash would never know and it had nothing to do with being married and being in love and everything to do with crawling through Hell. He saw right through the 'just passin' the word' _gou shi_(crap).

"Don't put me in the middle, Zo." He warned her.

"Don't know what you're talking about, sir." She answered tersely as they stepped into the elevator.

"I told you. I told you marryi—"

"And what did I tell you, Mal?" She shot back.

Mal swallowed and nodded his head. "To go fuck myself."

"That's right, sir."

"One of these days I'll figure out if your 'sir' is respect or sarcasm, Zo."

"I suspect you will, sir," She nodded as the corners of her lips twitched.

*T*F*C*

"It's not that it bothers me that they are always off together," Wash continued as he loaded a sack of flour onto the ATV's trailer, he paused to frown. "Well, no, I suppose it is. I mean, it's not right he gets to spend more time alone off ship with her than I do."

"Son, you do know I was never married and that I've taken vows of celibacy. So I really don't think I have the best advice to give on the situation." Book replied patiently.

"Yeah, sorry, I guess." Wash shrugged dejectedly as he started up the engine. "I just feel like, sometimes, she'll always look to him first."

"She married you though." Book pointed out.

"Yeah, well, you can bet your Bible that if he would have ordered her not to, she wouldn't have." He snorted bitterly.

"Relationships are complicated. There are lines which divide them. You are her husband. He is her captain. The dynamics are different, especially since they served together."

"Oh, you don't have to remind me about that." Wash rolled his eyes. "I don't think it's possible to forget that they served together. Not a gorram day goes by that there's not some epic reliving about the good old days they shared; starving and blowing people up together."

"They have a history together; don't forget that she chose you for her future." Book said reassuringly.

"Sometimes I wonder though, preacher," Wash said thoughtfully, "I wonder whether or not she really would, if given the choice; you know, choose me over Mal."

"If you have to ask yourself that question, you have to ask yourself if it is her that you doubt or if it is yourself." The shepherd replied sagely.

"You're saying it's my fault?" Wash asked incredulously.

"Not at all." Book shook his head.

"You know, when River speaks in riddles, I get it."

"That's because River is trying to be understood, I am asking you to understand yourself. Only you have those answers." The preacher replied with a slight chuckle. "River already has the answers, I think. I don't have any Wash; especially those on marriage."

"So you're saying I should ask River?"

"Would you believe what River told you? Would it be enough, Wash? Being told something, being informed that something is true is not the same as knowing it is true, as feeling as though something is true, as believing that something is true. Love. Loyalty. Those concepts are really quite intangible. What proof could River give you? She couldn't give you anything tangible; no physical evidence, nothing concrete. In the end, you would still have to choose whether or not to believe what River said. You would have to be able to believe with your heart."

"So what you're saying is, if I believe Zoe would choose me, she will?"

"What I am saying is, if you believe she would choose you, it should be enough. Trust, Wash. Trust is the foundation of everything."

*T*F*C*

Riddick was on the bridge; his boots were kicked up on the main console and he gave every outward appearance of relaxation. He was very far from relaxed. His mind kept turning over the possibility of throwing on the engines and getting the fuck out of dodge. He reached over and turned on the cortex, bringing up the image of a planet he had once considered spending his life on. UV Six. It was in the farthest catalogued system out; an ice rock orbiting a dying sun not even terraforming had been able to help. The nearly unlivable temperatures and the fact that it was safeguarded by Reaver space meant no one would risk coming to take a look. The plan was to drop the kid and the Holy Man on New Mecca and make tracks for the abandoned rock. Why hadn't he gone?

_Caroline_. _The_ _fucking_ _bitch_.

That was why; her challenge to rejoin the human race and be something more than he was. Well, according to River and Shirah that was impossible. So what was the point now in staying among them? He could lift off and he and River would be there the outside of two weeks. The meds would run out eventually. Keeping River with him meant staying at least on the edges of civilization; disappearing into the Black was not a possibility. Leaving River behind was not a possibility.

_Fucking women._

Caroline. Shirah. Jack. River. The plague of his fucking existence right back down the line of his memory to Tanya and Rhea. It was a pattern he'd never noticed. Even his father had died for a woman and he'd put his ass on the line for each and every one of them. He could have died for each one of them. The staff member he'd saved Tanya from had beaten him to within an inch of his life. Rhea, he closed his eyes and could still smell the scent of wet earth on her skin. If they had found out what he had done to that man he would have been shot on sight. Caroline and Jack, he'd gone back for them and Caroline had died in his place on that hellhole of a planet.

Riddick was used to being alone. He was used to the silence which came with it. He'd spent years inside his own head and never before had he ever examined his life so closely. The irony of it was he was on a ship with eight people and a mind reader. One would think quiet self-reflection would be impossible; it wasn't, it was all he did lately. It pissed him off more. Riddick had always been sure of himself; self-doubt was a death sentence. He found himself now questioning everything.

"He is still angry." He was unsurprised to hear her voice. He had felt her coming long before he'd heard her footsteps. He didn't answer her. The only movement he made was to shut down the cortex screen. "He pouts like a child." She added with a trace of disinterest as she sat herself in the copilot's chair.

"Not in the mood for this shit, River." He rumbled darkly.

"Why?" River pressed, though she appeared more interested in one of her braids than his answer.

"Not doin' this dance with you."

"We're dancing?" River arched a brow. "His reality matrix is in danger. Dancing requires movement, we are sitting."

"You really want to piss me off, River?" He dropped his legs and spun in his chair to face her.

"He is already angry." She shrugged. "She is merely questioning why."

"You're the Reader."

"And you are The Rock."

"Didn't have any trouble earlier." He challenged.

"She was trying to prove a point."

He didn't question her further, he waited for answers.

River inhaled and exhaled deeply, she forced her mind to align itself. "That was their purpose. I want my own."

River's increasing use of personal pronouns was not lost on Riddick and his curiosity got the better of his anger as he leaned forward.

She paused to focus herself again. "I remember. Bits, pieces, it's all nonsensical and tainted." She swallowed hard. "She was built to break others. I have no desire to break him." She rose quietly and in one fluid motion. "He claims to trust her and yet he locks his doors." She didn't look back as she walked down the bridge stairs. "That was her point."

Riddick didn't watch her leave. His eyes remained fixated on the chair she no longer occupied. He had not a single coherent reply to make to her last statement; not one that didn't damn him.

*T*F*C*

"_Ai gou shi_ (oh crap)!" Kaylee moaned as she stood back up after jumping from the train. She had landed in a decent patch of dirt which was halfway to being mud.

"Gorraamit, Doc, _**jump!**_" Jayne yelled as he ran to keep up with the train and Simon who was pulling away with it.

"Are you crazy? !" Simon yelled back.

"Train don't stop for damn near another fifty miles, boy!" Jayne shouted.

"Simon, jump!" Kaylee yelled with her hands cupped around her mouth.

The doctor closed his eyes, prayed to Buddha, and jumped. He landed with a hard thud; his head barely missing a cluster of rocks. He let out a low groan before he risked opening his eyes.

"He ain't dead, is he?" He heard Kaylee ask Jayne.

"Train wasn't going more than ten miles an hour." The merc grunted and Simon felt a boot toe his ribs. "Can't be that much of a sissy."

"I'm alive and I can hear you." The doctor groaned as he opened his eyes.

"Good, get the hell up then, got 'bout a half a mile to hoof it." Jayne reached down and roughly yanked him to his feet.

"Tell me we don't have to do that again." Simon groaned as he dusted himself off.

"Ma will give us a ride back to the ship." Jayne informed him. "They got a mule that brings 'em back and forth to the city to work."

"Why didn't we just meet them there then?" Simon asked bitterly.

"It's Sunday." Jayne shrugged as they started walking.

"So?" Simon questioned.

"Ma's God fearin', told ya. She don't work Sundays. Lucky though, we'll be 'round for Sunday dinner." Jayne grinned.

"I can hardly wait." Simon snorted sarcastically.

"Feel privileged, boy." Jayne growled. "You can crack all you want 'bout me bein' dumb and Rim-born, but I swear to God, you say one thing to my Ma and I will punch out your gorram liver."

"My liver?" Simon arched a brow.

"Shut the hell up." Jayne grunted.

"Jayne, you be nice. He's comin' all the way out here to help your brother." Kaylee scolded him before turning to look back over her shoulder to shoot the doctor a warning glance as well. "And you too, Simon, ain't no call for nasty."

*T*F*C*

The Cobb Family home sat at the top of a sloped incline. Jayne had not been lying in the slightest when he said he had pieced the house back together. The fence, the barn and a greater portion of the small two-story house were made from pieced together scrap metal. Kaylee could have sworn the barn door was the airlock ramp of an older model atmo transport. It wasn't a _gou shi_ (crap) piece job though. While you could easily tell the parts never originally belonged together, they were fitted with care, the lines clean and orderly; a meticulous build evident. For Kaylee, it was not a far stretch to see it as Jayne's work, it was like the obsessive care he took with his guns. He was always saying if you took care of a thing, it took care of you; much in the way she took care of _Serenity_ and, apparently, the way Ma Cobb kept house.

There was a small chicken coop and two horses penned off to the side of the barn. Kaylee found herself wondering how much of Jayne's money he really sent home. What did she ever see him buy for himself? Aside from guns which could be considered, and were considered, necessary tools of his trade. Kaylee's Pa had worked the factories before opening his shop so she knew what factory jobs brought in and what medical care cost on the Rim. She watched Jayne frown as he opened the fence, it was squeaking; she fought to suppress her smile as she watched him test it again and again as his scowl deepened. He muttered something to himself, something about fixing it before he left, she thought she caught and she slipped her hand in his as he led the way up to the porch.

Kaylee's nerves began to get the better of her the closer they drew to the front door. She had taken care to wash the grease from the visible parts of her body and Inara had even braided her hair nicely. The jump from the train hadn't helped her cause any; her only set of non-greased clothing was now spattered with mud. She didn't have long to mull over her appearance though. The porch door opened just as they reached the first step.

"Lord, bless my eyes and take my sight." The woman who breathed out the words was slender but not soft. The lines of her life were cut gracefully into her body. The steel grey threads of hair which were woven through her tightly coiled brown locks were the only indication of her age; but it was the ice blue edge in her eyes which identified the woman for who she was. Radiant Cobb.

"Hi, Ma." Jayne grinned sheepishly.

The door was thrown open and the woman launched herself out of it; throwing herself into the large merc's arms and nearly taking him to the ground. "My boy's home!"

"Momma?" Two voices in stereo echoed from inside the house.

"Clara, Lara! Girls, Jayne's come home!" The woman yelled without releasing her son.

The porch door was thrown open once more and Simon and Kaylee could do nothing more than gape at the two identical visages which nearly fell out of it. Jayne's sisters had their mother's figure and eyes; their hair, Simon had to assume, came from their father and fell in long waves of cornsilk. Oddly enough, they were dressed nearly identical to Kaylee on a normal day on _Serenity_; coveralls and grease stains. Simon and Kaylee's inspection only lasted seconds as the two women followed their mother's lead and launched themselves at Jayne. This time, the merc did go down. The Cobb foursome landed in a tangled heap on the ground.

"Rutting women!" Jayne barked out a laugh, failing miserably to maintain his tough merc façade.

A loud resounding smack echoed. "Ow! Ma?" Kaylee and Simon were trying very hard to keep their jaws off the ground.

"Jayne Ronald Cobb, you did not just cuss in your Momma's presence! Boy, I raised you better than that; iffin' you hadn't just dragged your sorry self back home after all these years, I'd skin the hide off your back!" She scolded him, but her smile could not be hidden as they picked themselves up off the ground.

"Aw, Ma, I didn't mean it." Jayne grumbled.

"Shoulda walloped him harder, Momma," one of the twins laughed.

"Serves him right, we ain't seen him since we brought this place; 'bout time he came home!" The other voiced. "Name's Clara." She introduced herself.

"Lara." The other smiled.

Jayne snorted. "Don't listen to 'em," he grinned at Kaylee. "That's Lara, and that one's Clara."

The twins, in unison, stuck out their tongues.

"Oh, Lord in Heaven, I've forgotten myself." Ma Cobb patted down her hair and turned her attention to the two people who had accompanied her son. "I know that face." Ma Cobb waggled her finger at the mechanic. "I'd know it anywhere. My boy sent his Ma a capture of that ray of sunshine." Kaylee didn't even have time to spit out the sheepish hello she'd been trying to force out before the woman had her wrapped up in a hug. "Little Miss Kaylee, he just goes on and on about you in his letters. Don't you blush, Jayne-boy." She winked at her son over the mechanic's shoulder.

"Ma." Jayne groaned through a clenched jaw.

"Oh, you shush it, boy. You ain't never brought a girl home. I'm gonna enjoy this." She smiled broadly as she released Kaylee, "I'm still bein' rude though, Lord forgive me. Who's this other face you brought home?" She turned to look at Simon.

"Reason why we've come, Ma." Jayne's grin spread to his face as he held up the duffel. "Ma, this is Simon, he's a doctor." Simon was just as startled as Kaylee by Jayne's introduction. "This here bag, full of nothin' but what Matty needs."

Radiant went pale. "Lord bless me, I have faltered but you have shown me the light." She breathed.

Jayne tried not to roll his eyes. He wasn't looking to get smacked again.

"Pleased to meet you, Ma'am." The doctor nodded.

"Oh, none of the Ma'am. Lord willing, I'll never live to be that old," Simon was startled as the woman threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. "You call me Ma, boy, same as everyone else." She released him and linked her arm into her son's. "What are we doin' standin' in the yard? Ya'll come in the house." She tugged her son up the steps, leaving Kaylee to the mercy of the twins who each linked an arm into one of hers.

"What's better, a Bacher eighty-oh-four or the eighty-ten?" Clara or Lara asked; Kaylee really wasn't sure.

"Same engine, they just changed the platin'." She answered, confused.

One of the twins giggled. "Oh, girl, you'll do just fine. You gotta promise to bring him home more often."

"He ain't never brought a girl home 'fore."

"I like your braids. Do ya do 'im?"

"Oh, you'll have to show us how."

"You know how to make raspberry pie, right?"

"That's Jayne's favorite. Raspberry pie."

Kaylee blinked rapidly as her head shot back in forth between the two as they shuffled her into the house.

"Doc, you comin'?" The girl on Kaylee's left shouted over her shoulder, before whispering very quietly to Kaylee. "He single?"

"He is cute, even if he looks soft." The other giggled.

_Oh, dear Lord._ Kaylee found herself thinking as they caught up with Jayne and his mother in the kitchen.

"Ma," Jayne said a bit exasperatedly. "I told 'em you'd have 'em for dinner, they had work to do. I'll wave the ship once the Doc sees Matty and ya can tell 'em what time."

"That's good, boy." She smiled at him. "Lord bless me, I can't believe my boy is home." For the briefest moment Radiant Cobb looked as though she might have cried; but Radiant Cobb did not cry in the company of others and so she bit it back as the others ushered themselves into the kitchen.

"Doc, can I fix you something 'fore you go up?" Clara asked pleasantly.

"I made jam with Momma this morning and we got fresh biscuits." Lara chimed as she elbowed her way in front of her sister.

Jayne frowned. Simon blushed. Kaylee giggled. "I should…um… I should really just go up, but please call me Simon."

"Girls, you close your traps." Ma Cobb snapped. "Simon, boy, you follow me up the stairs."

Jayne eyed his sisters as their eyes followed Simon up the stairs. "Get it out of you ruttin' heads, right now." He growled.

"Watch your mouth, Jayne. Momma catches that language and she **will** tan you."

"Ma ain't gonna find out unless somebody squeals." Jayne warned.

"Ain't nobody gonna squeal so long as you mind your business." Lara hissed.

"Where your eyes are lookin' is my business." Jayne grumbled.

"Why don't you ask Clara 'bout Bobby Renfield?" Lara snorted.

Jayne whirled. "What 'bout Bobby Renfield?" He leveled his scowl on Clara.

"Aw, hell, Jayne; twenty-four years old now."

"What's that mean?" Jayne frowned.

"Means you ain't got any right."

"The gorram hell I don't!" Jayne snapped.

"Jayne Ronald Cobb!" Jayne's face paled and Kaylee bite her tongue to stop the sudden burst of giggles which threatened to explode from her lips. "What was that word I just heard come out of your mouth?"

"Momma, what's this about Bobby Renfield? Who the he.. Who's Bobby Renfield?" he corrected himself before he cussed again.

"None of your business. He's a good boy from a good family and he don't cuss in my house. You owe me some wood now, boy."

"Aww he-"

"Watch it, boy!" She snapped.

"Sorry Ma." Jayne grumbled.

"Like you mean it." She arched her brow.

"I'm sorry Momma."

"Better, now you owe me wood. Rules don't change just because you ain't been home. You cussed, that pile best be up to the line marked on the side of that house 'fore you even think about comin' in."

"I ain't even seen Matty yet." Jayne complained.

"Shoulda thought 'bout that 'fore you decided to use that kinda language in my house. Git, you'll see 'im once the Doc's through and that wood pile is full up."

Jayne muttered something from the corner of his lips.

"Your momma deaf, boy?" Radiant asked.

"No, Ma."

"You think I didn't hear you?"

"Course ya did, Ma."

"After the wood's full up, you can shovel out the barn. You best get to work 'fore you rack up anymore chores."

"Yes, Ma." Jayne groaned. "Come on, Kaylee." He shrugged dejectedly as he turned to walk out of the house.

"Oh no you don't, Jayne Cobb. That pretty little bit is staying right in this kitchen with me. You go on and git. Leave us womenfolk be."

"Ma…" Jayne whined.

"Git!" She snapped and Jayne gave Kaylee one last look before stomping out the front door.

"I'm gonna forget that he just slammed my front door," Ma Cobb frowned to herself.

Kaylee couldn't stop herself and laughed. Her face was bright red and she was gasping for air before she realized the rest of the kitchen was silent. The twins and Ma Cobb stared at her curiously.

"I'm sorry, Ma," She giggled as she tried to catch her breath. "Ain't used to seein' Jayne, so… soo…"

"Whipped." Clara giggled.

"He's always been a Momma's boy." Lara teased.

"Ya'll stop it." Ma Cobb scolded good-naturedly. "Ain't nothin' wrong with a man that loves his Momma. Kaylee-girl, you come right over here next to me; bring those potatoes and you start peelin'."

"Yes, Ma." Kaylee bobbed her head and smiled.

"That's a good girl. Clara, Lara, ya'll go and fetch me another three of them birds; we're havin' company tonight and ain't a body will ever say their table can out do Ma Cobb's."

"But Mommaaaaaa….." They whined in unison.

"Ya'll can ogle the Doc over dinner." Her lips twitched upwards in a smile. "Don't think I didn't hear that part of your conversation. You leave the man be for now; he's with Matty and iffin' I gotta ask for my birds again, ya'll will be out there with your brother shovelin' out the barn."

"Yes, Ma." The twin's answered.

"Lord bless me and give me strength." Ma Cobb whispered to herself as her door slammed shut and her eyes drifted up the stairs when the sounds of a hacking cough drifted down.

"Don't you worry 'bout Matty now." Kaylee said brightly. "Simon's the best in the "Verse. He reattached a girl's leg once. Her whole leg." She refrained from mentioning about the bullet she'd taken to the stomach and the various other stab and bullet wounds the crew had encountered for obvious reasons.

"Kaylee-girl, I wanna ask you a question and I don't want any lies, you hear me? I'll know iffin' you're lyin'."

Kaylee nodded slowly, suddenly extremely nervous. She had a feeling Ma Cobb was just like her own. The kind of Momma that could scent a lie from a mile away; the kind of Momma that heard her girls talking about a boy even when her son didn't.

"That bag was full of drugs and doctors just don't fall outta the sky. I wanna know how it came to pass."

"Simon's the ship doctor. Jayne helped the his sister; her name's River. She's a dear heart and you wouldn't believe how pretty she can draw. Ya'll meet her tonight. A good turn for a good turn, that's all it is." Kaylee said easily, it wasn't exactly a lie and it wasn't exactly the truth either.

"You ain't tellin' the whole truth of it, girl." The elder woman astutely guessed. "But I'm gonna take it." Her eyes drifted back to the stairs. "Lord forgive me, I'll take it." She took a deep breath and, when she next looked at, Kaylee she was a different woman. "Now, you tell me all about you're people, girl. What rock do ya call home? How many kin you got? Jayne said you was a mechanic in his letters, but tell me 'bout the crew. Hearin' a story from a man is like gettin' a story from an onion. They only give ya a layer and ya don't want any more 'cause it ain't worth the trouble."


	48. Interlude 9 Foundations III

"Deal went smooth?" Riddick asked as he stepped back onto the bridge.

"Don't have any new holes." The captain smirked.

"Any word from that weird little shit yet?" He asked as he dropped into the copilot's chair.

"Notta thing." Mal shook his head. "But you can count its comin' soon. Mr. U don't forget, he plots."

"I could kill him." Riddick suggested casually.

Mal furrowed his brow, unsure if that was a serious offer or a joke. "Better to do the job and get ya'll clean facial scans."

"Why?" Riddick asked.

"Why the hell not?" Mal asked back. "Be a hell of a lot easier to get around the 'Verse if you weren't pinging off Alliance alarms."

"I don't mean it like that, Mal. Boot us off the ship; save yourself the trouble."

"Ain't you heard, Riddick?" Mal spun in his chair. "I'm a big damn hero. Don't leave people behind."

"First time we get stuck in an Alliance check point, you're fucked; Your ship impounded, your crew in Slam. Clean scans or not, they'll ID me and they'll sure as fuck ID River."

"Thought you were crew too, Riddick. I've been countin' you as one of mine."

"What makes you so sure I'm on your side, Mal? Never said I was on anybody's but my own."

"You went after River and her brother when the hill folk snatched up the Doc. You went after Saffron after she took down Wash and me. Pulled Zoe out of the way of a bullet more times than once. There was Persephone and that gorram sword fight. Went after Jayne in that riot on Canton. Them Blue Hands... I gotta keep goin' on, Riddick?" Mal smirked. "Don't have to tell me which side you're on. I know, even if you don't."

"You so sure, Mal?"

The captain quirked an eyebrow. "You plannin' on killin' me, Riddick?"

Riddick gave the captain a look which, even with his goggles, could only be interpreted as, _If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead._

"Don't recommend it," Mal swung his legs up on the console and leaned back in his chair. "Zoe would take it as a personal offense and have to kill you back." The captain replied, nonplussed.

"Could take her out too."

"Probably could." Mal shrugged easily. "That point you'd be goin' through Jayne, Wash, even little Kaylee."

"Won't be any trouble." Riddick rumbled with an amused tick of his lips.

"Mayhap not." Mal fiddled with a knob, making a mental note to ask Wash why the readings were so high.

"I expected a bit more of a reaction, Mal." The corners of the convict's lips twitched again.

"Maybe you would have gotten one, if I thought for a second that you actually meant to kill me."

"Ask you again; you so sure?"

"I am." Mal nodded.

"Why?" It was honest curiosity which fueled Riddick's question.

"Trust you, Riddick. I already told you that. It's the price a man pays when he don't want to be alone in the Black on the day he dies." The captain shrugged again. "I don't believe for a second you'd let anyone come after crew. That counts you as one of mine, 'cause you count us as one of yours." Mal explained as he dropped his boots from the console. Riddick wasn't one for conversation usually and he was more than a little curious to find out where this was all coming from.

Riddick wasn't so sure about that. River, yes. Anyone who came after her was already dead. Would he stick his neck out for the crew? Jayne, maybe; he had come along for the ride with the Blue Hands to protect River. It would all depend on circumstance then, by default, he supposed that meant Kaylee as well. The others? Simon to a point, but at the end of the day the man was expendable. He'd pulled Zoe out of the line of a bullet but that was because she was firing at the same side as he was. He'd watched Mal's six because of the same reason. Wash? Inara? Never had a reason to so far, same thing went for Book. There was a time he had stuck his neck out for Book, but that had been another life. Would he in this one? He didn't have an answer. Again, he supposed it would all center around circumstance.

"We never did finish that talk after that night I brought you on as crew. You ain't big on conversation, but since you're in the mood to talk, I'll tell you what I was gonna tell you then." Mal straightened himself slightly in his chair and mustered up his best captain-y voice. "_Serenity_ ain't just a ship. She's more'n than that. She's a home. My crew ain't just a crew, Riddick. It's a family. This is what we got. This ship. This crew. And the Black. That big beautiful sky beyond the sky. We take what she gives us and we make somethin' of it. It ain't much, but it's somethin'. 'Verse goes on forever out there. It's cold and it's dark and it'll eat you alive if you blink too long. Thing about havin' a crew, about havin' people to trust, is while you're blinking, somebody's still got an eye open for you." Mal groaned slightly as he pushed himself out of his chair. "I knew a man like you once Riddick, ain't sayin' I know you but I knew a man once. A man who had nothing left to live for but not dying. War took everything he had, his home, his family, his faith. Ain't a way to live, it'll do ya for a spell, but it ain't livin'. It's just waitin' to die."

"What happened to that man?" Riddick asked without turning his head.

"He found a ship; he found a bucket of parts just as busted up as he was. He rebuilt her, and she rebuilt him. Gave his life meaning. Gave him something to live for. A man ain't a man without a purpose. _Serenity_, she's the reason I breathe. You wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you, Riddick. This girl is everything I am and I'll die for her and those that call her home. You got a reason to live, Riddick, or are you just livin' to keep from dyin'?"

*T*F*C*

When Jayne finally finished his chores, he was dirty, sweaty, and mad as hell. The minute he opened the door, his anger dissipated in direct relation to the smells coming out of the kitchen. His stomach reminded him to watch his gorram mouth.

"Jayne Cobb ,you best kick those boots off before you take another step!" A voice yelled from down the hall, in the kitchen; Jayne froze mid-step and looked down. His boots where caked in dry mud and hay. He grumbled mentally and kicked his boots off before heading down the hall. The sight that greeted him was worth the afternoon of work. His Ma, his sisters, and Kaylee were in various states of stress, all wearing aprons and moving through the kitchen like mini-tornados. Food covered every surface in the kitchen and, just as he was about to reach for a bowl of warm biscuits, a wooden spoon came down on his hand.

"Jayne Cobb!" Four voices yelled at him in perfect unison.

_Aw hell._ He was sure to only mentally curse.

"You go on and wash up. Kaylee waved your ship and they'll be here another few hours. You visit with your brother and make sure the Doc don't need anything. I catch you underfoot in my kitchen and you'll get to watch everybody else eat raspberry pie tonight."

Jayne frowned and wondered why in the gorram hell he missed home; then he smelt it. Raspberry pie. He gave Kaylee another long look which she returned with a giggle and a wink before he made tracks. There wasn't a gorram way in hell he was gonna miss out on that pie.

Ma Cobb waited for her son to be out of ear shot before she sidled her way over to where Kaylee was mashing up potatoes. "Now, where were we?" The twins giggled. "That's right, you was just about to tell me when you two plan on gettin' hitched."

Kaylee blushed furiously. "Ain't been but a couple of months."

"Ain't need but a day." Clara, or the one Kaylee thought was Clara, said. They were now both wearing matching bandanas and Kaylee had given up trying to find a difference between the two.

"Ain't that right, Momma?" Lara added.

"Lord knows, Jayne's Pa didn't." She laughed. "Jayne tell ya he proposed after an hour? Told me he wasn't even gonna find a prettier gal, so why wait?"

"You made 'im wait though." One of the twins giggled.

"I did, made 'em wait a whole week. We weren't nuthin' but a coupla of dumb kids. Lord knows I'll miss that man 'til the day he takes the final breathe outta my body." There wasn't a trace of sadness to her voice as she spoke. "Lord gave me a gift, and when our time was done he carried me through, him and Jayne. That boy wasn't but twelve when his Pa died; quit school and went right to work. I fought with him. Lord knows I threatened everything but turnin' him out onto the streets. He wouldn't hear it. Told me Pa wouldn't expect nothin' less. Told me a man had to take care of his family and he's been doin' it ever since. Can't tell you what it means to me, Kaylee," the older woman stopped to push a strand of hair out of her face. "Ya'll got to promise to not wait another nine years 'fore we see your faces 'gain."

"Every time we pass through, Ma. You got my word." Kaylee said. There wasn't anything else for her to say. "Cap'n can't run the ship without me, and I'll fake a broken down bit part iffin' I have to."

"Bless ya, girl." And once more Kaylee found herself crushed into a hug.

*T*F*C*

When Riddick left the bridge, he knew but did not what to admit that he was looking for River. Despite his anger, he was unable to repress the slight quirk of his lips as he entered the mess. River had set up shop on top of the mess table, scattered around her were various bit parts from Kaylee's scrap closet and a heavy metal tool box he wasn't entirely sure how River managed to carry herself.

"Captain Daddy's primary complaint was lack of visibility. She is clearly visible." River dismissed him distractedly.

"And the scrap?"

"Productivity, secondary complaint." She frowned at a bit of circuit board.

"So?" Riddick quirked an eyebrow as he picked up what was once some kind of switch panel.

"She is building a signal amplifier."

"For?"

River glared at him without looking up and irritably pushed a loose strand of hair from her face.

"Mother was injured; her voice was too weak to call out. The amplifier will assure she is heard."

"Something I should be worried about?" He flipped a chair around and dropped into it; leaning his arms against its back as he watched her fingers move deftly and efficiently as she picked through bits of wires and busted coils which, to his eye, had no hope of ever becoming anything.

"She told you, precognitive ability has suffered due to the introduction of the neuro-suppressors, she cannot _See_ and therefore she must stack the odds in their favor."

"I'm not as smart as you, River." He rumbled quietly.

River stopped working. She didn't have to be a Reader to know he was not talking about the amplifier.

"I don't understand why you need me. You seem sane to me right now."

"Cut away the diseased parts and the mind can breathe. Her mind is working, calculating, contemplating, it always is. Numbers never stop. She can sort through them now. The Rock was a faulty dam because he was not meant to hold back The River. Symbiotic. Not parasitic. That was the mistake, that was the assumption. She needs to function with you, not against you or fueled by you. He doesn't feel enough. She feels too much, balance. Stability. A counterpoint."

"Places in my head even I don't want to be."

"You think you have a darkness she does not understand. Four hundred, sixty-seven."

Riddick quirked an eyebrow.

"The number of objects within this room she could use to terminate him." She answered almost absently as she picked up a small soldering iron and went back to her circuit board. "Fourteen ways alone with the objects in her hand."

"_Ta ma de piao liang_ (fucking beautiful)." Riddick chuckled darkly.

"Hypocrisy. That which makes her lethal he finds divine in her and yet that which he finds divine in her he sees as darkness in himself. She told you once Furyan; she sees you."

"Forty-seven." Riddick remarked and it was River's turn to quirk an eyebrow although she did not look up from her work.

"Number of times I've thought about killing you in your sleep since I started bunking with you at night." He told her bluntly.

"Two thousand, three hundred, forty-one." River answered without hesitation. "The number of times he has thought about kissing her again since the first time."

Riddick's posture immediately stiffened.

"She slipped inside." River looked up to smirk smugly at him. "Told you."

"Don't look so fucking pleased with yourself." Riddick snorted.

"But she is." River set down her tools again and leaned forward, closing the distance between herself and Riddick to within a handful of inches. "He wants her. She torments him. Outwardly, she is a woman, feels like a woman, smells like a woman. He won't touch. Won't touch because he doesn't think she understands. He'll be a good boy and keep his hands to himself. Break any hands that try to touch. When she does understand, he wants to be the one to touch. He wants to be only one to touch."

"River." He warned her, not realizing his hands hand began to grip the sides of his chair in an effort not touch. He wasn't sure if he wanted to strangle her or kiss her, and so he kept his hands still.

River laughed at him. An eruption of giggles flooded from between her lips and she closed the distance between them. Her lips brushed against his, just a taste, a brief touch before she quickly moved away. "Tag, you're it."

Riddick blinked several times behind his goggles, feeling the heat sear from his lips throughout the rest of his body. It was a tease. It was a game. _Tag, you're it. _ It was just a fucking game to her. He was out of his chair and the chair was flying across the room. "This isn't a fucking game, River!" He barked.

River's face broke from confident amusement, to confusion. She didn't understand. He had wanted a kiss. She had read it clearly from his mind. Why had he reacted angrily? Why could she feel rage pouring off of him in waves?

"She doesn't understand." Her voice trembled slightly.

"That's the point, River." He bit off from a clenched jaw. "You don't fucking get it. I ain't playin' with you, girl." He grabbed her roughly by her arms. "She, her, the girl." His face was once more inches from hers, his grip tightened ever so slightly. "Don't fuck with me, River. I got a line, too. I let you push for some reason. I let you get away with more shit than anybody else. But I am warning you, don't push me too far."

"She doesn't understand."

"That's my point." He growled.

"Am I interrupting something?" A harsh, clear voice snapped into Riddick's mind and his head jerked with a quiet, feral growl. The Companion was standing in the rear stairwell entryway with anger clearly written across her face. Riddick released River.

_/We ain't sharin' a bunk anymore./_ He snarled into her mind and turned on his heel to leave the mess.

River watched him go. Confusion and hurt broke across her face and somehow she found herself crying in the Companion's arms. She didn't realize she was being walked out of the Mess. She was unaware beyond the vague scent of incense that she was now in the woman's shuttle.

"_Mei-mei_," the Companion cooed as she rocked her.

"She doesn't want your pity." River snapped suddenly as she made a feeble attempt to break away. "She is broken. Nobody will want her."

"Is that what you think this is, River?" Inara asked as she gently held the girl's chin. "This has nothing to do with pity, sweetheart." She said gently. "This is sympathy. This is one heart reaching out to another. River, I know we haven't shared much, but I would like to if you'll let me."

River studied the woman through red-rimmed eyes; searching for a hint of insincerity and she found none. The woman spoke _Dao._ Compassion, it radiated in waves and wrapped around River like a cocoon. Slowly, the young woman nodded. Compassion, she let it wind through her. She let it bind to the jagged edges and soften the corners.

Inara smiled genuinely. "_Gan nide yan jing, wo men de dao yi you xian yan lei bu yao lang fei _(Dry your eyes, we are given a finite amount of tears, don't waste)." She spoke softly as she brushed the tears from River's face.

River took a moment to contemplate the older woman's words and for the first time ,saw strength she had never before felt from her. She had underestimated this one. She was more valuable to Mother than her first appearance gave. "She doesn't understand what he wants from her."

Inara released a sigh and pressed her lips firmly together. "I won't pretend that I approve, you'd know I was lying anyway." She chuckled softly. "I will, however, state for the record, I do disapprove."

River smiled faintly despite Inara's disapproval. It wasn't a hurtful disappointment, it was one born from concern; just as her disapproval of Sunshine and the man named Jayne.

"Honesty." Inara released a deep exhale. "Okay, I think we need tea. Would you like tea, River?"

"She would very much like some tea, please and thank you."

"Good."

*T*F*C*

Jayne stared at the door to his brother's room. Nothing in his life had ever scared him as badly as that closed door did. Behind it, he could hear his brother cough and it sounded right painful. He could hear the fluid sound to it. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Matty's bedroom was the largest in the house, on account of the fact he spent the vast majority of his life there. The room was well lit by the two large windows which faced west and a large four poster bed took up the majority of the space. Jayne had to blink as he took in the ancient medical equipment and the trays of meds and glass jars which covered every surface. Simon was bent over the bed, Jayne swallowed hard as he watched the doctor remove a chest tube.

"Lookin' a bit pale an' sissified there, little brother." Jayne forced a grin.

The young man was, in fact, incredibly pale but his face lit up as his head turned to see his brother. "Rather be pale and sissified than ugly like you. 'Bout time you hauled yourself back home, been listenin' to you chop wood for the last hour, wonderin' when Ma was goin' let you up."

"Yeah, well, something slipped." Jayne grumbled as he pulled up a chair beside his brother's bed. "What's it look like, Doc?"

"I ain't seen you in nine years and that's the first thing ya say?" Matty snorted indignantly and then winced slightly.

"The hell it was," Jayne snorted right back, "-told ya you were pale and sissified first."

"Momma hear you talk like that?"

"Why the hell do ya think I was choppin' wood?"

Simon actually grinned a bit himself. "It's not as bad as you thought Jayne." Both Matty and Jayne looked up immediately. "Maybe you should get Mrs. Cobb, this way I can go through it all at once."

Matty cocked an eyebrow at the doctor. "She hears you call her Mrs. Cobb, she'll box ya. She's Ma to you, same as everybody else."

"Right then." Simon cleared his throat. "Maybe you should call Ma."

Jayne turned his head around, "_**Ma!**_" He roared at the top of his lungs.

Simon blinked.

A stampede of footsteps thundered up the stairs, four apron-clad and flour covered woman burst through the door.

"What? What's wrong? What's going on?" Ma Cobb rushed into the room, panicked.

"Doc's got somethin' to say." Jayne shrugged.

"Jayne Ronald Cobb." Ma Cobb glared and in a flash of motion too quick for anyone to track she walloped Jayne on the back of his head. The six foot plus merc nearly fell forward out of his chair. "Lord have mercy on my soul! Jayne ,you scared the livin' daylights outta me!"

"Ma!" Jayne snapped and whined at the same time as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't you Ma me, boy." Her expression softened as she turned to Simon, who was doing his very best to not laugh. "Now, Doc, what was it you had to say?" She scooted past Jayne and sat on the edge of the bed next to her younger son. "We can take it. You just be honest now. Ain't got no use for anything that ain't the truth."

Simon was glad he had no need to stifle his grin. "He'll be fine."

Radiant's face paled and the room fell silent. "Don't lie, boy."

"I'm not. Your son wasn't getting better because the equipment you bought was faulty. This model number was recalled just as I got into med school."

Jayne's face hardened and he gripped the sides of his chair as he felt Kaylee place a hand on his shoulder.

"The biggest issue with Damp Lung is the fluid which collects; if it isn't drained it causes an infection. Antibiotics will treat the infection, but if the fluid is never properly drained they're useless. A long standing infection causes masses to form and damages the overall function of the lungs as the infection hides itself in the masses. With the meds Jayne was able to obtain, clearing up the masses won't even require surgery. A steroid-antibiotic cocktail will do the trick neat enough. After I drain the rest of the fluid, which I'm sorry to say, Matty, is going to be a bit painful because I'll have to inject a needle into your lungs, you'll never need the chest tube again."

"Never?" Matty asked with a tentative hopefulness.

Simon's grin broadened. "Never. Just a few steroid injections and a steady stream of antibiotics for a few weeks. If it's okay with the captain, I can come back in a few weeks and do a follow-up and I can work out a daily steroid treatment from there."

"Never?" Ma Cobb breathed. "The tube, never?"

"Never." Simon assured her. "Now, that doesn't mean you can go on to be a marathon runner." His face turned to serious doctor once more. "No factory work, no heavy physical labor, but you'll be able to get out of bed, you'll be able to walk, run _**short**_distances. You're lung capacity will never be what it should, and you'll always be more susceptible to infection but there's a lot to say for preventative care. You, Mr. Cobb, will however go on to live a full and healthy life with a little bit of vigilance."

"Sweet Jesus; Lord in heaven." Ma Cobb broke; for the first time since her husband had died she openly wept.

Kaylee caught Simon's eye and gave a slight tic of her head. He caught the hint and the two of them quietly slipped out of the room. "Ma just put on some coffee." Kaylee said quietly as they walked down the stairs.

"That would be wonderful." Simon said, the grin returning to his face.

"You did real good, Simon." Kaylee smiled back at him.

"It feels good." The doctor admitted as they turned into the kitchen. "Would that be selfish to say?"

"I think if it is, you got every right to be." Kaylee answered genuinely as she poured him a cup.

The doctor took a moment to take in the scene around him as Kaylee went back to the stove. Food covered nearly every available surface and the walls were littered with captures and crude children's drawings. The table he sat at was worn and the corners of his lips twitched as he read Jayne's name scratched into the surface of it. "This suits you."

"Hmm?" Kaylee's head popped up from a bowl she was mixing.

"Nothing." Simon shook his head with perhaps a trace of wistfulness.

"Nah, whatcha ya say?" Kaylee asked curiously.

The doctor was saved from reply by the sound of heavy footsteps coming done the stairs. Jayne's eyes were rimmed with red, but his cheeks were dry when he stepped into the kitchen. His face unreadable. "Stand up, Doc." He grunted out.

Simon nervously complied. He wasn't sure what to expect; least of all did he expect what he got. The merc held out his hand. Tentatively, Simon took it and resisted the reflex to cringe as Jayne nearly crushed his hand in his own.

"Thanks."

"You— you're welcome." Simon stammered.

"Still don't mean I won't pry your eyeballs out with a pair of dull chopsticks if I catch them wandering and you stay clear of Lara; she's got eyes that wander on her own."

"Right…" Simon said nervously as Jayne released his hand. "Which one was Lara?"

Jayne crossed the kitchen and dropped a kiss on the top of Kaylee's head; using it as a clever distraction to snatch a biscuit. "Lara's left hook is meaner than Clara's."

*T*F*C*

Riddick threw himself down on his bunk, the weight bag in the corner of his dorm had been reduced to shreds and he'd barely broken a sweat. He could still taste River on his lips; as brief as the contact had been, the taste of her remained behind. He was going to break. He was going to wind up killing the gorram girl.

_Tag, you're it._

Three words had ruined it all. Three words had snapped something inside his brain. Who was he kidding? What the fuck was he still doing here? Why the fuck was he playing good guy? Why did it matter that it was all a game to her? Wasn't everything a game to him? When did it stop being a game? Why did it matter if she was afraid of him? Why the _**fuck**_ was he asking himself all of these questions?

_ Get it the fuck together, Dickey-boy. Look at yourself. She's just a fucking skirt. _

She wasn't just a skirt. That was a lie. If Inara hadn't of walked in he would have, well he wasn't entirely sure what would have happened. He had wanted to hurt her; he had wanted to fuck her; and he hadn't been at all sure which urge had been stronger. She was ten years younger than him and still half-crazy. What the fuck was he doing?

"You're a piece of shit, Riddick." He said out loud to his empty dorm. "Real grade A piece of fucking shit." That was _Dao._

*T*F*C*

"I honestly must confess I am surprised by his nobility." Inara said after River had finished relating the extent of her experience with Riddick. She had told the Companion about the kiss, his pledge to not do it again, how he slept next to her and never did anything more than look even though she knew he wanted to, and she ended with her kiss and Riddick's mildly violent reaction to it.

River snorted into her tea cup.

"Sweetheart, please don't snort." Inara scolded with a slight shake of her head. "What you don't realize is how difficult of a time Riddick is having."

"He gives what he pleases; she does not understand why she must be sympathetic to him." River snapped a bit bitterly.

"Consider the fact that he doesn't want to be like them." Inara did not need to elaborate any further on whom 'Them' referred to. "He is trying to give you time to remember yourself, so you can chose him with all of yourself." She set down her cup gently. "I am actually quite surprised. When I first walked into the Mess, I thought something entirely different was going on."

"She is not a child. She is aware of what she wants."

"She is also not healthy yet." River did truly appreciate Inara's use of the word healthy as opposed to sane.

"Conceded." She sulked miserably. "She may never be. That is the reality. That is _Dao."_

"I do like your braids, sweetheart. Did you do them yourself?" Inara skillfully changed the topic. She was fully aware that River was most likely listening to the workings of her mind and it truthfully did not bother her. There was no need for pretense with River and the woman found she was enjoying it greatly. River may have made others nervous, but Inara was finding herself relaxed around the girl in a way she could never be with anyone else. River had no use for anything but truth.

"She did." River acknowledged, lifting her hand to finger one of the braids.

"It is a definite improvement. You do have lovely hair."

"Appearance is the first indicator of sanity."

"You have a point, _mei-mei._ We are judged first by our outward appearance and second by the inner turnings of our mind."

"It is an illogical and faulty precedent."

"I couldn't agree more." Inara laughed lightly. "But it is set nonetheless. Don't dismiss it so quickly, however," Inara arched a brow mischievously and River's curiosity was peeked. "Your brother has bought all your clothes, hasn't he?"

River shrugged. "Just casing."

"But it can be so much more." Inara rose from her chair to open a trunk in the far corner of her shuttle. "What we wear on the outside can be a direct indicator of what we are on the inside. The silks of a Companion, the grease stained overalls of a mechanic, even Wash's horrid shirts," she giggled girlishly. "Don't just sit there," the woman scolded and quirked a finger for River to join her. "Now, no dresses, you are not me. None of them would fit correctly, and you seem to have an abundance of dresses already."

"Simon dresses her as she was." River admitted.

"Well then, we must figure out who it is you will be. I do have some beautiful beaded tops and silk scarves and…" Inara's smile grew as she hurried over to another trunk and began digging through it quickly. "These." She removed a pair of flats, they were plain, black silk, but they were not just any flats, River knew exactly what they were. "I haven't needed them at all. I don't know why I ever kept them, sentiment I suppose." Inara chattered as River fingered the black silk, curling a ribbon around her finger.

"Her training shoes." River said with a hilt of reverence in her voice.

"Yes, well dance is a requirement for a Companion, I will never be good at anything besides ballroom, I was much better at art and calligraphy. Hopelessly talentless in music and dance, however." She laughed to herself.

"I thank you." River said hesitantly, almost overwhelmed by the woman's generosity.

The personal pronoun was not lost on Inara and it touched her more deeply than anything had in too long of awhile. "You're welcome, River. I'll tell you what, so long as I am not entertaining aboard my shuttle, you are welcome here anytime. I know I can trust you." Inara didn't stop talking to notice the look which came over River's face. "Now, these trunks have the clothing, there's a few trinket boxes on the vanity and all of my head dresses are in the red case by the bed. River, as you said the world judges us by the outside, women especially. Our feathers and trinkets can define us and give us an identity."

"An identity?" River questioned thoughtfully as she allowed the Companion to lead her to her vanity and seat her on the stool.

"On the surface." Inara told her as she turned the girl's face to look in the mirror. "It's a beginning. What do you see, River?"

"A broken girl." She answered sadly as she stared at her reflection.

"Than that is all the world and especially Riddick will ever see. Now I will tell you what I see. I see a woman, I see a beautiful, strong young woman. I see a survivor in those eyes, River. That is what women are. We are survivors. We are made stronger than men in here." She tapped River's temple. "And here." She tapped the place over River's heart. "Nothing can break us, River, not unless we let it."

*T*F*C*

"Captain's hungry, people. Let's move it." Mal barked somewhat childishly as the crew meandered its way up to the second shuttle. "Shuttle's this way, Riddick." Mal joked as the con started down the walkway stairs.

"I ain't comin', Mal. Got a few things to take care of." Riddick rumbled.

"Last time you had a few things to take care of, a couple of government boys died." Mal said suspiciously.

"It's not like that this time, Mal." Riddick merely grunted over his shoulder.

"See that it ain't, Riddick." The captain warned.

"Think Jayne would care if I took his cycle?" Wash asked wistfully as he peered over the railing to where Riddick was undoing the rigging on his.

"Baby, I think he'd try to rip off your arms and beat you to death with them." Zoe teased with a slight quirk of her lips. "I caught him talkin' to it this mornin'."

"He wouldn't hit a Shepherd would he?" Book mused.

"I wouldn't try to test that theory. I've seen him hit a midget with glasses. Technically, you'd be hittin' yourself since it was your own arm and I think he'd be okay with that." Mal clapped the preacher on his back. "Where the hell are Inara and River? Does 'Captain is hungry' mean anything to you people?" Mal groused.

"They are right here," Inara rolled her eyes as she and River crossed the walkway. "Really now, Mal; a little patience."

Riddick ignored the sudden flair of River's scent; oddly enough it was twinged with something sweeter than usual.

_Perfume?_

"Well, look at the Bit." Mal teased and River blushed furiously. She had allowed Inara an absurd amount of liberty and her hair had now been rebraided with bits of silk scarves intertwined which trailed down her back. She had obstinately refused make-up and Inara found herself reevaluating her opinion on it as well once River informed her what was really in it. River had, however, claimed a brightly colored silk top which tied around her waist and had long bell sleeves which trailed beyond her fingertips.

Mal found River's appearance to be actually quite suiting. The top, along with the black shorts, ballet slippers, and ribbons in her hair gave her the appearance of some kind of circus acrobat. "We dressin' up for Jayne's little brother?"

Riddick's head snapped up immediately. Thus far, he'd been making it a point to not look in her direction. Mention of Jayne's brother and River in the same sentence, however, had driven that resolution from his mind with alacrity.

"A girl should keep her options open." Inara replied coyly, though her voice was noticeably louder than her usual tone and her head seemed to be tilted slightly towards Riddick's direction. "It's not often River gets to be around other people her age. We all deserve a little fun."

The immediate flare of jealousy which hit River from the bay below her nearly knocked her off her feet and she was more than positive she was not supposed to have felt it. She had a moment to marvel over the genius of the older woman. She had definitely underestimated her.

Riddick didn't realize he was growling. He did realize the length of River's leg which was exposed and covered only by a ribbon which crisscrossed it; dark fabric in a drastic contrast to her pale skin. He shook himself and went back to undoing the riggings on his bike.

_Just a nice pair of legs is all._ He told himself.

"Well, I don't suppose Jayne would try to pry out your eyeballs with dull chopsticks for lookin' at his brother." Mal chuckled.

_I might pry out his._ Riddick caught himself thinking and forced himself to focus on the rigging of his bike, which suddenly didn't seem to make sense anymore.

"Alright then, now that the ladies are finally ready, captain can get some grub. Kaylee was talking 'bout fried chicken. Let's go." He jerked his head toward the shuttle door. "Riddick, lock her up behind you." He called down over the rail into the bay as the two women entered the shuttle.

Riddick didn't even grunt a reply. He was too busy trying to remember how to undo the rigging on his bike. Mal, however did not require one and closed the shuttle door behind him, leaving Riddick alone in the bay.

"_**Fuck.**_" Riddick snarled to himself as he disgustedly threw down the cords in his hands. "_**Fuck.**_" He kicked his booted foot into a beam. He rubbed his hands across his face. "Goddamnit."

_Fucking women._

*T*F*C*

Ma Cobb had not been lying to say the least when she swore her table would never be out done. The front yard had been decked out in colored paper lanterns circled around a large wooden table laden with enough food to feed a small army; all of it fresh and homemade in cracked bowls and makeshift platters. It had been a long time sense the Cobb woman had reason to celebrate and they were not going to waste the opportunity.

The last bowl had just been placed as _Serenity_'s shuttle touched down in the field across the yard. Jayne looked up from the old guitar Matty had coerced him into playing and a grin broke out across his face. "About rutting time." He grumbled low and only within his brother's earshot.

Matty answered with a raspy chuckle. "Smell was 'bout to drive me mad. Could eat a horse, I'm so hungry."

"_**Ma!**_" Jayne roared towards the house.

"Boy, I swear you scream my name like that one more time, I am gonna whip you so hard you won't be able to sit for a week!" A voice yelled from the porch and Jayne shrank back as the sound of Mal and Wash's sudden laughter hit his ears. He jerked his head around to see the crew passing through the fence and he groaned as his sisters fell out the front door.

"Ain't no stoppin' 'em." Matty chuckled.

Jayne pushed himself away from the table with another grumble and crossed over to his crew. "Hope ya'll ready to eat, Ma and the girls been cookin' most the day."

"Smells mighty fine." Mal grinned.

"Tastes even better." Ma Cobb stepped down from the porch. "Name's Ma," She smiled, "Girls here are Clara and Lara. Other boy is Matty in the chair. Now let me see if I get this right. Jayne's written about ya'll at some point." She eyed each member of the crew. "Mal." She poked the captain in the chest, "Which makes you Zoe, don't look too shocked, honey. You're the only two wearing brown coats. That makes you Wash, don't know what Jayne's talkin' bout though ya'll seem like ya make a fine match."

"Ma." Jayne grunted.

"Shush, boy." Ma dismissed him and a few of the crew members didn't even bother to hide their chuckles, despite Jayne's glare.

"Shepherd, I can tell you by your collar, hope you'll do us the honor of saying the blessing."

"It would be my pleasure, Ma," Book tipped his head slightly.

"Inara, you are a pretty little thing, bit thin." Ma frowned and Inara wasn't quite sure how to respond to that, she smiled graciously and hoped it was enough. "That would make you," Ma turned on River, "The doc's little sister, such a pretty name and, Lord in heaven, you remind me of a river; look at that hair and those braids. Clara and Lara, you see this?" River was a bit taken aback when Ma spun her roughly to examine Inara's braid work.

"Did ya do it yourself?" The one River knew to be Clara only because she read it from the girl's mind asked.

"Kaylee said Inara did hers." Lara interjected as she looked the Companion up and down. She had her eye on the single doctor and another single woman aboard the ship was not a good thing.

"Would ya teach us?" Clara asked.

"Girls, shut it." Ma scolded, "We got food on the table and iffin' it gets cold 'cause we stand here jabbing it would be a sin." She frowned momentarily. "We're missin' one."

"Riddick ridin' his bike?" Jayne asked with a bit of wistfulness.

"Ya-huh." Mal confirmed. He could smell the chicken from where he stood. "He won't be comin' along. Said something about havin' business."

"Business?" Jayne asked suspiciously.

"Not like the last time." Mal dismissed.

The look that passed between the two was not lost on Ma. She merely chose to hold her tongue over it. Jayne had brought home a girl and a doctor and enough meds to last them the better part of two years. She wasn't going to let anything spoil her night.

"Ma! Where do ya want the gravy?" Kaylee appeared in the porch doorway holding what could be considered a sinfully large pitcher of gravy; even the Preacher was willing to overlook that. "Oh, hey!" She released one hand to wave and the crew collectively lurched and gasped as they thought for one horrified moment she might actually drop it.

Ma eyed them with amusement. "When was the last time ya'll ate somethin' that wasn't freeze dried?" She asked as she led the way up to the table.

"Momma, you'd cry iffin' you knew." Jayne slung his arm around his mother.

Wash and Mal exchanged a very pointed look as they both mouthed, "_Momma?"_ in unison.

River was a bit awestruck. She understood. She knew the man named Jayne. She could feel him poured into every inch of his family's home; the one he had built from nothing. The one he had scraped together with broken parts; parts earned by bullets and blood and sacrifice. Jayne's darkness had a purpose. He walked the darkness so his family could walk in the light. He deserved Sunshine.

"Ow!" Mal suddenly barked as Ma came down on his hand with a serving spoon as he tried to reach for a biscuit.

"Ma saw that. We ain't said the blessing yet." She quirked from the corner of her lips and River broke. A cascade of giggles rushed out from lips at the look on Captain's face when Ma swatted his hand. "What a pretty little laugh you have, girl."

"Like Petunia's." River beamed brightly and then immediately paled as she realized what she had let slip.

Ma blinked. "That's right, honey, just like my sister's. How'dja you know?"

"River's a mind reader, Ma." Jayne rolled his eyes. "Plucked it outta your head. It's right annoyin' at first but ya get used to it."

The crew froze. River froze. The last time God fearing folk had learned she was a mind reader; they'd tried to burn her at the stake. Simon, who was just coming back from the barn carrying two jugs of whiskey, nearly dropped one as he caught the last piece of the conversation.

"You're lyin'." Clara swatted her brother.

"Ain't." Jayne grunted and looked offended. "Tell 'em, River." If looks could kill, Jayne's head would have exploded under the onslaught.

"He's exaggerating." Simon rushed as he hurried over. "She's just perceptive."

"Huh?" Jayne looked confused as he helped himself to the whiskey Simon had brought out.

"Don't lie to Ma. She can smell lies." River said suddenly.

Ma raised an eyebrow. "What was my husband's middle name?"

"Jayne." River answered quickly.

"Year 'fore Jayne left, he came home with a black eye and two busted ribs."

Jayne spit his whiskey across the table.

River spit out a laugh. "He got caught with another boy's girl."

Ma pressed her lips together in a firm line; slowly her head turned to look at her rapidly shrinking son. "Did he now?"

Zoe couldn't help herself. A barking laugh escaped her and it didn't take long for the rest of the assembled to join in; all that was except for Jayne.

"Rat." Jayne muttered under his breath.

"Your momma deaf boy?"

"Sorry, River." Jayne grumbled into his glass.

"Husband, I do believe this is better than the statue." Zoe whispered to Wash who was beside her with one arm slung causally around her waist.

"Who woulda guessed Jayne Cobb was a momma's boy?" The pilot chuckled back.

"We gonna eat?" Jayne snapped. "Hungry as hel… all get out."

Mal turned red under the strain of trying to keep his composure.

"Boy, food ain't goin' nowhere. It ain't got legs, you best bite your tongue and wait for the blessin' to be said."

Jayne sulked at his plate.

"Ma, I do believe you are my hero." Wash grinned as he eagerly took a seat.

"That's a funny thing to say." Ma smiled, "But bless you're heart. River girl, you come right over here," she motioned with her hand as she took her seat. "You come sit between me and Matty. You can tell me all about Clara and Bobby Renfield."

"Momma!" Clara gasped and looked horrified.

Ma laughed. "Just teasin'. Lord, you shoulda seen the look on your face."

"I'd be interested to know." Jayne grunted.

"A little warnin' woulda be nice, Jayne." Clara hissed at him.

"Wouldn't have done no good, can't keep the girl out." He shrugged. "Can we eat yet?"

"Jayne, stop." Kaylee pinched him.

"What? What I do?"

River rolled her eyes. "All is well, they do not wish to burn her."

"Burn her?" Lara and Clara echoed together. "Ew."

"River's little talent don't always go over well with folk," Mal explained as he eyed the pitcher of gravy. "Bunch of folk tried to burn her as a witch, in the name of God and such."

"Ain't real Christian like of them." Ma frowned. "River, honey, remind me to send you off with a blanket."

"Thank you."

"Ain't a thing." Ma dismissed. "Folk shouldn't go and try to burn other folk, ain't right."

"Ma," Jayne whined.

"Oh, alright, Shepherd if you will, we'll get our grace said."

Mal shifted slightly uncomfortably in his chair; the gravy pitcher, however, kept his protests on God and grace silent.


	49. Interlude 9 Foundations IV

Riddick killed the engine to his bike outside of the first bar he came across. It was loud, rowdy and, as he stepped off his bike, a man came flying through the front window; which quickly re-rezed itself. He cracked his neck once and rolled his shoulders back.

*T*F*C*

"Ma, adopt me." Wash groaned in pure bliss as he bit into his fourth piece of fried chicken.

"You ain't even tried her pie yet." Jayne grinned through a mouthful of cornbread stuffing.

"There's more?" Mal's eye's bulged slightly as he poured another round of gravy over the contents of his plate.

"Oh, there's plenty more Mal," Ma laughed slightly as she tossed down her napkin. "You promise to bring my boy 'round, I'll even send ya back off to your ship with leftovers."

"Ma, you got yourself a deal." Mal grinned.

"Bless your stomach, boy." Ma teased.

"Hell, iffin' Jayne had told us this was the kinda treatment we woulda gotten, we woulda been here sooner." The captain forked another mouthful of potatoes in his mouth, not realizing the table had gone quiet. "What?" He asked as he looked back up.

Jayne was snickering, River rolling her eyes; Ma's gaze had gone from light and cheerful to hard and withering.

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds, I know you didn't just cuss at my table."

"Uh…"

"Don't you 'uh' me, boy."

"Sorry, Ma?" Mal said sheepishly.

Ma eyed him. "You know what you owe me?"

"I know." Jayne grinned.

"Shut it, boy." Ma snapped.

"Yes, Ma." Jayne went back to his plate.

"Uh…" Mal swallowed hard.

"You owe me a chore now boy, rules are rules."

"But…"

"You want pie?" She arched her brow.

"Yes." The captain gulped.

"Then you'll be doin' some washin' up." Ma nodded and went back to her plate.

"But…"

"But what, boy?"

"Nothing, Ma." The table broke out in various snorts and coughs meant to cover up bursts of laughter. Ma was not fooled.

" Ya'll don't quit your laughin' you'll be washin' up right alongside him. Come to think of it, aside from the washin' I got chicken coop that needs to be cleaned, too." Ma said sternly. "Won't be no pie for anybody but me and River here."

River grinned smugly as Ma patted her on the hand. The crew sobered themselves immediately. River passed Ma the bowl of corn before she had a chance to ask for it.

"Lord, girl that is useful. Thank ya, honey."

"Suck-up." Jayne muttered.

"How many times I gotta ask you, Jayne? Your momma deaf?"

"Sorry, River." Jayne grumbled into his plate.

River glared at the merc. "She has stories."

"Best keep 'em to yourself." Jayne glared right back.

"Oh, stop it you two." Kaylee swatted at Jayne's arm.

"Doc, you want some more stuffing?" Lara asked and didn't wait for an answer as she heaped another spoonful onto the doctor's plate.

"Uh, thank you." The doctor stammered.

"I want some." Jayne grunted.

Lara ignored him. "I made it myself, that and the greens."

"Hey." Jayne protested.

"They're delicious." Simon smiled back at her.

"Why thank you; that's sweet." Lara giggled as she placed her hand on his arm.

"Hey." Jayne growled.

Lara pointedly turned her head away from her brother. "So, what's it like bein' a doctor, savin' lives? I thought about bein' a nurse once."

"Matty told me you were the one who took care of him. The chest tube insertion was done well; I never would have guessed it wasn't done by a professional." Simon only partially lied.

"Well, we all took turns," Lara blushed. "There's just some stuff Ma and Clara didn't have the stomach to do." She added quietly.

"Hey." Jayne barked again; ignoring Kaylee's kick underneath the table.

"Ten piece that says Jayne punches the Doc." Wash leaned over and whispered to Mal.

"Twenty that says Lara punches Jayne." Mal countered.

"Fifty that says Ma wallops them all." Zoe chuckled low.

"Lara." Jayne warned and he was duly ignored as the two continued their conversation. "Doc." He tried next and was again duly ignored. "Ma." Jayne called and sat back smugly in his chair.

"Jayne, you're gonna wear my name out. Leave your sister and the Doc be." She said loudly enough to make all three concerned parties blush.

Jayne's blush, however, dissipated quickly to be replaced by a glare directed pointedly at the good doctor. "Chopsticks, Doc." He reminded the man.

"What?" Lara's head snapped around. "We ain't got no chopsticks."

"Well, that's a relief." Book chuckled from his spot at the table.

"Spoon'll work just as well." Jayne continued to glare.

"Never does get old Jayne." Simon deadpanned.

"What's goin' on?" Lara asked confused.

"The eldest Cobb has promised visual impalement to anyone who looks at his sisters." River said absently as she peeled the skin off her chicken.

"Jayne Cobb!" Three female voices yelled in unison. Matty nearly fell from his chair with a raspy chuckle as his older brother shrank back on reflex.

"Jayne, you gotta come home more often, ain't ever had this much fun." Matty grinned as he turned to River. "Ma was right; you got a real pretty laugh." He risked the compliment for this first time as his sisters and mother's attention was now thoroughly diverted.

River blushed. "Thank you."

Inara who had overheard the compliment smiled to herself before looking up. "Isn't her top pretty? That shade of green is lovely on her, don't you think?" She asked the young man who sat across from her.

Matty smiled sheepishly. "Sure does."

Ma, who had been busy yelling at her eldest son, did not miss the conversation on the other side of her. "Green's Matty's favorite color," she remarked absently and shared a look with Inara.

River was not oblivious to the older women; nor was she opposed either. If Riddick did not want her kisses, she was free to give them to whoever she chose. She wasn't planning on kissing Matty, but there was a familiarity to him she found soothing. His presence was light and, despite his situation, was absent entirely of bitterness. He was eager and she found it contagious. "It is hers as well." She smiled at the boy who returned it shyly before dipping his head back to his plate. His admiration was a small thing. To River it was everything.

*T*F*C*

Riddick had chosen a booth in the far corner of the bar with his back to a wall. A half-drunk bottle of whiskey sat on the table next to a half empty glass. His gaze was focused on a game of poker in the center of the room. Two of the six men playing were cheating and he was wondering who was going to figure it out first.

"Someone's thinking hard." Riddick's head jerked up to see the woman who had been slowly edging her way towards his booth for the last hour trying to catch his eye. Apparently she had given up and decided for a more direct approach.

"Ain't lookin' for company." Riddick rumbled as he sipped off his glass.

"Ouch." She tilted her head back and laughed but didn't take the hint and slid herself onto the bench across from him. "A little harsh don't ya think?" She arched a brow. "I could be real good company."

Riddick eyed her. There was something off about the way her mouth moved. His lips twitched. "Not many people can keep a razor in their mouths."

For a moment the woman looked shocked, a smile twitched at her lips and the blade appeared between her teeth before it quickly disappeared. "Even less that can spot it." She reached across the table and brazenly took his glass and killed the contents. "Little trick I picked up not so long ago. Takes a real talented tongue."

Riddick's lips twitched again. "That so?"

"It is." She smiled seductively. "Name's Orina. Yours?"

"Doesn't matter."

*T*F*C*

"You get those dishes done, boy?" Ma asked with a slight quirk to her lips as Mal stepped back onto the porch.

"Ain't gonna lie to you, Ma," Mal leaned against one of the porch beams. "Simon came in to help Lara and I got told to git. Wasn't gonna argue."

Ma laughed as she light up a cigarette. "Those girls will be the death of me."

"Right fine home and family you got, Ma."

"You're just sayin' that so I send you back to your ship with a pie."

"Actually I was hopin' to get one of them blankets." Mal smirked as he jerked his head towards the small circle his crew sat in around a fire pit as Jayne strummed on his guitar. River and Kaylee had come into possession of a pair of matching knit afghans and were huddled in them together. "Gets mighty cold in space."

"I know my boy is lyin' to me 'bout what he does." She said evenly as she studied the tip of her cigarette.

Mal balked slightly.

"I ain't a fool. Lord forgive me though. I see the new scars. Why do you think he writes and doesn't wave? You keep my boy safe out there and I'll send you all the pie and blankets ya like." She took a sip off a glass of whiskey she held in her other hand.

"I think it's a bargain. For what its worth, your boy is a good man, Ma. Saved my hide more'n than once."

"I know it, Mal. You just be sure to stop in and see Ma when you're passin' through."

"You keep feedin' us like this and I think it'd be a mutiny iffin I didn't." He joked. "'Sides, I think my doc is sweet on your gal."

"Yeah, well, you ain't takin' another one of mine. Might consider tradin' you for your Little Bit though." Ma smiled as she watched Matty laugh next to River.

"You throw in a pitcher of that gravy I might consider; though I got another on my crew that might shoot me iffin' I did."

Ma frowned. "That is a shame. Ain't seen Matty laugh like that in a good long while."

"Again, for what's it worth, ain't seen Little Bit laugh like that either, ever." Mal mused. "Ma, there's a reason we all got a bit tetchy when Jayne said what he did earlier. It'd be best if you and yours here forget their names, or the fact they fly on _Serenity._ They go under the names Anna and Michael, if you gotta call them anything."

"Girl's got pain in her eyes." Ma replied sadly. "Somebody hurt her."

"That they did." Mal nodded a bit tersely. "Why I'm askin' ya to forget."

"You have nothin' to worry 'bout Mal. After what Simon did for my boy, I owe ya'll even more."

"Like I said I'd settle for one of those blankets."

Ma suddenly frowned and threw down her cigarette. "Jayne Cobb, is your momma deaf? !" She yelled from the porch. "You best apologize to Wash!"

"Ma!" Jayne snapped over his shoulder.

"Watch that tone, boy!" She snapped. Her face softened when she turned back to the captain. "Now what was that?"

"Honestly Ma, I can't for the life of me remember." Mal chuckled. "You lookin' for work?"

*T*F*C*

"Spit it out." Riddick growled.

Orina popped the blade out of her mouth and slid it into the pocket of her cargos. Riddick's lips crashed down against hers as he slammed her back into the alleyway wall. His fingers strayed to the waist band of her pants which were slung low on her hips and he hitched her legs up around his waist. She broke away for air as his lips burned a trailed down her jaw and neck. He inhaled deeply.

It was wrong. The smell was wrong. The lips were wrong. The skin was wrong. Another growl rumbled past his lips as he forced the thoughts away. He felt her fingers pull his face back up to hers and he closed his eyes as he kissed her again. The face was wrong. The taste was wrong. The lips were wrong. His hand slid up her shirt and cupped her breast, his finger grazing over her nipple and, as she gasped, her body twitched slightly and he got a fresh inhale.

"Fuck." He swore. The scent was wrong. He resolved to breathe through his mouth as he felt her nails scrape against the back of his neck and his lips latched onto a nipple through the fabric of her shirt. It forced him to breathe through his nose. "_**Fuck.**_" He swore again and this time he dropped her.

"What?" She snapped a bit heatedly.

"Fuck off." Riddick growled and turned to head out of the alley.

"Are you kidding me?" She yelled at his back.

Riddick ignored her and turned out of the alley and climbed back on his bike.

*T*F*C*

Riddick listened to the shuttle dock with _Serenity._ He closed his eyes and stretched his senses outward; counting heartbeats. The blade in his hand tapped against the metal of his chair in rhythm with one particular one. He listened to River laugh with her brother as they walked down the corridor. He listened to them say their good nights. He listened to the door of her dorm be opened. His shiv kept its rhythm.

"He does not scare her." River said quietly as she closed the door to her bunk.

"Not trying to." Riddick rumbled as his shiv continued to tap. "Smells wrong on you." He admitted.

"His presence is unexpected." She said shortly.

"Smell like whiskey." Riddick growled.

"He does not like to dance." River said pointedly.

"No." Riddick rumbled. "He doesn't." He was out of his chair; his shiv clattered against the grating in the exact moment River's back hit the wall. Riddick hovered an inch from her lips. He inhaled. He savored. "Things'll be different soon, River." His breath was warm against her lips as he lifted her legs around his waist. "Real soon." His nose trailed along her jaw line. He drank her scent in. His lips grazed hers. It was not like his last kiss. It was slow, as though his lips were trying to memorize the contours of hers and River melted into it. Heat coursed through her body and every nerve ending felt as though it was on fire. He broke away. "Look at me, River."

River opened her eyes and lost herself in the intensity of Riddick's gaze. He lowered her body gently; his eyes never breaking contact. He inhaled deeply once more and on the exhale opened every door inside his mind. River faltered under the sudden onslaught; but Riddick's arms were there to steady her. Minutes passed in silence as The River rushed through his mind; unhindered. When the surge calmed River could still not find words.

"I-," River started.

"Shut up, girl." Riddick growled with a slight chuckle as he buried his nose against her neck. "Everybody on this fuckin' ship talks too much." His lips grazed against her neck and she nearly forgot herself.

"He kissed another." She accused breathlessly.

"Won't happen again." He rumbled against her skin.

"He brought her apples."

"Whole fucking crate of 'em. Quit talking."

"She doesn't understand."

"The fuck if I do either." Riddick rumbled against her hair; breathing her in.

"He-,"

"River, shut the hell up. You got what you needed from me. You do your thing now, whatever the fuck it is and you get your fucking head together."

"And when she does?"

"You're in my head again girl, shouldn't have to say it."

"She would like to hear it."

Riddick pulled himself away. It took every ounce of self control he possessed. He took a step back from her, picked up the shiv he'd discarded and turned towards her door. "You'll hear it then."

*T*F*C*

**Endnote**: Okay, so I realize I am trying to explain things through River speak, whether or not I was successful is left for you to decide. For those of you wondering or a little lost here it is:

River was always a receiver, she was born that way. Some people just are naturally adept at judging emotional responses and climates. Ever walk into a room and just know something wasn't right? Ever meet somebody and take an instant dislike for no rational reason but you just know that person is wrong? That was quite literally you picking up on energy; some people repulse us, others we take an instant like too, that's energy. Couple that with River's highly developed intellect and ability to process information and you get a kind of natural super receiver, boosted by her ability to discern and assess physical clues as well. She would have been fine. Perfectly normal and well adjusted if the Academy had never gotten a hold of her. This is the point at which we tackle the Born/Made Riddick and River connection.

When the Academy operated on her they removed her amygdale. Now, technically it wouldn't do to River what Joss made it do, which is where we step into the world of fiction. In my story Simon got farther than he did in Ariel and was able to get information of River's brain patterns as well as a mutation in another part of her brain. I have mention Theta and Delta brain waves; they are two of the five known frequencies our brain runs on. Those two particular ranges are heavily active in dream state and have been measured to be unusually high when people claim psychic experiences; this is the "higher mind state" and the goal for serious mediators.

The interesting thing about the Delta state is you release human growth and anti-aging hormones and it also boosts the immune system. (Hence Riddick's superior physical condition and endurance levels as well as his ability to heal from injury rather quickly) It also is the deepest level of mind and body relaxation, connects us to the subconscious mind, allows us to enter a state of empathy, and where your mind goes when you get that gut feeling you can't shake. Drawbacks are; emotional confusion and an extremely unfocused and dream-like state of mind.

Additionally the Theta state also connects us to the subconscious emotional mind and that gut instinct/intuition. It is also the state we enter during deeper spiritual connections (Shirah). Theta provides a 300% boost in learning ability and retention. (River super genius.) Interestingly enough in Theta state we are EXTREMELY susceptible to suggestion and behavioral implantation. It also gives us the ability to hyper focus (River memorizing a battlefield at a glance, Riddick thinking that time seemed to slow down as he sorted through his senses).Drawbacks are; extreme impulsiveness, depression, constant day dreaming, and an inability to focus.

See where this is going? This is the key fact that Simon overlooked. River wasn't shorting out because of a lack of processing power, she was shorting out because her brain was being forced to operate in a way its not meant to. We are RARELY conscious and awake in Theta and Delta states, it takes decades of study for mediators (especially Buddhists who seek Nirvana) to reach a level of constant Delta and Theta. River is in that state at all times, and unable to sort reality from a dream because everything is dreamlike to her. Hence nursery rhymes and cryptic clues, dreams are our conscious minds distortions on reality.

Now to the part where Riddick comes in. Normally people operate in their conscious hours in Alpha and Beta states, these are active mind states. Furyans are not normal people. They are as Shirah said enlightened, a genetic off shot of humans whose minds evolved to work in Theta and Delta states. Riddick is her Rock because she can ground herself in his mind (and literally reality, which his brain translates easily) which flows on the same wave length as hers does. Other people, with normal brain waves are difficult to be around for River because her brain has to tune itself into a different frequency to translate their thoughts and emotions. His brain in fact being built to function off of instinct and emotion is a mold for how River needs to make herself work. In the opening of this Interlude she was mediating, when Riddick slides into Shirah's world he is essentially having an out of body experience/ elevating himself to a higher state. This is entirely natural for him. For River, it would take skill to develop.

So you ask why isn't Riddick totally like River? She wasn't created to be like him or in his image, she was created to be something else entirely which will come into play later… don't hold your breathes, we got some words between then and now still. It really is by an unbelievable turn of events (i.e. the Riddick 'Verse and the Firefly 'Verse crossing) that these two people happened to cross paths and Riddick's head happens to work on the same level. Really there are trillions of people in Joss's 'Verse, and in my version instead of picking up the preacher, Riddick got there first. Otherwise River would have continued on her crazy path unable to connect with another human on the basis that she just can't. Their wave lengths are literally in direct confliction with hers.

I really hope that clears some things up and makes at least a little bit of sense.


	50. War Stories I

**A/N:**

**O to the M to the freakin G. There response to the last Interlude was absolutely and positively overwhelming. **

**Sxevlbtch, forestreject, Darkdreamer1982, Hidden Relevance, pyrobabe7713, , Elliesmeow, Hotagainstawall, Mrstrentreznor, ****Julian Carax, Bianca, erinsailorditz, serenitie1, Surtur676767, SusanMarieS, smwah, Rachet, librarywitch, bklyangel, marysverse, ArtLightLove, Sabrina1204, NightStar28, Aireon Maris, and ZenRyu**

**Thank you all so very much. I have to say you have given me some of the greatest compliments of my life. The comments about being late for work, hubbies rolling their eyes, missed deadlines, putting me on your Kindle, well, they absolutely blow me away. I can't express in mere words what it all means to me (Happy dance is effective but unless I youtube it, you really can't see it) As always I bow before all off you beautiful people. Thanks for reading. I promise this one will make it through to the end, I owe you all that much at least.**

**Thug, the whetstone to my shiv; I'd probably be crying in a corner and pulling out my eyelashes if it wasn't for you. Much Luv bro.**

**All that being said, enjoy. Episode Ten War Stories.**

**I own nothing…I owe everything I am to Joss and the Wheat brothers… Shout out to you too Vin since the Riddick character was your creation. **

*T*F*C*

Simon was tired. Tired in a way he had never experienced or ever thought possible. He had been wrong again. Mr. Top-Three-Percent; Mr. Reattach-A-Leg; what good was any of it to him now? He stared at the information lit up on the screen before him. The activity in River's brain should not have been humanly possible; she was not schizophrenic, she was not crazy, she was a psychic. He'd realized it before of course, but Simon was a man of science, and it wasn't until the irrefutable evidence sat before him that he truly accepted it.

There was no going back for River. The damage that was done could not be undone; one couldn't just simply replace pieces of a brain. Physically, beyond what little medication he was giving her, there was absolutely nothing he could do for her. It terrified him. It angered him. He dropped his head into his hands and rubbed at his face viciously; repressing the anger which boiled and seethed just below the surface of his skin. He wanted to scream; to tear apart his infirmary; to have just a few moments to curse all of humanity and wail over the injustice of it all. He would not. He was, after all, still Dr. Tam. Dr. Tam did not lose control.

"Not faring well?" Simon started slightly at the sound of the Shepherd's voice behind him.

"It's been a week and I have had to adjust the dosage levels twice already. She's sleeping better," _Even without Riddick, thank Buddha_, he added mentally. "But the side effects are difficult for her and it's all intravenous. Given her fear of needles, it's almost a form of torture in and of itself." He said dejectedly as he looked back to his screen. "I can't fix this." He admitted painfully. "I don't even understand why they would want to do this to her. Someone like River-," there was a trace of awe to his voice, "-could have done anything; astrophysics, medicine, quantum studies... mathematics was always her favorite. Why? Why would they do this? They must have known it would have destroyed her in the process. Her name should have gone down in encyclopedias. Ten years from now, my children should have been studying about their Aunt River in science class because of some brilliant breakthrough. They didn't just steal away her life; they destroyed any chance of her truly making a better world."

"Have you ever read the works of Shan Yu?" Book asked curiously as he peered over the doctor's shoulder. He really didn't understand what he was looking at but he was curious nonetheless.

"The psychotic dictator?" Simon questioned back, blinking slightly and unable to follow the preacher's line of reason.

"That would be the one, though he fancied himself a warrior-poet of sorts. He wrote volumes on the art of war and torture; the limits of human endurance."

"Well, that's lovely," Simon retorted sarcastically. There was no harshness to his tone, just a slight shrug of his shoulders as he scanned through his notes unsure of what he was looking for.

"He said-," Book continued, "-'Live with a man for forty years, share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him over the volcano's edge and, on that day, you will finally meet the man.'"

"And if you don't live near a volcano?" Simon asked still not at all following.

"I expect he was being poetical." The corners of the older man's lips twitched slightly.

"Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose." Simon snorted before shooting a glance over his shoulder. "Odd reading material for a Preacher."

"I wasn't always a shepherd, son." Book said simply.

"No, I suppose we all start as something else." Simon mused idly. "I would have never thought when I started the Med-Cad that I would be treating bullet and knife wounds onboard a smuggling ship and plotting ways to break into government facilities."

"A solider turned shepherd and a doctor turned criminal mastermind; we do make quite a pair." Book mused humorously. "Do you have your next heist planned?"

"Not yet, but breaking into another hospital to get a scan of Riddick's brain would be helpful. I doubt Mal would be so enthused, however." He remarked dryly. "I may just have to settle for growing a big black mustache."

"A traditionalist." Book chuckled slightly.

"There is something to be said for it." Simon answered absently. "What am I missing?" He asked aloud, though the question was self-directed.

"That is, in fact, the reason I bring up Shan Yu." Book continued along his original train of thought. "Perhaps, you are missing the answers because we often over look the obvious ones."

"Ockham's Razor?" Simon arched a brow.

"The simplest answer is often the correct one." Book nodded.

"And what would be the simple answer I am missing?"

"I wonder," Book mused, "If the people who did this to her were followers of Shan Yu's theories. If they put her through this to 'truly meet her'. Your sister was exceptionally gifted even before they got a hold of her. I wonder if they just wanted to see how far the human mind can go."

"She was." Simon acknowledged with perhaps a trace of wistfulness in his voice. "River was exceptional, but I don't think it was that simple. The more data I go through, the more I see they were working towards an end goal with a specific purpose. She wasn't just a test subject." He tapped his stylus against the computer screen and brought up a series of images; varying from cross-sections of River's brain to a series of frequency snapshots. "Do you see these patterns? That's not natural, shouldn't be possible; that level of activity dispersed as it is. If all they cared about was hurting her, they wouldn't still be after her. This isn't my specialty." The doctor exhaled bitterly. "They were close, whatever it was they were trying to accomplish; they were close. I just don't know what that was."

"I would think the answer to that question would be obvious."

"They wanted a psychic. They got one. The problem is the way they went about it. I've never heard about some of these procedures and I spent every waking moment in a hospital or buried in medical journals. What they did was cruel and inhuman; the medical ethics board would have a field day."

"Except for the fact the medical ethics board is controlled by the Alliance." Book pointed out.

"Except for that." Simon conceded. "I am thinking of releasing the data to the organization which helped me break her out."

"That would only draw more attention to River. Embarrass them and retribution will come swiftly. Your greatest advantage right now lies with the fact they are still trying to keep this quiet. You expose her and there will be no safe place left in the 'Verse."

"As if there is one now." The doctor retorted bitterly.

"Why would you need Riddick's scans?" Book asked, redirecting the conversation.

"I think the key to everything is in his mind. Why is it River can communicate with him and no one else? Why is it that there is a noticeable difference in River based on her proximity to him? What is it inside his mind which allows her to do what she does? Biologically, there has to be some kind of connection."

"Have you asked Riddick about his eyes?" Book asked curiously.

"He told me he had it done in Slam. I don't believe him though, the timeline doesn't match up. He worked with you on Sigma before he ever went to Slam and you said that the reason you promoted him was because of the advantage his eyes gave him. The man isn't exactly forthcoming with information though." Simon frowned. He had tried to press the issue with Riddick once and the only answer he'd received was a less than polite 'fuck off'.

"And I'm sure you've noticed other things as well." Book promoted.

"Like the way he scents the air constantly?" Simon said with a bit of humor. "Or the fact that his broken nose and the cracked ribs from the fight with Jayne healed themselves in little over a week?" he added a bit more seriously.

"I'd noticed several things about him when we served together. Things that just didn't seem to be " His voice trailed off as he searched for the words.

"Normal?" Simon finished for him.

"In a way, yes. I've been trying to remember the information from his military file, but it's been more than a decade. The one thing I do remember, however, and only because it struck me as odd, was some medical information regarding genetic mutations the doctors had blamed on terraforming chemicals."

"It's not unheard of." Simon mused thoughtfully. "You do remember what happened on Remus?"

"I do. The entire planet had to be evacuated and abandoned."

"It was a case study in med school. They tried a new method because of the mineral content of the soil and it wound up making the entire population infertile. The problem with that theory, in regards to Riddick, is that any mutations on record as direct consequence of terraforming chemicals were debilitating and, in most cases, fatal. What you're suggesting with Riddick is evolution."

"Which is another reason why I remember it; it didn't make sense to me then either."

"Why would Riddick hold back information from me if it could help with River?" Simon asked tersely. He pushed himself off of his stool and began to pace. "I thought we were working toward the same goal."

"Perhaps he doesn't understand it himself?" Book suggested wisely. "A man can't give answers he doesn't have. Riddick was raised in government homes. He was found abandoned as an infant during the civil war on Fury." Book replied as he racked his mind for information lying dormant for decades. "Perhaps he has a rare genetic quirk which made the terraforming gases act differently when he was exposed."

"Fury?"

"Riddick has a few years on you, so I suppose it happened before you were born. The entire planet was consumed by its own civil war. The destruction of it was one of the major spring boards for the formation of the Alliance. In the beginning, the Alliance was supposed to protect the populations of the inhabited worlds from falling to dictators and tyrants who could then expand their control by attacking neighboring worlds."

"Sometimes I think-," Simon began slowly as he thoughtfully twirled his stylus between his fingers. "-that we didn't deserve the second chance we got after Earth-That-Was was destroyed. I'm not entirely sure where I stand with God, but wouldn't the religious theologians say that we have been playing God every since we left? What right did we have to terraform other worlds? We haven't learned any lessons. Take a look at Beaumonde or even Beylix for that matter, those worlds are headed straight down the same path and we've taken away the consequences. If we destroy those worlds, we'll just terraform new ones."

"They would say such things, and have, for a very long time now." Book acknowledged. "You factor in the crimes committed against your sister and I would say, yes, man has very arrogantly stepped in and pushed God out. In some ways, our scientific advances have taken away our humanity. In the age of terraforming and organ cloning we have forgotten that life is a precious gift."

"As a doctor, I have to argue organ cloning with you on principle alone, you know that right?" Simon quirked his lips, lightening the somber mood somewhat.

"Saving lives is noble, but when we abuse the gifts we were originally given on the basis that we can simply replace them it's another matter entirely. Giving a new liver to a man with a genetic disease is different than giving an alcoholic a new liver after he has destroyed his own."

"I would agree." Simon nodded, almost grateful for the turn of conversation and the diversion from his research. However, a sudden beeping from his watch brought his mind back into focus. He frowned and clicked the alarm off. No sooner than he had walked over to the mini-fridge did River, followed by Kaylee, appear in the doorway of the infirmary.

"Ladies." Book tilted his head slightly.

River smiled faintly.

"Hey, Shepherd." Kaylee chirped brightly.

"Busy in the engine room?" The preacher raised an eyebrow at the grease stained faces of both woman.

"Just maintenance." Kaylee shrugged as she produced an apple from one of the pockets of her overalls. "Mr. U finally waved, after we make the drop on Erza we're headed out that way. Never know what he'll want, so I figures might as well make sure our girl is in tip-top, ya know?"

"Precognitive ability is absent; we must stack the odds." River added quietly. Today was not a good day and she was trying desperately to overcome that fact. Her head throbbed and her vision had been sliding in and out of focus all morning; hence her avoidance of Riddick and her clinging to Kaylee. Riddick would know, Sunshine could not, and the warmth of her mind was soothing to River's already tightly wound nerves.

River's subdued appearance did not escape her brother's notice and he frowned in concern as he prepped the two needles. "What's wrong, _mei-mei_?" He asked as she slid herself onto the infirmary table.

"Nothing of consequence." She dismissed his concern as her vision blurred and her head spun slightly. The decision to sit down had not been made entirely based on having to receive her medication. She would have lost her balance had she not and that was something she wasn't willing to allow her brother to see.

"I can look at the dosages again." Simon offered, not believing his sister for a second. He caught the slightly glazed look in her eyes.

"It is unnecessary." She dismissed him and presented her arm. "She is well."

Simon finished prepping his needles and took the single step which positioned him to River's left. He made no comment as he injected her while both Kaylee and Book politely looked away. No one on board was left undisturbed by the necessity of what Simon was doing; no one liked to bear witness to the expression of fear which settled across River's face as she would watch the fluid enter her veins. "Please don't lie to me, River." Simon said softly. "I need to know what the meds are doing, good or bad."

"She is well, _Ge-ge."_ River insisted as she pulled her arm away and anxiously pulled down the sleeve of her dress.

Simon was going to argue when he registered River's attire for the first time. He had been grateful when Inara had taken an interest in her. The effects of whatever conversation had taken place between the two could be easily discerned. River was still wearing the silk scarves braided into her hair and had began to take great pride in creating intricately worked coiled designs. She had actually smacked Simon's hand away when he had tried to inspect them more closely for fear he would pull a strand out of place. Over the last few days, it had become commonplace to see River emerge with three to four different hairstyles over the course of a single day.

It was her clothing choice which had startled him the most. She was wearing a long-sleeved tunic-like dress, once more with bell sleeves. It was one she had worn often and not unusual in and of itself. The nearly eyeball rupturing, brightly colored patterned shirt she wore over it which caught Simon's interest.

"River, is that Wash's shirt?" He asked her, confused.

"She did not steal it!" River snapped viscously and Simon was properly rebuked.

"I'm sorry, River, I didn't mean " Simon stumbled over an apology.

"It was earned." She snorted indignantly.

"Earned?" Her brother pressed.

"He wished to learn a secret. Nothing is free." River informed him archly.

"Riv doesn't like my coveralls." Kaylee shrugged. "Says they belong to me and she can't wear them. She needed something to stop ruining all her clothes in the engine room. Fits her like a smock don't it?" She asked as she bit into her apple.

River repressed the urge to cringe at how loudly she had heard the crunch. The sound of it had rippled down her spine. "She is not the mechanic." River shrugged, pushing past the throbbing in her head. "Those are robes for Mother's keeper. She cannot take Sunshine's identity."

"But you're wearing Wash's shirt?" Book questioned.

River released a low sigh; she really did not have it in her to answer their questions now, but if she didn't, it would only turn their curiosity to suspicion. "She is not wearing it to fly." She answered briefly but directly.

"So's... you would wear my coveralls iffin' you were to fly?" Kaylee asked.

River shrugged again. "If it suited."

"Clears that up." Kaylee said happily as she bit into her apple again. "I thought maybe I smelled funny or something." She giggled.

"How does it clear anything up?" Simon groused, it seemed like everyone was getting better at understanding River except for him.

"Don't listen to hear, listen to understand." River tried to sound understanding herself but the incessant crunching of Kaylee's apple was beginning to grate on her.

Simon merely arched an eyebrow. He clearly did not understand.

"I think what your sister means," Book tried, "-is that you are looking too deeply into what she is saying."

River rolled her eyes, that was in fact the exact opposite of what she was trying to say. She went to speak but the sound was cut off by a sudden flinch as Kaylee bit into her apple again. Around her, the debate circled on the difference of hearing as opposed to understanding what she was saying. Once more they had begun to talk around her as if she did not exist, a mere subject on the table; inconsequential. Her mind began to drift down a path she knew to be wary of; a shadowed trickle of The River which lead to the consuming darkness. She bit hard on her tongue, willing the pain to help her focus. It was another trick she had picked up in Riddick's mind; from pain he pulled resolve and strength. He turned weakness into power and fury. She tried to do the same. Vaguely, she was aware Simon was calling her, but the walls of the infirmary seemed to vibrate and hum.

_/River?/_ Her name rang like a question through her mind.

_/She is handling it./_ She snapped back, a bit harshly ,and she felt a slight tug in response as if he was testing her; but whatever he had felt in return seemed to satisfy him and he did not press her again.

"River." Her brother insisted again and River snapped her head up. Three sets of concerned eyes weighed down on her heavily. Suspicion. They thought she was breaking; they were waiting. The Shepherd had stepped back; Kaylee had paused mid-bite and Simon was fingering another needle in his pocket. How long had she been inside her head?

She needed a diversion. A smile coiled around her lips and Simon relaxed slightly; there was playfulness to it. Without warning, she jumped off the table and snatched Kaylee's apple. She paused only long enough to giggle a challenge over her shoulder. "Catch her if you can!"

"Oh, you little brat!" Kaylee squealed as she took off after River whose laughter could be heard echoing down the corridor.

*T*F*C*

"Inara, I've already said yes, I don't see the outstanding issue here." Mal grumbled as the Companion followed him down a stairwell. His frown was threatened by a slight smile as he watched Kaylee and River come running into the bay shrieking and laughing.

"The Councilor is a very important political figure and a very private person as well." Inara stressed.

"What? My ship not clean enough?" He paused for a moment to observe the grime his hand had picked up after resting on the railing. "You pay for the shuttle. You want the extra trimmings, I suggest you try to bribe Jayne and Riddick into hosing down the bay 'cause I certainly ain't wastin' time on the order. Crew ain't paid to make the ship sparkle." He told her indignantly.

"I just want the Councilor to feel comfortable," Inara sighed; he, as usual, was missing the point. "Comfortable meaning completely alone."

"Hey, that's mine! Come back here!" Kaylee cried and both the captain and Inara had to quickly sidestep off the lower walkway and back onto the stairwell to avoid being knocked over completely as the two young women came barreling through.

"Can't catch her!" River giggled wildly as she slid through the rail of the walkway and, though Mal had seen her do it once already, he was amazed anew as he watched her propel herself and flip neatly onto a crate.

"Rutting monkey!" Kaylee half-yelled and half-laughed.

"Ah, the pitter patter of tiny feet in huge combat boots." Mal smiled as his hands tugged on his suspenders. His head flicked back as he roared, "**Shaddap!**" Before turning back to Inara and continuing their conversation. "There's nobody that steps foot on my boat that I don't meet. Don't worry." He winked at her, though he was unsure as to why himself. "I won't start any sword fights. I'm over that phase." He shrugged as they continued up the stairwell and towards the mess. "'Sides, Riddick never did get around to them lessons for the crew." He smirked as the Companion rolled her eyes.

"I would just appreciate it greatly if you kept the others from ogling." She sighed again, it slightly disturbed her how often she found herself doing so lately.

"**Hold it right there!**" Mal barked suddenly, surprising Inara. It took her a moment to realize the captain had not raised his voice at her. It was directed at the two younger woman who had skidded to a sudden breathless halt on the other end of the walkway just as River was about to duck through another railing. "One of you is gonna fall and die and I ain't cleanin' it up." Mal tried to sound stern but honestly, he really didn't have it in him. Between the two sets of puppy eyes those girls were capable of, as well as their general adoration of their Captain, it was a hopeless cause.

"She took my apple!" Kaylee accused breathlessly.

"Riddick brought a whole crate of them." Inara shook her head with a small smile.

"And that one's mine!" Kaylee cried playfully as she tried to lunge for River who sidestepped and spun neatly out of the way. She faltered mid-spin but caught herself. Kaylee was not observant enough to notice and the captain and Inara were gratefully more occupied with a silent battle of wills.

"Not anymore!" She forced out pushing herself forward despite the thundering in her head and the uneasiness in her stomach.

"And they're off " Mal shook his head as his order was duly ignored as the pair took off towards the mess.

"Mal." Inara pressed.

"Inara, for the love of..."

*T*F*C*

"Garbage." Riddick grunted his mind only half-tuned into the game of cards. The other half was carefully monitoring River. She was avoiding him; which meant today was a bad day. He had felt her mind shift and spike all morning. It was beginning to give him a headache of his own.

"I'll see your garbage and raise you a supply run." Wash chimed happily.

"Husband, we have got to work on your poker face." Zoe teased as she threw down her cards, "I fold."

"Fucking _gou shi_ (crap). I fold." Jayne grunted disgustedly in agreement.

"Just me and you then, Riddick." Wash said excitedly. "Feeling up to another set of dishes." He grinned as he tossed his bet into the pile.

"Fuck that." Riddick tossed down his cards; his head ticked nearly imperceptibly, to which Jayne responded silently, by rubbing the back of his neck. The next hand would be set.

Wash waggled his eyebrows as he tossed down his hand and greedily collected the pot.

"_Fei fei de pi yan_ (baboon's arse crack)." Jayne swore as he looked at the pile of crap Wash had thrown down on the table.

Zoe chuckled as she shook her head. "Full of surprises Baby."

"Full of shit is more like it." Jayne grumbled as he collected the cards and began to shuffle.

"Thief!" Kaylee's cry echoed up the stairwell and drifted into the mess. A moment later River burst through the entryway with the mechanic close on her heels.

"That your shirt?" Zoe arched a confused eyebrow at her husband.

"We had a deal." The pilot replied smugly. "She's pricy by the way."

"That so?" Zoe replied with a slight chuckle.

Riddick, however, internally growled at the knowledge. Why the fuck was she wearing Wash's clothes? His nostrils twitched slightly as he focused in on her scent; tainted now by the smell of the pilot. His anger was redirected as the girls circled the table. He heard her ankle catch the metal of a chair and he was moving before his mind fully registered the action; his arm shot out and gripped her around the waist catching her before she hit the ground.

Kaylee seized the opportunity to snatch her apple back.

"No power is the 'Verse can stop me!" She yelled triumphantly as she raised her apple to the sky and then dropped herself into Jayne's lap still laughing. Neither Riddick nor River were paying her any attention. River did not stumble; River did not trip over chairs. He watched her carefully as she straightened herself and cautiously took a seat at the table as she refused to meet his eyes.

"Meds still making you dizzy, Riv?" Wash asked with genuine concern, unaware he had just dug her further into the hole with the convict.

River nodded slowly and Riddick, although he was outwardly stoic, mentally growled over Wash's knowledge. River had not told him the meds were causing dizzy spells.

"Since when?" He asked evenly.

"It is inconsequential." River dismissed him as she reached for an apple from the bowl on the table. Yet another thing Riddick wasn't entirely pleased with, her choice to share his gift with the crew, though again he remained silent on it.

Zoe flipped out her pocket knife and stabbed a piece of fruit; she cut a piece off and toasted Riddick before popping it into her mouth. "The genuine article." She savored the taste. "Mighty kind of you, Riddick."

The convict merely grunted as he watched Jayne help himself to one as well. His attention reverted back to River. The glassy look to her eyes was nagging at him and he could smell the fresh meds in her system.

_/Anything else you neglected to mention?/_

_/She is well./_

_/Keep saying it./_

_/It is Dao./_

_/You're full of shit./_ He audibly snorted but dropped the matter. If she was feeling off, pushing her was only going to make it worse.

"Zoe, how come you cut your apples?" Kaylee asked curiously.

"You do?" Wash arched his brow.

River tried to glare at him, but his attention was elsewhere. She could feel the suspicion and insecurity seeping back around the edges of his mind. The glare was not unnoticed by Riddick.

_/What the fuck is going on between you and Wash?/ _ He snapped into her mind.

River's brow furrowed deeply and he felt her skim through his mind; he made no attempt to conceal anything from her. _/He wanted information, she provided. They conversed. She reminds him of a mei-mei he never had. Your jealousy is unfounded./_

_/Jealous?/_ She could feel the barking laughter in his mind though his outward appearance remained unchanged. She decided further comment would only provoke him and bit into her apple instead.

"Her an' the cap'n both." Kaylee pointed out through a mouthful. "Whenever we got fresh fruit, ya'll never just munch, ya pick."

"You know what a Grizwald is?" Zoe asked as she sliced another piece off her apple.

"A grenade." Jayne answered almost on reflex.

"'Bout the size of a battery," Zoe nodded as she illustrated her point by measuring it out with her fingers. "Responds to pressure. Our platoon was stuck in a trench outside of New Kashmir during the winter campaign. There more'n a week, completely cut off and the Alliance entrenched not ten yards away. We even got to talkin' to them, yellin' jokes and such." Zoe snorted with a bitter shrug. "No ammo, no orders to speak of, what else ya gonna do? We mentioned we were out of rations and, not ten minutes later, a bunch 'a apples rained into the trench."

"And they grew into a big tree and they climbed up the tree into a magical land with unicorns that played harps." Wash cut her off with a slightly manic nervous chuckle and a sick pit in his stomach. "Honey, there are children present."

"Tiny, helpless children." River said quietly, not sure where it had come from. She frowned immediately; it had been five days, fourteen hours, and nine minutes since her last slip like that. She swallowed hard against a twitch in her hand and bit into her apple to cover it. Riddick did not miss it; his perceptive ability was quickly becoming irritating.

"Blew off their heads, huh?" Kaylee asked with a significant amount of morbid curiosity.

"Captain said wait," Zoe confirmed. "But they were so hungry. Don't make much of a noise, just little pops, and there's three guys that just kinda end at the ribcage."

"Pop. Pop. Pop." River giggled and the table shifted their focus uncomfortably to her. She shrank back against Riddick, who the errant thought had belonged to in the first place.

_/Gonna have to work on that./_ He pushed into her head, his thought laced with amusement this time.

"But these apples are good and health-some." Wash added quickly; shooting a glare in the direction of the captain who had chosen this moment to walk in.

"Yeah, grenades cost extra." Jayne replied dryly, as Mal reached over the table and stabbed a piece of fruit; unaware of the eyes he was drawing he began to slice up the fruit. "Erza's our last drop." He briefed them as he popped a piece in his mouth. "We do this job and then the one for Mr. U and I'm thinking it's time we found that beach Zo keeps goin' on about." He added cheerfully.

"That's hoping Mr. Universe doesn't get us killed." Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Doubt he will." Riddick remarked though his attention was on River, whose pallor was quickly changing. "He's looking to make money off my ass."

"Coulda made more off this job." Wash mumbled tersely.

"It was a bad idea," Mal answered him as he popped another bit of apple into his mouth. "Eliminating the middleman is never as good of an idea as it sounds."

"So, you heard it?" Wash made no effort to conceal the surprise on his face. Zoe had said she hadn't had an opportunity to talk to the captain about it.

"'Bout fifty percent of the human race are middlemen, Wash, and they don't take kindly to being eliminated. This quadrant, we play nice. Got enemies enough as it is." Mal added before heading to his bunk; oblivious to Wash's rapidly raising color.

"Crap idea." Jayne grunted as he tapped Kaylee's leg signaling for her to stand so he could as well. "We start cutting throats, ours'll be the next. Stick to piloting, flyboy." The merc smirked. "I gotta get innocked by the doc iffin' we're landing on Ezra, them ferns make my eyes itch somethin' fierce."

"I'll come with ya," Kaylee shrugged as she tossed her core into the disposable, "-left an engine catalog down in the common room."

"I should get us ready to break atmo." Wash said evenly and, without looking at his wife rose to head up to the bridge. River flinched perceptibly as his chair scraped along the grating.

Zoe gave a slight sigh and muttered a few choice words before standing to follow her husband up to the bridge. This was not going to be pretty.

"Hurts." River said meekly after she and Riddick had been left alone; dropping all pretense. Her hands were now quite visibly trembling as she reached for her temples.

"River." Riddick rumbled cautiously; a genuine undertone of anxiety in his voice.

Her fingers clutched the sides of her head instinctively as if she was trying to physically hold her mind together. Her face paled dramatically.

"River." He tried again gently.

Her only response was to convulsively throw up in his lap.

Riddick froze; his brain having taken issue with processing the fact that River had just spewed partially digested bits of apples into his lap.

"Sorry." She looked up at him, wide-eyed, and one pale trembling hand still clutching his thigh. "Precognitive ability is absent... she did not know."

Richard B. Riddick had the very first involuntary eye-twitch of his life.

*T*F*C*

"So, when you said you didn't get a chance to tell the captain my idea..." Wash prompted his wife as he completed _Serenity's_ landing sequence.

Zoe chewed the edge of her lip, "Ya-huh," she looked up at her husband through her lashes.

"What you actually meant was that you told him my idea, he rejected it out of hand, and you didn't even argue the point or give it another thought." His voice raised slightly.

"Honey, I gave-," Zoe tried to interject but he did not give her the opportunity.

"And then came the lying to me about it, which for me," Wash stressed the pronoun, "-is sort of the highlight of this little adventure."

Zoe exhaled deeply and arched a brow, "Is there any way I can get out of this with honor and dignity?" She asked hopefully.

"You're pretty much down to ritual suicide, Lambie-toes." He informed her, his tone softening.

"I didn't want to upset you." She admitted.

"What did you think of it?" He asked her as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Of what?"

"My idea." He said a bit exasperatedly. "Call the local M.D.s, forget the fence and go straight to the source. Better prices and we know the drugs get to the right people."

"The captain thinks it will get back to someone, just cause trouble." She answered hesitantly.

"_Tai-koong soo-yoo-yo duh shing-chow sai-jin wuh duh pee-goo _(phonetically, all the planets in space flushed up my butt)." Wash swore as he pushed himself out of his chair. "Was I ever not asking what the captain thought!" He snapped.

"Well, I tend to agree with him." Zoe answered with the slightest edge to her tone. This wasn't about the meds anymore, they'd had this argument more times than she could count, and she wasn't willing to have it again.

"Tend to or have to?" Her husband challenged. "I love the fact that you two are old army buddies and have wacky stories with ribcages in them but could you have an opinion of your own please?"

"You're losing the high ground here, sweet cakes." Zoe deadpanned as her arms crossed over her chest and she slid of the console she had been sitting on.

"I'm sure you and Mal will take that hill and fortify it with the bodies of-"

Zoe was done listening. "**I** thought your plan was too risky. _**I. Thought.**_"

"Then tell **me**!" Wash cried as he threw his arms in the air. "I'm a large, semi-muscular man; I can take it. Don't hide behind Mal 'cause you know he'll shoot it down for you! Tell me." His voice turned slightly pleading.

"Right," Zoe bit off, "-because what this marriage needs is one more shouting match."

"No," Wash corrected her flatly. "What this marriage needs is one less husband." He paused a moment while he looked at her."Right now, it's kind of crowded." He turned and walked off the bridge.

Zoe slumped against the console as she listened to the angry footsteps of her husband retreat down the foredeck hall.

"_Gou neong yung de_ (son of a bitch)." She swore.

*T*F*C*

"Is everything okay?" Simon asked hurriedly as Riddick entered the infirmary carrying his sister.

Riddick did not answer the doctor; very gently he set River down on the infirmary bed and then turned and walked out towards his bunk.

Book and Simon exchanged a wary glance. "_Mei-mei_?" Simon tried again. "What happened? He didn't hurt you did he?"

Riddick who had made it no more than five steps outside of the infirmary door promptly spun on his heel. "Fuck you, Doc." He spat back into the infirmary and left again without another word.

"I do believe you insulted him." Book mused wryly.

"Ask me if I care." Simon retorted. "River, what happened?"

"I threw up." She admitted quietly as she curled herself into a ball on the bed. She was in no mood to deal with her brother's unwarranted accusations; nor the waves of rage which were rolling off of Riddick at the moment. She closed her eyes and willed the world to go away. Closing her eyes, however, only served to make the world spin faster.

"I'm sorry, Riv," He apologized softly as he wet a wash cloth to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "It's a side-effect, we can try something else. How are you feeling right now?"

"Going back. Walking up the downslide. Chaos. Dizzy. Broken bits, like apple bits, coming back up." She muttered miserably. "It hurts."

"What hurts, _mei-mei_?" Simon asked as he dabbed her sweat soaked forehead.

"The sun came out and I walked on my feet. Thought my own thoughts; heard with my ears and saw nothing, nothing but sun. I was a girl. A girl who was real and alive, not quite River, but a girl nonetheless." Her voice cracked slightly. "I hate the bits. I hate the bits and the fractured moments in time when I feel real and alive, because I know they are going to go away. I know they won't stay. The sun goes dark, the chaos keeps it away. Bits. Fluids. What am I now?" She looked up pleadingly at her brother as the world around her throbbed and hummed; occasionally time and space seemed to vibrate, a sensation she felt rattle her bones.

Simon pushed away a small braid which had fallen in front of her face and the Preacher silently excused himself to the common room. "River Marie Tam." Her brother called her. "That's who you are. You are my beautiful sister."

"I threw up on Riddick." She deadpanned.

Simon snorted as he clamped his lips together to hold back the chuckle which threatened to break through but he could not repress the smile that inched its way across his face. "Yup. My beautiful little sister who has just made my year."

Despite herself, River smiled back.

*T*F*C*

_Adelai Niska's Skyplex_

_Ezra, high orbit_

Niska removed a silk handkerchief from the breast pocket of his impeccably tailored suit as a small sigh escaped him. The room was dark and dingy. What little light there was came from perforations in the walls and small bare bulbs which hung from the ceiling. The smell of dried blood and decaying flesh hung in the air like a fog and weighed down the room. None of this bothered him; the sigh was in regards to the lecture he would undoubtedly receive for getting blood on the tie his granddaughter had given him.

"Hold please." He held up his right hand, halting the man whom had a length of rusted barbed wire in his hand, ready to strike once more at the man shackled to the vertical table. He gave a slight nod to Niska and respectfully took a step backwards as Niska stepped forward. "So," the elderly man addressed the semi-conscious and bleeding one before him as casually as though he was about to remark on the weather. "Now we are past the um how do you say, preliminaries," he paused once more, looking particularly pleased with himself for remembering the word. "The little questions: why you skim from protection fund, how you could betray my trust?" His voice was menacing and heavily accented; the enjoyment he was receiving from his current diversion causing slips in enunciation. He stepped close enough to tap the man on his cheek, a gesture which under any other circumstances might have been mistaken for affection. "These, we are past " He held out his hand behind him and his man handed him a particularly sadistic looking blade; the edges of which were serrated and curved, the tip notched to hook into the soft tissue."Now we get to the real questions. Questions about who you truly are."

"I'm sorry, sir." A timid, yet deep, voice interrupted him from behind.

Niska released a slight growl at the voice of Dalin, his second in command. He turned quickly, pleased by the look of controlled fear on the man's face. It took the edge somewhat off his displeasure at being interrupted. "Ach!" he snorted. "I get to the heart of the matter and always there are **interruptions**." He snapped.

"One of our long ranges picked up a read on the other side of the world. It might be _Serenity_, Malcolm Reynolds' ship." The tall and well-dressed dark-skinned man hurried.

Niska's face immediately changed from that of anger to one of almost anticipation and joy. "Oh!" He clapped his hands together. "Oh, this is exciting news. Bring him here to me, Dalin. Very exciting! Very exciting, indeed! Send a team, the very best. Very exciting!"

"Yes, sir." Dalin clicked his heels together and gratefully turned and fled the room, praying that it was indeed _Serenity_ their long-range had picked up.

Niska turned back to the man he had momentarily forgotten; a terrifying smile curving around the corners of his lips. "Now, we get to spend some time finding out about your true self." He tapped the blade against the man's chest. "If it is any consolation-," he began, "what I am going to do to Captain Reynolds will make this seem like a bris." He chuckled as he plunged the knife into the fleshy tissue of the man's torso. "Tell me," Niska promoted, as he inched the blade slowly upward. "Are you familiar with the works of Shan Yu?" He asked conversationally once the screaming had died down.


	51. War Stories II

The Sheppard cleared his throat pointedly as he looked up from his book in the common room. "Didn't Inara express a wish for privacy?" He asked Kaylee and Jayne who were hovering near the bay entryway; hoping for a peek at the Councilor.

"Oh, we gotta see who she's got!" Kaylee squealed slightly. "I bet he's handsome."

Jayne's brow furrowed slightly, but he ignored her remark. "You gonna give a lecture on the evils of fornicating, preacher?" The merc snorted as he grabbed Kaylee from behind and tucked her into his body; dropping his chin on her head.

"Astonishingly enough, I do have other things on my mind." Book deadpanned.

"Yeah, like the evils of murder." Riddick rumbled as he walked down the hallway from the bunks. Jayne was not unaware of the harsh look which passed between the men on Riddick's remark; wisely he chose to store it away for later.

"She's sleeping." Simon confirmed Riddick's unasked question as the con paused in the infirmary doorway.

"I had to give her something." Simon's gaze drifted back to his sister, "It will take time, but she'll adjust to the meds and the side effects will lessen."

Riddick didn't bother remarking on the fact it did absolutely shit for her now. "Who's the big shot?" He grunted to Jayne as he took the entryway stairs.

"Some Alliance Councilor." He shrugged as he bit into another apple.

"And Mal's lettin' him on the ship?" Riddick quirked an eyebrow.

"'Nara pays her rent." Jayne shrugged again, though the look on his face told Riddick he agreed fully with the idiocy of it.

"Doc, keep your sister and yourself outta sight." Riddick called over his shoulder.

"Thanks for that advice," Simon retorted sarcastically as he popped his head out of the infirmary. "I was planning on a formal introduction complete with a tea ceremony."

"You want to shoot him now?" Jayne smirked as he handed Riddick a gun.

The convict barked out a quick laugh as he leaned against the entryway frame.

"Never does get old, Jayne." The doctor deadpanned before returning to his infirmary.

"Ya'll need to stop pickin' at each other." Kaylee scolded half-heartedly.

"Gotta have us a bit fun somewhere." Jayne defended. "Twenty he's old, fat and bald." Jayne looked over at Riddick.

"Deal." Riddick flipped the two bits from one of his cargo pockets.

"Oh, look, here he comes!" Kaylee half-squealed as the airlock door opened.

"Honestly, Mal." Inara rolled her eyes as she caught sight of the trio hovering just outside the bay.

Mal followed her gaze and shrugged; straightening slightly as the door opened fully. The man that stepped on board was tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed impeccably with a pair of dark sunglasses. "Seems a respectable sort." He muttered quietly to Inara before stepping forward. "Welcome aboard, I'm Captain-," He halted mid-greeting as the man eyed his outstretched hand and looked away disinterestedly to scan the rest of the bay.

Both Jayne and Riddick stiffened unconsciously as they watched the man shun their captain's hand. Book, despite himself and his earlier admonishments, stood up and craned his neck around the two larger men to have a look himself.

"Not very polite for a Councilor." The preacher mused.

"He's got an earpiece." Riddick rumbled.

"That ain't him, is it?" Jayne asked, though it really wasn't a question.

Riddick shook his head. "Don't think so, stinks like security."

"We're all clear, Councilor." The man depressed the mic in his ear and Riddick's suspicions were confirmed. However, the person to step aboard next caught him completely off guard.

"Oh, my." Book swallowed as the Councilor stepped aboard and slid her arm into Inara's. The he, was in fact a she; a she with blonde hair and a beautiful figure wrapped completely in expensive silks. Her statute and posture was not very different from Inara's and the two women seemed to meld together perfectly.

"Oh, gosh," Kaylee blushed furiously. "I knew she took female clients but, wow. They look so glamorous together..." Kaylee was going to remark further but she was abruptly spun around by Jayne who grabbed her arm and started to drag her off toward the stairwell.

"We'll be in our bunk." He grunted.

Riddick threw his head back and barked out a throaty laugh. "Owe me twenty bits, Jayne."

Book pressed his lips together in a firm line and shook his head in amusement as the merc carelessly tossed the platinum pieces over his shoulder before vanishing up the stairwell; a giggling mechanic in tow.

*T*F*C*

"Lucrative as this stuff is-," Mal grunted as he tied down a crate of meds in the second shuttle, "-I'll be glad to see the last of it. Kinda makes us a target-,"

"Did River get in here?" Zoe interrupted him with a frustrated scowl as she flipped several switches to no avail on the flight console. "Or were her and Kaylee mucking? Ignition sequence is completely turned about. I can't even-,"

"I can." Both Mal and Zoe jerked their heads around to see Wash leaning causally against a beam.

"Well, get it set then. We got to get moving." Mal grunted impatiently.

"Here's a funny twist; no." Wash crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, what?" Mal looked back at him, a mixture of confusion and slowly building anger on his face.

"No, sir." Wash corrected with an arched brow.

"You changed the sequence?" Zoe asked tersely as she swung around completely in the chair.

"Didn't want you to take off without me." Wash strolled over to the pilot's console. "In fact, I didn't want you taking off at all. Thought maybe I'd take this run instead. Me and the captain." He said, directing both his eyes and his words to his wife.

"You mean the captain that is standing right here and telling you that's not going to happen?" Mal interrupted their little discussion.

"Well, it's a dangerous mission, sir." Wash answered simply and easily; he still had not turned his attention away from his wife. "I just can't stand the thought of something happening that might cause you two to come back with another thrilling tale of bonding and adventure. I just can't take that right now." His last words were said slowly as he looked at his wife meaningfully.

"Okay, um, I'm lost." Mal said irritably as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm lost and I'm angry and I'm armed. If you two have somethin' to work out-,"

"It's all right, sir." Zoe cut him off as she rose from the pilot's chair to step around her captain and her husband. "We've dealt with Bosche before, sir. Shouldn't be a problem and I wouldn't mind sitting this one out." Her words were directed at her husband.

"Oh, this is _fang zong feng kuang de jie_ (a knot of self-indulgent lunacy) but I don't have time to unwind it." He shook his head in disbelief and anger. "Wash, get her started; Zoe the ship is yours." He snapped.

Zoe nodded but her eyes did not leave her husband's as she exited; she was seething and this was not over. She had a feeling she had a whole 'nother set of issues she was going to have to deal with when the captain returned.

"Bye, Hon!" Wash smiled happily at her as she left, fully aware of the anger which seethed out of her pores; although, if asked, he couldn't have cared less. "We promise not to stop for beers with the fellas." He called over his shoulder as he dropped into the chair.

Mal was glaring at his pilot as he dropped into the free chair; unfortunately, his pilot was fully aware and, much like his opinion on his wife's anger, he couldn't have cared less. "So, you wanna sing army songs or something?" He asked cheekily.

*T*F*C*

Inara ran her hands along the Councilor's naked back; her skin was flawlessly smooth and exquisite in every way possible. The warmed massage oil was heavily scented and infused with a multitude of herbs meant to stimulate and soothe at the same time. The silence of the shuttle was only broken by the woman's soft moans and Inara found herself entranced by the breathy sighs which escaped her lips.

"That feels amazing." Kendra whispered softly. "Perfect." Inara couldn't have agreed more, although her reasoning may have differed slightly from the Councilor's. "I should have done this weeks ago."

"I wouldn't have been here weeks ago." Inara teased softly as she leaned in closer to the heat of Kendra's skin.

"That would have been a shame." She replied without lifting her head.

"For me as well," Inara agreed softly, distracted once more by the feel of the woman's skin beneath her fingertips. "You have such beautiful skin." She voiced the opinion which had circled in her mind several times. She was a bit surprised, needless to say, when Kendra lifted her head and turned to look at her abruptly.

"There's no need for the show, Inara." She said gently. "I just need to relax with someone who's making no demands on me." Kendra confessed truthfully and moved to resume her former position.

Inara stopped her from looking away; gently taking a hold of her shoulder. "Most of my clientele is male. Did you know that?"

"No," she answered, a little surprised and curious.

"If I choose a woman-," Inara began as her fingers wandered, "-she tends to be extraordinary in some way. The fact is," her face broke into a small smile, "I occasionally have the exact same need you do. One cannot always be oneself in the company of men."

"Never actually." The Councilor returned Inara's smile with a stunning one of her own.

"So no show." Inara teased as her fingers trailed lower. "Let's just... enjoy ourselves."

"You are an incredibly wise and beautiful woman." Kendra whispered as she raised her lips to meet Inara's; rendering any further conversation obsolete.

*T*F*C*

"So not a man?" Wash blinked in slight disbelief.

"Nope, not so much." Mal shrugged.

There was a moment of silence as both men, whether they wanted to or not, brought up a quick mental image in their minds. "Damn." The pilot chuckled slightly.

"I mean, I knew her clientele was..." Mal fumbled with a bit of wire as he searched for the word. "Varied."

"Yeah, but, I mean you know... damn."

"Yeah." Mal conceded. How in the gorram hell was he supposed to compete with that? He didn't even have the right parts if that was the case. He needed a change of subject. "Look, this thing with you and Zo-,"

"Really not looking to talk on that topic." Wash cut him off as he adjusted their heading slightly.

Mal's face changed color rapidly. "Look," He snapped, "I let that _niu shi_ (cow dung) trick of yours slide 'cause this is a milk run. But I go on a mission, I'm takin' Zoe and that's the drill. You know that. What happens iffin' we get into a situation here?" He demanded.

"Hey, I've been in a fire fight before!" Wash defended. "Well, a fire actually, I was fired, from a fry cook opportunity," He admitted. "I can handle myself." Both he and Mal were unsure who exactly he was trying to reassure.

"And you understand what Zoe's job entails?" Mal asked skeptically. The further along this day went, the more sure he was becoming he was about to get shot again, and it did not sit well with him. There was a reason he and Zoe had survived the war together. They knew each other's tells, silent signals; hell, Zoe knew his orders before he gave them.

"I'll learn as I go." Wash replied easily.

Mal raised his brow, but did not otherwise respond. He was going to have to have some kind of meeting in regards to the chain of command aboard his ship. Why in the hell he had let his pilot dictate the terms of a job was beyond him and the itch which had settled behind his ear did nothing to alleviate his nerves; nor did the realization that he'd never even seen Wash fire a gun before. The only thing that did help was Bosche was repeat business; the man, while he did retain a slight odor, was an honest type of criminal. You did a job, he paid you; you rutted it up and he shot you. Mal could respect that simple outlook. It still did not help the itch behind his ear.

*T*F*C*

"Meds are fucking her up, Doc." Riddick rumbled as he dropped himself onto a stool in the infirmary.

"I won't argue the point." Simon replied tersely as he set down his handheld. "But we have no other options. Her body will adjust and the side effects will lessen. You can't deny that they are helping; unfortunately it's a matter of the pros outweighing the cons. It will level out."

Riddick didn't bother to reply.

"I wanted to take some blood and tissue samples from you, Riddick." Simon rushed out in one breath.

"I don't do tests, Doc." Riddick warned him sharply; though he was honestly unsurprised by the question.

"There's got to be something at a biochemical level which allows her to do whatever it is she does with you." He tried to explain. "If I can find the commonality, I would be in a much better position."

"You even got the equipment for that kind of testing?" Riddick arched a brow.

"Well," Simon fumbled. "Somewhat."

"Then fuck off about it." Riddick grunted; his tone conversational.

Simon took a slow breath and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking up. "Why not?"

"I. Don't. Do. Tests." Riddick said slowly, in case the doctor had misheard him the first time.

"Perhaps you'll elaborate on your eyes, or the rate at which you heal?" Simon mused. "Don't look so surprised Riddick, I'm not a gorram idiot. We've had that conversation before."

"Already told you about my eyes. Slam." Riddick's tone deepened and dripped with venom.

"And excuse my language but you are full of _gou shi_ (crap)."

"Sounds like someone has been spilling secrets." Riddick's gaze drifted off into the common room where the preacher shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "Thought I could trust you, Commander." Riddick spat out the last word.

Cautiously, the preacher closed his book and rose to stand in the infirmary doorway. "You can, Riddick. I thought perhaps it was in River's best interest. I was trying only to help her. Surely you can understand that." He replied calmly.

Riddick smirked; there was no amusement in the expression.

"Well?" Simon said impatiently.

"Answer's still the same. Fuck off." Riddick rumbled darkly. He wasn't about to tell the two men in front of him he had a woman with a fucked up sense of humor talking to him inside his head; nor was he about to tell them, apparently, if you pissed him off enough he lit up like a gorram electrical board. He audibly snorted as an errant thought popped into his head; _Would have been a lot more fucking useful back on T2._

As Jayne had pointed out, there wasn't anything manly about glowing; though Riddick's perspective was more to the point of there being nothing human about glowing in the dark. He didn't have any answers to give them; they could get in line.

Simon sighed deeply. "Maybe one day, Riddick, you'll have the same trust in me that you demand from others." He turned back to his console, dropping the subject for now.

Riddick was slightly thrown off by the doctor's words, though he gave no outward appearance of it as he fingered River's braids. Hadn't River just been bitching along those same lines? It was inconsequential, and he half-smirked at the thought, River was rubbing off on him in more ways than one. Simon didn't deserve the trust he placed in River or even Jayne for that matter, not yet, maybe not even ever. Thus far, the doc had only proved himself capable of shielding himself behind others. Riddick didn't necessarily hold it against him; some people just didn't have it in them; but the doctor had even hesitated on shooting that fuck Dobson, who had a gun pressed against his sister's temple. That Riddick could and did hold against him. If he couldn't trust a man on his six; he sure as hell couldn't trust him with his secrets.

"River asked me to trust you, Riddick." Simon added quietly after a few moments of tense silence. "I am trying."

"There's a difference between us, Doc." Riddick rumbled darkly as he rose from his stool, he was done with this particular conversation. "You don't trust me, and you're dead." The convict shrugged. "River knows it. She needs me." He turned his head slowly to look at the doctor before walking out. "You on the other hand? You die and I go on without so much as a flinch. Sister's stitches hold better than yours do anyway." He added with a cruel smirk; roughly shouldering the preacher out of his way. "Learn when to keep your mouth shut, Shepherd, or I will close it for you." He warned.

*T*F*C*

Wash swore as he stumbled and nearly dropped the crate he was lugging. "So, now I'm learning about carrying?" He retorted sarcastically.

"Yup, well, that's the job." Mal shrugged cheekily.

"You know, it's not exactly very gentlemanly of you to make my wife do the carrying." The pilot glared.

"Yeah, well, I ain't ever been accused of bein' one and I don't hold well with pretenses." The captain replied easily. "Equality and all, what a man can do a woman can do; or, in your case, a fleshy pilot."

"All do respect captain, go to hell."

"See, another difference between you and Zo," Mal replied nonplussed as they neared the disreputable gentleman they'd been making the deal with. "She would have added a 'sir' after that."

"That it?" Wash was saved from making a reply as a gruff voice of a man he assumed was Bosche asked.

"As described," Mal nodded as Wash happily dropped the crate. "The money?"

"Open it." Bosche ordered.

Mal jerked his head at Wash who rolled his eyes but dropped to his knees and popped the crate open with a knife.

The short man peered in and, after a moment, a yellow-toothed grin appeared on his face. "Nice to know you're still trustworthy."

"Not so trustworthy that I don't want to see that money you promised me." Mal returned the man's grin with a severe one of his own.

Bosche reached into his dusty faded leather coat and produced a heavy sack of coin. "Cashy money, as promised." He shook his head as he handed it over. "Can't believe you knocked over an Alliance hospital; the pair you have." He chuckled.

"Yeah," Mal nodded vaguely. "The stuff legends are made of." He was slightly unnerved that the underground grapevine had heard of how his meds had been acquired. It would be good for business no doubt, but real unfortunate should they run into any Alliance worth half their salt. "Good doin' busi-," Mal's words died as two small red dots appeared on Bosche's forehead. "_Tzao-gao _(damn it)!" He swore as he yanked Wash to the ground.

Six precision gunshots rang out above their heads; each one dropping Borsch and his men. Mal had a moment to worry over why he and Wash were not dead yet; the moment ended quickly as several men quite literally popped out of the ground. Their bodies covered in tactical sniper camouflage; who ever he'd pissed off this time it wasn't Alliance, not by the look of their guns. He managed to quell the sudden burst of panic as half a dozen guns leveled themselves on himself and his pilot.

"Now I'm learning scary." Wash managed to stammer out; shooting Mal an absolutely terrified look.

_River._ Mal thought silently; hoping to hell she heard him.

*T*F*C*

River shot up. Her eyes wide and frantic, her breath coming in great heaving gasps.

"River?" Simon rushed to her side. "River, are you okay?" His voice was laced with panic and even the preacher set down his book and looked up.

"Something is wrong. Very, very wrong." She muttered fiercely. "Can't see. He can't see. Takers. Not who you think."

"Riv-" Simon started when he was abruptly and unceremoniously shoved out of the way as River propelled herself off of the infirmary bed. Book and Simon were close on her heels as she launched herself out of the infirmary.

*T*F*C*

"Again." Riddick growled as he sidestepped Jayne's right hook only to drop low and take out the merc's feet.

Jayne hit the grating with a thud and a muttered curse. "Ya think we could spar when you ain't pissed the fuck off?" He snorted as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Wipe your pussy, Jayne; come at me again." Riddick barked.

Jayne growled low in his throat and attacked; he faked a right, left combo to go in for a shovel hook. Riddick, by this point, was accustomed to Jayne's infamous Rib-cracker and once more he blocked the hit and gently, for him, kicked the merc's kneecap. They were both bootless since they weren't trying to severely injure each other. "Fucking predictable, Jayne!" He barked.

"Son of a fucking gorram ruttin' whore!" Jayne snapped. "Fuck you, Riddick!" he came up snarling, pain radiating from his knee.

"That's it, Cobb, get pissed." Riddick taunted. "What are you gonna do with that?" He mocked as he easily spun out of the way of Jayne's lunge.

The merc now fully appreciated Book's remark of Riddick having held back the last time; they had been at it for nearly a half hour and he had yet to land one hit on the convict.

"Anger gets you nowhere, Jayne." Riddick continued to taunt the merc as he spun clear of another blow. "Focus it, make it cold." Riddick ordered.

Jayne swung wide, Riddick smirked, but his attention was grabbed suddenly by a snarling inside his head and it wasn't his own. Jayne's blow connected solidly with his jaw and sent him reeling. He came back up in time to catch River as she launched herself at him.

"What the-," River did not allow him to get the question out.

"He must listen. She can't make it come out right. She has something to say, it needs to be heard. You must listen." She rushed furiously.

_/Breath, River./_ He pushed inside her wave; moving more than just words through their link.

_/He can't see. She cannot see, she should have seen. The price she pays will cost Mother everything./_

_/Need you to start making sense./_ He pushed patiently back ignoring the confused looks of the crew.

_/Daddy. Daddy and Wash. Can't see./_

_/ I thought you weren't seeing anything?/_

_/Listen./ _She snapped harshly and reached up to grab the sides of his head with her hands and pulled his face down to her level. _ /She can't see, but she feels. She feels __**everything**__. Something went wrong. It all feels wrong. A but not B or C or even X, she cannot see, but she feels it is wrong./ _River inhaled deeply and on the exhale she moved more of herself through their link carrying with it the surge of emotion which had ripped her from her drug-induced sleep. The convict's body stiffened; a snarl ripped past his lips in reaction to the sudden burst of pain which pierced his mind alongside the train of emotion and he stumbled backwards.

The triumphant grin on Jayne's face from having finally landed a hit faltered immediately as he stood with Simon and Book unsure of what was going on but all seemed to know instinctively they were heading for trouble; if not already in it.

"Jayne!" Riddick barked abruptly without turning his eyes from River's. "Gear up."

"What's goin'-,"

"Do it!" Riddick snapped and spun on his heel to slam down on the ship-wide. "Zoe, bay!" He barked.

Zoe did not waste time on a reply and in less than a minute was sliding down the access ladder, Kaylee just a step behind her. "What's going on?" She yelled and jogged over towards the weapons locker; catching a semi-automatic Riddick tossed at her.

"Mal's in trouble." He rumbled as he slammed the locker door closed after grabbing several spare clips.

"How?" Zoe faltered for a breath, and swung around to River. The young woman looked incredibly pale and was shaking in her brother's arms. She caught her eyes and nodded.

"Book, the ship is yours." Zoe ordered. "Where's Jayne?"

"Up here." The merc replied as his boots slammed down the stairwell.

"What's going on?" Kaylee asked fearfully.

"Gonna find out." Riddick answered as he lowered the mule.

"Lock her up tight behind us, Kaylee-girl." Jayne told her. "You don't open for nobody, not even Mal iffin' we ain't with him." He dumped a few grenades into the rear hatch of the mule.

"River." Riddick jerked his head.

River swallowed hard and moved to step away from her brother and towards Riddick.

"Are you crazy?" Simon snapped as he stopped her. "She's barely standing!"

"She's gotta learn how to deal with it." Riddick shot back.

"No. Absolutely not." Simon's voice rang with finality.

"Ain't got time for this." Zoe interrupted as she climbed aboard the mule. "Kaylee, airlock." She ordered and the mechanic jogged for the controls. "River, I ain't got time for crazy." Simon balked at Zoe's blunt tone.

"She can handle it." Riddick answered for her.

"Ain't askin' you, Riddick." Zoe snapped. "River, you straight or not?"

The question had been directed towards her, not around her or above her and River felt empowered by it. Zoe who trusted no one other than her captain and her husband was now extending that trust towards her. If she said no, she would not be pushed; Zoe would not allow it; if she said yes, she would trust her wholly, with her life and that of those she loved. The significance of this was not lost on River.

"We are wasting time." River replied simply and allowed Riddick to boost her onto the mule.

*T*F*C*

"Bosche." Zoe informed the others as she toed a corpse.

Jayne crouched down to check another body. "Ain't none of them ours."

Riddick toed another corpse and kicked it away disgustedly. "Sharpshooters." He looked over to Jayne who grunted in agreement. "54R sniper?"

"With laser sighting." Jayne added.

"They weren't after the goods either." Zoe eyed the still full med crate. "River?" The young woman had been silent since they arrived. She had gingerly hoped down from the mule; barefooted and wide eyed. River had been watching; the echo of the event hung in the air.

"They were after our people." The Reader stared off into the distance. Her pupils moved rapidly; eyes glazed and, oddly enough, her fingers twitched. Riddick's head ticked curiously; he would have bet Jayne the twenty he'd won earlier that if they were to give her a pen she would be drawing something out. He briefly wondered if he had ever missed the action before or if it was something entirely new as a result of the meds. "They have stolen what does not belong to them. Like snakes in grass."

"They laid in wait." Surprisingly, it was Jayne who finished for River. "Patient under this sun, too." He muttered, though he seemed to be talking more to himself. "Triangular formation, probably trenched themselves in, we're talking some real well paid boys here." He walked off towards a clump of recently disturbed dry grasses. "Heavy camo."

Jayne joined River where she was standing in front of a set of harsh black lines burned into the sand. "We ain't gonna find them here." He crouched down to look at the markings. "They're off-planet already. Only one kinda transport leaves this kinda burn mark."

"Fast rocket burn shuttle. More specifically, Crane Class." River answered.

"Ain't the kinda ship that hits deep space." Jayne pointed out.

"Space station." Riddick growled. "Fucking goddamnit it." He snarled.

"Niska." Zoe bit out.

"They're not dead." River said almost dreamily as her arm reached out and traced the course of the transport through the sky. "There's a hum."

"One or two?" Zoe asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Two." River replied as she climbed aboard the mule. "There's nothing more to say."


	52. War Stories III

_Niska's Skyplex_

_Erza High orbit._

The door slammed closed behind Mal and Wash as they were roughly shoved down a small set of stairs. The echo of it sent a cold chill down the captain's spine as he forced his mind to focus on anything but the stench of rot in the room they now found themselves in. They were alone at least; but for how long?

"You okay?" Mal asked his pilot blindly as he tested the restraints which bound his hands behind his back.

"I think I've been kidnapped." Wash rushed out in a burst of near panic. He swung his head and body around as he tried to see below the darkness of his blindfold to no avail. He couldn't place the smell in the room; but the instinctive churning in his stomach told him enough. "You see where we are?"

"No." The brevity of Mal's answer frightened Wash more than the single syllable word itself.

Wash forced himself to be still and listened; for what, he wasn't sure. The sound of an engine? Movement below his feet? A girlish giggle? Anything besides the incessant dripping and quiet electrical hum of the room they were in would have suited him nicely; unfortunately, he had nothing. "It's not a ship. I don't think we're moving."

"Good to know." Mal answered emotionlessly as he began to feel out the room. "Air don't smell right." He replied quietly as his fingers grabbed a hold of some kind of metal bar. Blindly, he traced the lines of it as far as he could go. His fingers passed through something concealed and cold; he moved away from that length of metal.

"What the hell is that smell? !" Wash demanded violently.

"Could be anything." Mal lied easily as he fought to keep neutrality in his tone. God, he wished it were Zoe, or Jayne, or Riddick with him at the moment. "Try not to think about it."

"Mal, what the hell is going on? !" Wash shouted as he gave up any pretense of control he might have been holding onto.

"I ain't rightly sure." Mal replied honestly as he found the wall and tried to walk the length of the room; that was proving to be circular. The dip in the grating at the center of the floor unnerved him. There was a drain somewhere. He forced himself to continue to walk the line of the wall.

"But you got some theories." Wash persisted.

"Still working it through." Mal kept his tone even and hoped to hell his theories were wrong.

"I don't want you to spare me, Mal. If you think you know what's going on, then tell me. You wouldn't spare Zoe if she were here with you, would you?" Wash pleaded.

_If Zoe were here she wouldn't be screaming to high Hell; she'd be walking the length of the wall with me right now, gorraamit._

"That's right," Wash continued frantically. "You'd be conferring and planning and plotting and possibly scheming. So, whatever Zoe would do in this instance is what I want to do. And you know why?" Wash asked but didn't give time for Mal to answer. "Because no matter how ugly it gets, you two always come back. You come back with the stories. So, I'm Zoe. Now, what do I do?" Wash asked, his head jerking wildly as he attemped to track the sound of Mal's footsteps.

"Probably not talk quite so much." Mal grunted as he carefully measured out the distance from one side of the room to the other using his feet.

"Right." Wash nodded, breathing heavily. "Less talking." He tried to straighten himself slightly. "She's terse. I can be terse. Once, in flight school, I was laconic." He nodded to reassure himself. Several moments passed in almost total silence as he stood there nodding to himself and listening to Mal's shuffling footsteps move around the room. He couldn't take the silence; under the weight of it, it had begun to feel as though the universe was pounding against his chest. "If I'm not gonna talk, then you have to!" He shouted abruptly. "What else?"

"We just gotta keep our heads!" Mal snapped; losing his even composure for the first time. He had completed his tour of the room. It was small, circular, and reeked of rotting flesh, urine, and blood. The metal structure in the center of the room was coated in congealed blood and completed with leather restraints. They were not moving, but the air smelt and tasted recycled. They had been on Erza. One name drifted into his mind and he had never hoped like hell that he was wrong in a situation before.

"Right. Keep our heads." Wash forced air into his lungs and continued to nod. Why he was nodding, he had no idea. It was most likely due to the fact that having his hands tied behind his back prevented him from flailing his arms and he needed a way to expel his nervous energy. "That way we'll be able to, you know keep our heads." He swallowed hard. "You and Zoe been in plenty of situations like this before, right?"

"Many a time." Mal answered, regaining control over his tone.

"Many a time." Wash repeated to reassure himself. "You and Zoe..." His words trailed off as he brought up an image of his beautiful wife, which was followed immediately by one of her in the current predicament he found himself in now.

"As soon as we figure who it was that took us..."

"Zoe and you together..." Wash cut him off as he stumbled slightly over something on the floor. "Together in a tricky... Mal, she's my wife!" He yelled suddenly.

"Huh?"

"What gives you the right to put her in a dangerous situation like this?" Wash shouted in outrage.

"I didn't!" Mal snapped back indignantly.

"You did!" Wash accused.

"She ain't here, Wash." Mal pointed out tersely.

"No, but she would have been!"

"Okay, but..." He had to concede with a bit of an annoyed nod even though Wash couldn't see it.

"It never really hit me until... well, until I got hit..." Wash continued on, not giving Mal time to reply. "And blindfolded and kidnapped and..and _Tian shia_ (everything under the sky) the smell is burning my nostrils "

"Wash..." Mal warned heatedly.

"I mean I'm the one she swore to love, honor and obey!" Wash yelled indignantly.

"Wash, listen-," Mal started before an odd thought struck him. "She swore to obey?" His head cocked to the side and there was a trace of disbelief in his tone.

"Well, no... not..." Wash paused momentarily but when he began again his voice was raised and little flecks of spittle flew from his lips. "That's not my point!" he exclaimed bitterly. "_**You**_ she obeys! There's obeying going on right under my nose!"

Mal took a deep breath; his voice was calm and controlled when he spoke but the underlying tension could not be missed. "Look, Zoe and I got a history. She trusts me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wash demanded.

"Don't mean a thing!" Mal exclaimed loudly, losing control of his temper quickly. He did not have time for this argument, not now, not with his hands tied in a room that reeked like pain. "You're making it out like Zoe just blindly follows my every word and it ain't true."

"Sure it is!" Wash yelled back.

"Not so!" Mal barked in reply. "There's been plenty of orders of mine she didn't obey!"

"Name one!" The pilot challenged.

"She married you!" Mal spat out almost before Wash could finish.

Wash didn't have the mental facilities to process that fact at the moment; nor, apparently, did he have the time as their attention was redirected to the left when the door slammed open.

Mal's body stood frozen and locked with tension as he his blindfold was forcibly yanked off. It took his eyes a second to adjust; a second longer still for his mind to digest the information they sent it.

"_Tah mah duh hwoon dahn- _(phonetically, mother humping son of a-)." The captain breathed out at the sight of the small elderly man before him; one that could have been called grandfatherly, almost, if not for the sadistic smirk which danced along the edges of his thin lips.

"What? !" Wash demanded, still blindfolded, and Mal found he didn't have the words to answer.

*T*F*C*

"It won't be enough." River declared sadly as she watched Zoe zip up the canvas bag loaded with every last coin and credit the crew had between them; all that was except Riddick, who had only delivered half of his remaining funds. She could not hold his logic against him. He knew, just as she did, that no amount of money in the 'Verse would be enough to ransom both men. It had nothing to do with foresight or precognition or even greed. The odds had been calculated; variables taken into consideration; every solution ended in blood. Niska was a man that sought _Dao _and _Dao_ could not be bought.

"You don't know that." Zoe gritted out tersely as she shouldered the sack. River spared her the _look_ only because she could feel the pain and desperation which radiated out of the woman's every pore.

"Zoe." Riddick rumbled darkly from the doorway; it was a partial warning against the use of her tone against River, and the stupidity of her actions.

"What's to say he won't grab you, too?" Jayne snapped as he pushed himself away from the table. He felt helpless; helpless and useless. His body trembled with energy he had no outlet for and he began to pace. "We were all in on that job. Mal and Wash could just be the start." His eyes snapped to Kaylee; a twinge of fear rippling down his spine and, subconsciously, his hand moved for the gun at his hip.

"Niska's got a code; as twisted as it is. He gets excited over reputation; this will work." Zoe replied, though River knew the soldier was telling herself that more than anyone else. "I go in there unarmed and alone and he'll make the deal. There's a whole lot of money in this bag."

"There is no price for _Dao."_ River warned her, her gaze was far away; her body was rigid with tension as she felt the echoes of electricity bleed into her veins. "I feel them. I feel him."She said slowly as her right hand drifted upwards while her fingers danced through the air. Vaguely, Riddick could identify the pattern they traced as numbers. "He hears _Dao_; hidden inside the screaming. She can hear them scream. She can hear everything and nothing. The walls bleed rage." Her voice trembled. "Pieces. They drift. Broken bits. Pain. So. Much. **Pain**." Her body trembled with her voice and her limbs curled into her body without conscious realization she was doing so.

"Niska will see reason." Zoe reaffirmed tersely.

"Reason?" Inara scoffed. "The man's a gangster. You returned the money for the job already. What good could come from paying him more? The man isn't interested in it apparently."

"Could be he's harboring a bit of resentment over his boy we tossed into the engine." Jayne pointed out. "That's the case, that money ain't gonna buy both."

"An ear for an eye." River whispered.

"What the hell does that mean?" Zoe asked, her voice tight with tension.

"I don't know. She cannot see. The River whispered." The Reader replied vaguely. "Time is running long. Seconds pass for hours and they scream." Her voice had taken on a dream-like quality. She was completely aware, to a certain extent, of the events falling out around her, but she was caught up in The Flow. The girl was systematically shutting herself down and retreating; retreating to a place where the endless screaming could not touch her. Riddick could feel her burrowing deeper into his mind. "One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four a birth, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret not to be told, eight for heaven, nine for hell, and _**ten for the devil's own sel'**_."

"This isn't just about the botched job anymore." Riddick translated, remembering the rhyme clearly from the night of the job. "This is about the fact we turned on him and killed a few of his boys in the process."

"An example." River nodded as she slowly rose in one liquid movement. "You waste time with debate. Either go or run. Either way it ends in blood. Pain. Blood. Electricity." She paused and tilted her head at her brother. "Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose." She echoed her brother's words in a tone that was startlingly like his own. "They all scream."

"Wait a reasonable amount of time." Zoe suddenly barked. She was done with the debate. She was going after her men. "You don't hear back, you take _Serenity _and you get the hell out of this quadrant. This don't play out right and there's no guarantee he won't come after you."

"Precognitive ability is absent. She cannot see." River interjected without being prompted; although nearly ever crew member had asked the question of her mentally. "Assumptions are failings of the weak. She is no longer a psychic; your terminology is wrong. She is telepathic, she is empathic; psychic, she is not. She feels. She hears. She does not see."

"What do you feel?" Zoe asked carefully, unsure if she wanted the answer or not.

"Don't ask questions you fear the answers of." River replied, her face held long enough to retreat from the mess. Vaguely, she was aware of Riddick's boots on the grating; vaguely, she was aware her brother was calling. The world was rapidly shifting. Her focus was scattered and uncontrollable; spiking rapidly and then receding. Bursts of vivid pain and electricity ricocheted along the inside of her mind; she made it to the center of the bay. A solid and warm set of arms caught her as she fell. It was inconsequential; her physical body may have stopped falling but her mind did not. She opened her lips to speak as Zoe closed the second shuttle door. No sound moved past them. The tremble of Mother below her body as the shuttle disengaged vibrated through her bones and trembled life into her vocal cords. She threw back her head and screamed.

*T*F*C*

Wash couldn't bring himself to scream any longer as thousands of volts of electricity burned through his nerves. Pain; he'd bitten deeply into his tongue. When had he done that? Every second seemed like an hour; had it only been a handful of them or had he lived a lifetime already? Niska hadn't spoken. The old fuck had stood there silent and unblinking; licking his lips as he watched. Wash couldn't even find it in him to chuckle as the mental image of Marshall coming to life and super-sizing himself to rip through that hateful door and bite the face off of that old fucking _hun dan_ (bastard). Darkness was seeping into his vision; everything had a faint bluish hue. Someone was speaking now, but he couldn't hear the words. He was positive both of his eardrums had ruptured but he wasn't sure when.

"_**Wash!**_" He heard his name be ripped into existence and he forced his head up. Mal, that was who had been speaking. "You still list lis..listening " The captain stammered out, choking on a bit of blood. "'Cause I'm not...not gonna say it.. 'gain " Mal managed to roll his head to his left to look at him. "Shipboard romances complicate things." He finished in a desperate rush of air.

"For who? For _**you**_?" Somewhere in himself Wash found it to be angry. He felt the slow heat boil up through his veins and replace the cold sear of electricity.

"For everyone." Mal forced air in and out of his lungs.

"Well, what about lov-," Wash went to bite back but his words were lost to a tortured scream he didn't know he had left in him.

"Agh!" Mal slammed his head back against the vertical metal board, forcing a new pain into his body to get his words out. Wash. That's what would keep him going. He was an officer and he had a soldier to see through this. Wash would not break. Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds would not allow it. "Ain't against it as a general rule." He tried to rush out conversationally but his words were slurred and fumbled over one another. "But in a situation such as ours, tends to cause problems. Splits loyalties." The captain spat out.

Wash's first attempt to speak lost itself in his mouth and he swallowed hard before trying again. "Know what I think?"

"What?" Mal challenged. _Get mad at me, Wash. _

The two men bit back their screams this time as electricity surged through their bodies while, less than an arm's length away, Niska smiled with childish glee.

"I hired you to do a job." Niska spoke for the first time. He flicked his wrist and there was another surge of electricity; this one quick and absolutely fierce in intensity. "Job does not get done and you kill loyal man." His wrist flicked again and the burst that followed was just as intense as but much longer than the last.

Mal thought for a moment he may had blacked out; to his left Wash's groan jolted him back into awareness and pain. "What? What, Wash? Whaddya think? !" Mal choked out. Wash's head fell to the side as he tried to focus on Mal through glazed eyes. "Wash? You hear me?"

"You make lie of my reputation." Niska scowled slightly; he was not being paid attention to. This was unacceptable. He flicked his wrist against, his scowl fading as he watched with pleasure the men twitch violently.

"_**Wash**_!" Mal barked again. "You you got somethin' to to say to me?"

Wash's head snapped up and the world jarred into focus. "Wha-? This... Thiss policy you got." He breathed in heavily. "'Gainst... onboard romances that's just you projecting your own intimacy issues on others . On others."

"I show you my reputation is truth." Niska interrupted their conversation angrily; another wave of electricity was executed.

Mal growled low in his chest as the pain subsided."Yeah?" He snorted defiantly, ignoring the sadistic old fuck and focusing on Wash. "That's just downright insight...insightful. 'Course could be be I just don't think you're good 'nough for Zo." His head slammed back against the board as another course of cold fire burned through his skin. He tasted blood and realized belatedly he'd bitten into his cheek; when the pain stopped, he coughed out a clump of blood.

"I don't give a good gorram what you think!" Wash ground out through a jaw he could not unclench.

"Don't you? Zoe and me, we got hisss..history. I figure you gotta be askin'... askin' yourself some fundamental questions 'bout the nature of that history." From somewhere inside of him, Mal found a smug chuckle; it came out broken and half-hearted. It did its job.

"You never slept with my wife!" Wash scoffed angrily.

"Know that for a fact?" Mal challenged and he was going to press further; another wave of electricity turned his words unintelligible. Next to him, Wash's breathing was turning shallow and Mal had to force his words out. "She's a _**damn**_ fine lookin' woman, and we been together since long 'fore you came 'round." He choked out another broken chuckle.

"Nev...never happ...appened." Wash slurred, trying to keep his feet under him. "Know how I know?" His head flopped to the side as he tried to focus.

"How? Tell me? How?" Mal demanded, yanking on his own restraints.

"Whole captain thing isn't Zoe's trouble," Wash's voice was unnaturally high-pitched and his words were choked out between breathes. "Whole captain thing isn't Zoe's trouble. It's the guy-she-never-slept-with thing. Hell, Mal, I wish you'd sleep with her. Then at least she'd be over it." The pilot was half sobbing as he spoke.

"You want me to sleep with her?" Mal rushed out. "That make you feel better?"

"It might." Wash gasped.

Niska was no longer angry. No, he was now amused and curious. Malcolm Reynolds was a different breed of man. It had been a long time since he had had the pleasure of studying one such specimen. He stepped closer with interest as he listened to the captain try to rally his man. The fleshy pilot would die quickly; the captain, he could draw out for days.

_How very exciting!_ He clapped his hands together and practically bounced with anticipation.

"Imagine it would do wonders for her to!" Mal barked; Wash's eyes were clearing, he was beginning to focus more.

"Screw you!" The pilot barked.

"Get in line!" Mal retorted without hesitation. A scream tore through his lips this time as yet another wave rocked his body. Wash's body slumped when the assault ended. His head fell back and his eyes closed. "Okay. Gonna do it. Wash? Wash!" Mal's words dripped out slow and heavy, his voice almost unrecognizable. "Wash!"

The pilot managed only a groan in response. His head lolled to the side; his eyes refusing to open.

"Wash!" Mal shouted again. "Listen," he gulped in air. "First thing... first thing, when we get back. Listen to me!" He roared with a strength and voice he didn't realize he had left. "I'm gonna... I'm gonna take your wife into my bed."

"Yeah?"

Wash's voice was no more than a feeble moan, but it was something. Mal forced out another broken laugh, "I'm gonna get me a piece of that..." The sound of his voice was replaced by Wash's guttural scream as a round of voltage crashed through their bones.

*T*F*C*

River rocked herself; every so often a mutter or mumble would escape her lips. A rapid, muted sputtering of English and Mandarin which blended together incoherently. Riddick hovered but every time he or Simon would try to touch her she would start screaming. They left her in the center of the bay; the muted rocking was preferable.

Riddick could feel the rapid flicker of her mind as she phased through her different personalities; each one warring for control; each one claiming to be in control. It was the Girl who rocked, the Reader who muttered, and the Killer who flashed behind her eyes every time she looked up. At some point, she had laced her fingers into the grating; her knuckles turning white as though she was trying to physically hold herself grounded to reality.

At the moment, Riddick was having a bit of difficulty with reality as well. River was more deeply rooted into his mind than she had ever been before; he could practically smell her on his skin. Something was wrong with him; he wasn't sure but he could almost feel the anxiety screaming from Kaylee's mind and it was tinged with a sensation of actual sunshine and heat. He could feel Jayne's aggression. The merc was practically breathing it out with every exhale and the cloud was almost visible. Was this how River saw and felt the world around her? How could she sit there; just rocking herself? He could feel his heart rate pick up, his blood begin to boil, and it was all anxiety and rage which did not belong to him. It was Jayne's and Kaylee's; he knew it as instinctually as he knew how to breathe.

The convict couldn't keep still; he began to pace. To add to his irritation, curiosity began to ghost off of Simon and prickle at his skin. Wariness seeped out of Book's pores with every step Riddick took. How could she stand it? Why in the gorram hell was he feeling it too? If it wasn't enough that he seemed to be lapping up residuals from River, his own heightened senses were reeling as well. There was oil dripping somewhere in the ship; he heard the incessant echo of liquid splattering against metal as though it was a gunshot going off right next to his ear. There was a piece of moldy food somewhere in the bay; in one of the cracks perhaps. He could smell the rancid bread and taste it even on his tongue.

_She needs The Rock to absorb what she cannot breathe in._

He forced himself to stop pacing and crouched down in front of River. He did not try to demand her attention or call her to focus; instead, he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Systemically, he slowed his system to function in rhythm with River's. He allowed his mind to fall back. Riddick focused on compartmentalizing the excess. Channeling it into another part; he used it to be the force behind the beating of his heart and the movement of air in and out of his lungs.

Riddick was aware of the curious stares from the crew. It poured out of them like water over rapids; he ignored it. They didn't have to understand. Hell, _he _didn't understand. His actions had been entirely instinctual and, as he felt the thundering recede, entirely effective. He became aware of River's small, smooth hand inside his own massive, calloused one. He wasn't sure if she had slipped hers in his or if he had reached out for her. It didn't matter. The slight contact took the edge off the onslaught. The tactile reassurance grounded him in the moment and allowed his mind to register something other than the dozens of offensive emotions bombarding him. With every inhale and exhale his awareness of the others dimmed. His focus narrowed to River; with every inhale, he breathed her in and with every exhale his mind wrapped itself more firmly around hers.

River was hyper-aware now of her surroundings. Every breath that was taken; each beat of a heart, she was aware in a way she had never been before. She could smell them. That was new. That was overwhelming. She could separate and identify each crew member's specific biometric functions. She didn't smell them through her nostrils. She wasn't hearing them through her ears. There was her mind and there was Riddick's.

Time seemed to still as she pushed herself outward; her mind followed a fragile trail that crossed millions of miles through space. Two faint consciousness' tethered at the other end. Faint and yet strong enough to feel the cold burn of electricity; strong enough to hear their screaming and take it into herself. There was no insanity to hide behind; no delusion to fall into. Riddick's mind kept her present and aware. She wasn't sure whether or not it was something to be grateful for. River was terrified; terrified because the echoes of electricity were so familiar to her mind. Terrified because she was all too familiar with sadistic amusement and restraints; terrified she had failed Mother.

_/River./_ She heard him call her; the voice of his mind wrapped itself around her. There was strength in the bindings and it filtered through her. The pressure, like a boil on her mind, began to recede. She felt the heat of his skin wrap around one of her hands and she was unsure if she had reached out or if he had pried her fingers from the grating. It was inconsequential. There was Riddick. Her focus narrowed and shifted.

_Hiding inside Riddick's mind was not a metaphorical concept for River. _

_Her existence blurred the lines of reality too much for the rules of it too apply to her. She knew reality was only as we shape it._

_His mind was a wild rainforest; creatures which snarled from the shadows; silver eyes glinting in the softened sunlight which broke through the canopy of trees. _

_These were his memories; wild and feral, she could smell the bloodlust on them. _

_These were his demons, lying in wait._

_She did not feel threatened. _

_They watched her warily but they could smell their kind on her as well. _

_Darkness calls to darkness, _

_blood calls to blood._

_She moved through the thick foliage easily; sliding over broken trees, her feet sinking into the damp earth; everything was raw, vivid, alive._

_**He has done as you asked. What will you do with it all, Little One?**_

_Her voice rang through the jungle; rippling the leaves as through it was the wind._

_Before her, two trees arched together._

_It was a door._

_She walked through._

Riddick sucked in a quick intake of air as he felt something in his mind shift. Memories flooded him and he was no longer in the bay of _Serenity._ He was walking through Niska's Skyplex. This was the past. He wasn't really there and had no tangible influence. Zoe, Jayne, and Mal weren't with him this time. This was from before; right after he left New Mecca. He watched, an outsider in his own mind, and he should have been disturbed by it but he wasn't. River was doing this. He trusted River.

He watched as corridors, ventilation shafts, security posts breezed by; things he did not remember taking notice of himself were now carefully studied. Calculations drifted into his mind; formulas he had neither hope of understanding nor any clear idea as to why he was almost seeing them as tangible objects. This place felt more alive than a memory and more detailed than a dream. He could not see River here, but he felt her in every object; he felt her turn and re-angle the image, discard information and somehow magnify details he had nearly overlooked.

Riddick lost awareness of time as his memories replayed themselves; every so often, she would rewind and replay a scene. He could almost hear her voice whispering from the shadows; again, he did not understand. More numbers, more calculations; abruptly the memories ceased. Riddick felt an ephemeral tug centered on his navel and the sensation of flying. He didn't remember closing his eyes or even blinking; but then he was reopening them and the corridors of the Skyplex were deserted.

There were gunshots. Explosions. Echoing down the hallways, he heard screaming. Panic drifted in from the ventilation shafts. The Skyplex itself seemed to tremble. The action seemed to surround him and yet he saw nothing. He tried to focus and See as River saw. Riddick focused on the panic; he breathed it in and, on the exhale willed it into being something else. Ghost images seemed to rez in front of him as if they were holographically generated.

He watched Zoe be shot. The ghosts froze, rewound themselves and the first mate entered from a different corridor alive and well. He watched the scene play out as before but this time Zoe's line of sight was different. This time she killed the man that shot her.

_Holy shit._ He thought to himself as he realized what was going on. River was in his head, he had opened every door for her and she had dug into his mind and unearthed his memories of Niska to build a replica of his Skyplex. She was planning, calculating; she could not predict the outcome and so she was trying to solve it. His admiration and utter awe seemed to strengthen River's efforts. The ghost images solidified and he watched her plan form. Abruptly, everything went dark. The sensation of tearing was painful. An audible snarl broke from his lips as he realized River had rooted herself too deeply into his mind. The separation was what was causing the tearing and pain.

Riddick was on his back when he opened his eyes again. Once more in the _Serenity's_ bay. Simon was leaning over him; he felt the doctor check for a pulse.

"Ain't dead." Riddick growled as he snatched his arm away and pushed himself up. River was staring at him intently. "What the fuck was that?" He asked and, while his tone may have been harsh, it was shock and not anger.

"What she was created to do." River answered simply, something in her tone suggested that this should have been obvious.

"You were both completely unresponsive for more than ten minutes. What the hell happened?" Simon asked worriedly.

"Sister's got all kinds of tricks, doc." Riddick smirked as he rubbed the back of his neck and pushed himself to his feet. "Zoe's not coming back with them, is she?" He asked the question of River.

"She cannot see." River shook her head; her face was expressionless and blank. Riddick couldn't decide who he was looking at. She was too calm to be the Girl, to passive to be the Killer, and she wasn't saying anything he didn't already know, so she wasn't the Reader. "She is River." The young woman remarked as her head tilted slightly to the left. "Purpose and focus provides clarity. She cannot See whether or not Zoe will be successful. She knows the facts. Knowledge is tangible. She has calculated. She is prepared. She is functional." River turned away and headed towards the dorms.

"River, where are you going?" Simon called after her nervously.

A dark smirk curled around the corners of Riddick's mouth. "To get her blades, Doc." He replied; his voice rolled heavily past his lips, thick with anticipation. "Sister seems to think we're gonna need a Plan B."

"What?" Simon barked in disbelief.

"Jayne," Riddick ignored the doctor and addressed the merc.

"What?"The merc barked back; entirely uncomfortable with what had just occurred.

"Gear up." Riddick told him. Jayne shot another question back but Riddick was beyond hearing him. He turned and headed towards River's bunk. Her scent had shifted again; there was something almost tantalizing to it now.

_She is River._

*T*F*C*

Vaguely, Mal was aware when a man walked into the room. He couldn't concern himself with it. It granted a reprieve. He whispered something to Niska; over that too, Mal couldn't be brought to care. The world was sliding in and out of focus. A part of him held the hope that the crew would come while another part of him hoped they had gotten the hell out of the quadrant. He would hold out as long as he could; so long as Niska had him to toy with he wouldn't go after the crew. Fresh bile rose up in his throat as unwanted thoughts of River, and what this sadistic fuck could and would do to someone like her, entered his mind.

_We ain't on good terms._ Mal thought to himself. _But if you really are up there on high, like the Shepherd says, and you ain't some bully with a magnifying glass, you make sure they get the hell out of here. You don't let that bastard get a hold of her._

Mal took a slight bit of comfort, what little could be had in his current circumstance, that Riddick would die before Niska got his hands on River; and Riddick was a particularly hard man to kill. Mal wasn't quite sure when River had made the transition from cause to crew; then from crew to family; and finally from family to daughter. It had happened and now really wasn't the time to think on logistics.

"You will not mind if I pause to do a little business, I think, no?" The old man asked Mal absently as he fingered through a small canvas sack.

"Knock yourself out." Mal managed to sputter. "Liter...literally." He coughed out. His back was to the doorway and he paid it little mind when he heard it open. It was the sound of Wash's terrified moaning that caused him to jerk his head around.

"No...no...run...run " Wash gasped out as his wife stepped through the door.

Mal closed his eyes. _You fucking bastard._ He cursed the being he had only momentarily ago tried to make peace with.

Zoe entered the room. She did not look at her husband or her captain. Her steely gaze locked onto Niska. Mal knew that gaze. Mal had seen it in her eyes a thousand times during the years of the war. That woman was not his first mate; it was not his best friend or the pilot's wife. That woman was Corporal Zoe Allenye and Niska was in for a world of shit. A half-broken chuckle fell out from between his lips. He might die today but he knew Zoe would kill a few back. It was good enough for him.

"That's five times what you paid us for the train job." Zoe informed Niska; her voice was void of emotion. She did not so much as blink as a wicked smile formed around the edges of the old man's lips.

"Yes," Niska agreed jovially. "You have had, how you say it, 'good times' I see that."

"Should be more than enough to buy my men back."

"That is your opinion, is it?" Niska asked with amusement.

"It is." Her voice was like ice against glass.

"They, perhaps, are damaged now. Hmm?" He mused. "Are they worth so much to you?" He waved a careless hand behind him, toward the two man strapped down.

"Yes." Zoe never took her eyes of the old man. She was terrified. She was horribly frightened that, if she looked either her husband or captain in the eye, she would break. She would break and kill them all, herself included.

"And, to me, they are worth more. I think it is not enough." Inwardly, Zoe flinched; outwardly she betrayed nothing. The only physical clue which belied her true anger was the set of her jaw and the small tick of her muscles. "Not enough for two, but sufficient for one."

Zoe forced herself to swallow back.

"And now you have-,"

"Him." Zoe pointed to her husband.

Niska's face fell. He was disappointed. He had expected hesitation and debate. His goal had been to provoke her into a justifiable reason to take her as well. Of course, he could just take her anyway, but it would not be business-like. She had come to barter and, without provocation, Niska could not take her as well.

"I'm sorry. You were going to ask me to choose, right? Didja want to finish?" She arched her brow; issuing her challenge.

Niska held her gaze; resolving to, in time, bring this particularly lovely specimen in for study as well. "Cut him free." He ordered lightheartedly.

Wash dropped to his knees the moment the restraints were cut away. Reality crashed into his mind as his knees hit the grating. He was free. His elation lasted only until Zoe pulled him to his feet. Mal. They were going to leave Mal behind.

"He is yours. We are ended now." Niska dismissed them.

"Mal...Mal..." Wash managed to croak out in a desperate whisper. He tried to look back but his captain shook his head viciously.

_Keep rutting walking, you gorram idiot!_ The captain screamed inside his head.

"Shhh." Zoe silenced her husband as she threw his arm over her shoulder and started to help him walk away. "Keep walkin'." She urged him quietly.

Niska did not miss the gesture between the men. _Serenity_ was turning into a fascinating study. "A moment please." He called them back and Zoe's stomach fell into an icy pit as she left her husband leaning against the wall to turn and face Niska.

"This money-," Niska began, "-there is too much. You should have some small refund."

Zoe turned in time to witness Mal's ear being sliced from his head. She did not flinch nor turn her eyes away. The icy orbs turned colder. Mal's roar of pain filled her ears and coursed through her veins. She held out her hand without comment as she accepted the severed ear. Her eyes did not leave Niska's. She was making him a promise. A silent promise that she would be back. She would collect her captain and, if she had any say in his death, Niska would go earless and screaming. This she promised him with her eyes.

The first mate of _Serenity_ turned her back on the man; as she did, the screams of Mal battered her eardrums. Each step she took away from the sound broke her a little bit more. The moment the shuttle door closed behind them, she and her husband collapsed together on the floor.

"He's insane." Wash gasped.

"I know it." Zoe replied as her hands cupped her husband's face. Relief, love, worry and guilt clouded her features.

"The stories...you told me the damn stories. He...saved you in the war. But I didn't...I didn't know." Wash stammered.

"You mean Mal?" She asked him, stunned and unsure if it was shock which was confusing her husband.

"He's crazy. He wouldn't break, Zoe and...and he kept me from...I wouldn't have made it."

Zoe swallowed back her emotions; carefully touching his face as though he might disappear before her. "It's okay, baby."

"Niska's gonna kill 'im." He declared angrily.

"He's gonna make it last as long as possible." Wash's head jerked up and he locked eyes with his wife. "Days, if he can." Zoe told him bluntly.

Resolved hardened across his features. An icy rage she had never seen before in his eyes filled them as he forced himself shakily to his feet. "Bastard's not gonna get days." The tremble in his body ceased after his first two shaky steps; he moved for the pilot's chair. "Comin' back for you Captain." He gritted out as he fired up the craft.


	53. War Stories IV

"Thank God you're safe." Book rushed out as the shuttle door opened.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Let me take a look," Simon pushed past the others. "How bad is it?"

"I'm fine." Wash pushed his way past them to where Jayne, Riddick, and River stood waiting at the other end of the walkway.

"Where's Mal?" Inara asked fearfully.

"Niska wouldn't let him go." Zoe replied evenly.

"Is he alive?" The Companion pressed.

"For now." She shouldered her way past to follow her husband. "Take that," she told Simon as she reached into her front breast pocket. "Put it on ice in the infirmary."

"What is it?" Kaylee asked.

"An ear." Simon swallowed hard.

"_He chu-sheng za-jiao de zang-huo!_ (filthy fornicators of livestock)" Book swore angrily as Inara and Kaylee recoiled.

River's head jerked up at the spike of emotion; something was brewing in the mind of the Shepherd. An old spark, an ember which had slowly been dying, suddenly roared to life with a fierce intensity. She found herself taking a step backwards from the heat of it and into a solid wall of muscle. Riddick gave her a questioning look and followed the line of her gaze to Book. The old soldier was clenching and unclenching his fists. His heart rate spiked and resolve set his features.

_Welcome back, commander._ The ex-Ranger thought smugly and, though it was not directed at River, she nodded in agreement.

"We're getting him back." Wash stopped in front of them.

Riddick merely nodded.

"Step ahead of you." Jayne grunted. "All depends on whether or not you got it in you to fly."

"Oh, I can fly." Wash assured them.

"Good." Riddick grunted.

"River?" Zoe questioned.

River shook her head. "She did not know. She calculated. The odds were never in their favor. Purpose drove clarity. She is functional."

Zoe nodded slowly. Her eyes taking in the scene in the bay below her. The entire arsenal available to _Serenity _was laid out on the bay floor, the ATV had been rigged with explosives, and a mini-barricade had been constructed around the airlock.

"Ya'll been busy." She said appreciatively.

"Cap'n would come after any one of us." Kaylee said as she came up behind them.

"Got a good look at the layout on my way in. Let me lead." Zoe ordered as she headed down towards the bay.

"Got something even better." Riddick informed her as he caught a handheld Jayne tossed him and passed it to her.

"What how in-?" Zoe's step faltered slightly on the stairs as she realized she was looking at an incredibly detailed map of the path she had walked from the docking level down to Niska's office and the torture room.

"Turns out Riv's got more than a few interestin' tricks." Jayne grunted.

"She pulled it all out of my head from when I had dealings with Niska." Riddick clarified; there was a bit of smug pride in his voice as he added, "Whole plan was her idea. ATV's loaded to blow once your man lands us. There's a power station here." He pointed out on the handheld. "We smoke out the bay and give Riv and Kaylee the cover to get to the power station; the four of us will move in for Mal. They'll kill cameras, alarms and door locks once they patch in."

"'Course, blowing up an ATV will draw a considerable amount of attention itself." Jayne snorted.

Riddick ignored him and continued. "Book, Simon, and Inara will hold the ship; River and Kaylee rejoining once they hit the power supply."

Zoe looked at the faces of each member of the crew and saw resolve and determination. "Doesn't the Bible have something to say about killin' folk, Preacher?"

Book was sliding was a clip into a handgun she knew didn't come from the armory. "Inara, what did the Councilor tell you when you went to her for help?" The preacher questioned.

"She said it was beyond their jurisdiction." The Companion replied bitterly.

"For the wages of sin is death." The Shepherd turned back to Zoe. "Romans, six, twenty-three. The Bible speaks very clearly on the punishment of the wicked."

"I'm not going to talk you out of it." Zoe held his gaze.

"I wasn't asking to be."

"Six." River said suddenly; jerking the room's focus towards her unintentionally. Her eyes glazed briefly for a moment. "Six; add two and add three. Eleven. Important number. Prime number." She realized the others were staring at her intently. "It is of no consequence now." She shook her head. She was unaware of where the words had come from. Now was not the time to go searching for answers. Eleven was important. She would deal with the why later.

*T*F*C*

"Tell me, do you know the writings of Shan Yu?" Niska asked curiously.

Mal gritted his teeth against the pain. The old man was less than six inches from his face and he forced himself to imagine leaning forward and biting off the man's gorram nose rather than give in to the scream. The blade buried into the fleshy meat of his torso was being twisted ever so slowly. He could feel his skin catch and twirl on the tip of the blade.

"Starting a book club?" The captain defiantly spat out. "What? You tryin' to... to torture me?"

"Yes " Niska answered, "Today we meet you and you are quite a man." He smiled as his underling pushed the blade in deeper. "An extraordinary man. Yes. But these are not times for extraordinary men." He chided. "Business is not war. Heroics, they are unseemly. They complicate." He turned away from Mal to walk towards a cart.

The captain didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified as the knife was removed from his innards. The slow creaking wheels of the cart thundered into his brain.

"For you, I have a special machine. Very special. Very precious."

Mal watched as his torturer reached inside the machine to hand Niska a thick mechanical hose with a flat edged face. He eyed it warily as Niska waved it before his face. It was a rather nasty looking device. The flat faced end was riddled with what looked like small teeth and Niska was practically purring as he stroked it.

"And they say people don't look like their pets." Mal managed to retort.

Niska smiled cruelly as he handed the hose back to his comrade, who moved to place it on the center of Mal's chest. "Let's see if we can meet the real you." The man sneered as the machine whirred to life; a metallic screeching filled Mal's ears as the teeth clamped onto his skin. Metallic tendrils snaked out from its head and burrowed themselves beneath his skin in every direction.

From the captain's lips a scream of pure and unadulterated pain ripped forth.

*T*F*C*

"He's dead." Niska frowned as watched his comrade poke the captain several times. "Revive him."

"Yes, sir."

*T*F*C*

"River, take the gorram gun." Riddick growled out from behind a clenched jaw as he tried to shove the gun into her hands.

"No." She shook her head viciously as she stepped away. "No. Guns."

Another low growl rumbled in Riddick's chest. "You'll slit a man's throat, but you won't pull a trigger? Tell me, River; tell me how that makes any kind of fucked up sense."

"No. Guns." River repeated. "Blood does not wash away."

"Get a hell of a lot more of it on you when you fight with a knife."

River growled slightly herself. "She has been through this. Repetition is irksome. The price of a soul is cheapened by the gun. A blade requires skill, execution, conscious choice to take a life."

"Shoot a fucking kneecap and you won't have to make the fucking choice." Riddick spat out, frustrated. They were about to go on a suicide mission. A frontal assault on Niska's Skyplex couldn't be called anything else and the girl wouldn't even take a fucking gun. She couldn't be that good. No one was that good. Hell, he agreed with her; he preferred blades. But going in with just a handful of shivs wasn't just crazy; it was fucking stupid.

"It shouldn't be easy." River said quietly. "Your anger is rooted in fear. Fear for the girl. She will forgive it."

Riddick bit down hard on his lip while his fist clenched and unclenched. He wasn't sure right now if he wanted to strangle her or not but the urge itched at his finger tips nonetheless. He would have bitten off a retort but before the words could leave his lips River stiffened. He felt a jagged and abrupt shift in his mind; the sensation nearly painful.

"No." River breathed the word out in a whisper as she collapsed forward. Riddick caught her before she could hit the grating and he eased them both gently to the ground. Her body was lifeless; deadweight in his hands, but he could still hear the steady beat of her heart and see the rapid movement of her eyes.

"Talk to me, girl." Riddick growled low against her ear. She made no verbal response. Her fingers dug into the skin of his arms and she bit down on her lip to stop her scream from pealing out into the bay. He listened to her heart rate pick up as her breathing accelerated.

The world faded out of focus and, in that moment, the universe seemed to collapse in on itself as she felt the fragile cord be severed. She could no longer feel the captain. His screaming tore through her mind; he had joined The Flow.

"No."

Riddick tore off his goggles. Feeling no pain in his darkened bunk, his fingers roughly jerked River's chin up to look at him.

_/__**Focus**__./_ He pushed the single word into her mind with a fierce intensity; lacing it with emotion. Strength, concentration, calm; underlying it with anger and resolve, he wove it through her mind. His response was instinctual. He could feel the overflow of her mind and knew what she needed. It was not a request or suggestion but a command.

River felt the surge. She breathed it in. She pushed it through her mind and into her nervous system; entwining the threads of their minds together. She forced her mind to reach out further. She fell into the memories of the captain's mind creating a scent-like trail as she crossed the distance through planes unseen. Her body jerked involuntarily as the captain's did. Electricity; it coursed once more through her veins.

*T*F*C*

"Ah, Mr. Reynolds, welcome back." Niska greeted the captain's return to life cheerfully. Mal managed only a slight groan in response. "You died, Mr. Reynolds." He informed him.

"Seemed like the thing to do." Mal groaned weakly.

Niska shook his head slowly. "When you die, I can't hurt you anymore." He chided in an almost sing-song voice and shook his head at his man who held up a new, vicious-looking implement for his approval. "And I want two days at least. Minimum." He shook his head a second time at his comrade's next selection as well. "I think many people know the name Malcolm Reynolds. They know he crossed Niska. They must be reminded now what happens when you cross Niska." The corners of his lips twitched. "Yes, Ivan, I believe that is the one." He nodded pleased.

Mal managed to turn his head to take in the wicked looking blade. His eyes glazed over as they closed again. He couldn't bring himself to scream.

*T*F*C*

River sucked in a large gasp of air as her body jerked forward. Riddick did not relax his grip; grateful beyond belief that they were in his dorm and away from prying eyes. He felt her mind settle as resolve hardened it and solidify her presence.

"You with me, River?" He rumbled cautiously.

"I am." Her voice was steady but she made no move to disentangle herself from his arms.

"I?" He questioned with the slightest hint of a smirk edged around his lips.

"I." River affirmed as she reached out for the gun which had clattered to the ground when Riddick had reached for her. Tentatively, her fingers grazed the gleaming metal. It was everything she hated and feared. It was cold, mechanical; built on an assembly line and created to function as an instrument of death. Unlike a blade, a gun served one purpose. A gun was created to terminate. A blade, while lethal, was not only so. A blade could cut free restraints, slice through skin to perform surgery, slice food to nourish the body; a blade was life and death. A gun was only death; mindless and unforgiving.

"You want to explain?" Riddick asked, breaking her free from her reverie.

"He asked her once-," River began as she disentangled herself slowly from Riddick's arms, "-where was her line? She was reborn in the womb of Mother; set free by the Father's hand. She can hear him screaming now. She can feel it ripple across The Flow." Her voice reverted back to a dreamy tone. There was no emotion, only a quiet fascination, as she ran her fingers over the metal of the gun. Slowly, she wrapped her hand around it. If Riddick noticed the slight tremble of her hand, he did not remark on it. "She is what they made her."

Riddick rose to his feet and slid behind her. Wrapping his hand around hers, the one which trembled as it gripped the gun; he guided her arm up and leveled it on the doorway to his dorm. He leaned down close to her ear; his lips brushing against it.

"Us against them, River." His voice rumbled down her spine. "They didn't break you. They made you strong." The safety was still on and he pressed his finger down over top of hers and clicked the trigger. "Bang." He guided her hand an inch to the right. "Bang." He clicked the trigger down again. "Bang. It's just a pull of the trigger, River."

"Just a pull of the trigger." She breathed out.

*T*F*C*

"This gonna work?" Jayne asked cautiously as he leaned forward in the darkened bridge. _Serenity_ was in full blackout mode. Every ship light had been shut down and the engine turbine was silent. Wash was coasting on sheer inertia. Ahead of them, the lights of the Skyplex grew ever brighter as the station loomed in the not-so-distance.

"Well, except for the comm. static I'm piping out on all frequencies, we've been completely powered down since I fired the attitude thrusters a half hour ago. We should come up on their screens as a radar glitch." He glanced nervously back out of the windshield. "If they're not looking too close." He added a bit uncomfortably.

"And if they are?" Jayne asked.

"Hell, I'm just glad we're still on course." The pilot shrugged easily.

Jayne made a sort of disgruntled snort.

"It's like throwing a dart, Jayne." Zoe rested her hand on her husband's shoulder. "And hitting a bull's eye six thousand miles away." She looked down at him with pride. "That's my man."

"You guys should get down to the bay; we'll be at their foot door in less than a minute." Wash nodded as he began flicking a series of switches. He paused momentarily to look back at his wife. "I'll be right behind you, baby."

*T*F*C*

"How's that override sequence coming?" Zoe asked Kaylee as she circled the mini-barricade one last time. _Serenity's _bay was dark and Simon hovered next to the mechanic holding a flashlight.

"Pretty sure this will pop their airlock doors." The mechanic answered briefly before looking back to her handheld which was wired into the airlock controls. "If Wash can make a seal on his first try... shouldn't take more than ten seconds to complete."

"You know I'm smellin' a whole lotta 'If' comin' offa this plan." Jayne grunted as he tucked a second handgun into Kaylee's waistband.

"We operate any other way?" Riddick rumbled as he tightened his thigh holster.

"Coulda stayed in your bunk." Zoe shrugged as she picked up a rifle.

"Yeah, well, shoulda, woulda, coulda." The merc smirked as he cocked Vera's bolt. The sound of his gun cocking was timed in a near perfect unison with the sounds of _Serenity_ locking onto her target. Wash had done it. Less than thirty seconds later, the pilot was sliding down the bridge access ladder.

"We're set." He nodded to his wife as he shouldered a rifle of his own.

Zoe, in turn, nodded to Inara and Simon who were standing off on either side of the airlock door with smoke canisters at the ready. "Ok people." She cocked her gun. "If it moves, shoot it."

"Unless it's the captain." Kaylee interjected.

"Unless it's the captain." Zoe nodded once more. "ATV ready?" She shouted behind her back to Riddick and Jayne, who were firing it up.

"On you, Zo." Jayne yelled back.

"Kaylee, Riv, get ready to run." Zoe spoke without removing her eyes from the airlock door. The first mate slammed her fist down on the airlock controls.

"Do not let go of her hand." River whispered to Kaylee.

"Dontcha worry 'bout that." Kaylee whispered back, she quickly snapped her head around to Jayne, who nodded at her; she steeled herself.

*T*F*C*

Chagall tapped his monitor. An irritated sigh escaped his lips as the radar screen fizzled in and out of resolution. He tossed down the magazine he'd been flicking through and keyed up the outboard cameras; it took him a moment to process what he saw. The resulting thud as the unknown ship sealed onto the airlock shook him out of his stupor and, as the ramp slammed open, he rose and hit the alarms.

*T*F*C*

Niska's head jerked up wildly as a slight vibration rocked his station. A moment later, the alarms began to shriek. Despite his pain, or perhaps in defiance of it, the captain managed a trademark _Serenity_ smirk. It had 'fuck you' written all over it. "You got company " he choked out. "I can come back later."

*T*F*C*

Chagall watched from behind the glass of the security booth as the smoke poured out from the airlock entry concealing the attackers from view. He breathed a sigh of relief as the corridor doors hissed open; reinforcements. His relief was short lived as the sound of a motor roared from behind the billowing smoke. He fumbled for his rifle as an ATV flew out from concealment; he had barely registered the explosives strapped to it when the explosion came; shattering the glass window of the security booth. It was inconsequential really; his next breathe was his last.

Zoe and Wash were flanked on either side by Riddick and Jayne as they stepped down from the ramp. Every step was a shot fired. Nearly every shot fired was a body that hit the ground.

"Clear!" Jayne barked and his voice was echoed by the other three as they took up positions on either side of the corridor doors. Zoe with her husband; Jayne with Riddick.

Kaylee and River were a step behind and had already been moving before the last shot had been fired. River cleared away the remnants of glass before easily vaulting over the wall and into the booth.

"Jayne, grenades." Zoe barked and she and the merc both tossed an explosive; each in the opposite direction, effectively clearing the hall.

"Third team!" Zoe ordered. The remaining three members of _Serenity_ trotted down the ramp and took up places near the doors; weapons out. "You hold these doors. We lose this ground we lose everything." She yelled over the screeching alarms. "Hold these doors. Understand me?"

Book fired suddenly, dropping the first man in another wave which was sweeping in. "Understood."

Riddick stepped from cover, firing rapidly at the on-coming wave; Jayne yanked the pin form a grenade and lobbed it as the convict spun back into cover. "Time to move, Zoe." Riddick growled as sound of the explosion died.

*T*F*C*

"Viktor. _**Viktor**_!" Niska barked into the comm. again when no response came. "Viktor, what is the meaning of all this? Viktor!"

Mal's head rolled to the side as he listened to the gunshots and screeching alarms; something inside of him roared to life as the two men turned their backs on him. He was pushing himself up before his mind caught up with his body. The recently resuscitated man forced his legs off the table as his hand wrapped around the device which had nearly succeeded in killing him and, with what the preacher would have deemed a sinful amount of satisfaction; he slammed the device dead center into the back of his torturer. The man released a guttural scream of pain before dropping to his knees. Mal helped him find his way to the floor.

When Niska turned at the sound of the scream, the first spike of fear he had felt in nearly twenty years coursed through his body. This man before him truly was Malcolm Reynolds. He was sorry he had ever gone looking.

Mal swung; he felt his knuckles break; but the louder crunch of bone was the old man's jaw. The captain was beyond feeling pain now; all he saw was red; all he felt was red. "You want to meet the real me now?" He growled out as the old man cowered on the floor whimpering.

*T*F*C*

"They're good." Kaylee shouted at River over the sound of gunfire coming from the entryway as her fingers flew across the keys. The alarms died and, all across the ship, security cameras shut down and personnel found themselves locked down as Kaylee sealed up as many parts of the Skyplex as she could without blocking the path of the crew. "That's all I can give them." She added once her work was completed.

River did not reply; she merely gave a slight nod of her head as her eyes restless tracked around the airlock entryway. She vaulted back over the low wall and extended a hand to Kaylee. They were less than twenty paces from the others when River's world exploded.

*T*F*C*

Team One moved with military precision; two fired, while two reloaded behind cover. Around them the alarms died but that did little to stop the onslaught of gunfire that seemed to pin them down every time they managed to gain another meter. They were pinned down behind a stack of crating; sharing cover between that and the edge of a wall. It seem as though, for every man they dropped, two more seemed to materialize in his place.

"Gorramit!" Jayne growled as a bullet grazed his bicep. He hardly felt the heated sting. "The hell with this." He gritted out and rolled from cover to throw it.

"Jayne!" Riddick roared as he spun out behind the merc to grab him. He threw his entire body weight down as a spray of automatic fire riddled the crates Wash and Zoe were crouched behind. The first mate swore as she hurled the dropped grenade over their cover.

The quick explosion was practically useless as the projectile exploded midway. It did, however, provide enough of a distraction for Jayne to get back onto his feet and reload. Riddick rolled himself away and back behind full cover. The smear of blood left behind on the grating went unnoticed under the incessant assault of gunfire. Vaguely, Riddick was aware of heat spreading throughout his torso as he pushed himself back up to his knees. The lines of his vision blurred as he fumbled his gun and it clattered to the grating.

_Fuck it._ He thought to himself. He'd take the gorram _hun dans_ (bastards) with his shiv and one hand tied behind his back. Time seemed to slow as his body moved as though it was underwater. His motions were heavy and lethargic; his senses dulled. He was aware of the others firing; a part of his mind registered Jayne rolling back out from cover to empty a full clip as the merc pressed forward. They were moving. He had to get to his feet.

Riddick inhaled sharply; a snarl moving through his lips as he felt himself stand. Each breath burned like fire through his lungs and it took a severe amount of concentration to raise his left leg to step forward. His foot hit the grating and he felt his knees buckle beneath him. He gripped his shiv tighter; commanding his body to move forward. It did. Forward and down. There was the sensation of falling as he hit the grating hard once more.

"Riddick!" Zoe barked without looking back; her head jerked, motioning him forward to the next line of cover. There was no reply. She turned in time to watch the convict fall forward; shiv clutched tightly in his hand. Shock rippled through her as the man rolled over onto his back and gasped for air. She couldn't see the bloodstain which had blossomed its way across Riddick's tank, he wore black for that particular reason, but she didn't need to. The quickly forming pool of blood around him told her everything she needed to know. "Jayne!"

"A little busy, Zo!" the merc yelled back without turning to look at her. He holstered one handgun and pulled another from his hip; there was no time to reload.

"Jayne, it's Riddick!"

The merc's head did whirl around at that and the sight caused a sharp intake of breath. Why the fuck was Riddick on the ground bleeding? The merc hesitated only a second, waiting for it to happen; waiting for the man he knew was slightly more than a man to stand up glowing all freakishly blue. It didn't happen. Jayne fired as he walked backwards to get to Zoe and Riddick. He tore the last grenade off his belt as he knelt next to Zoe and lobbed it.

Zoe yanked Wash down and Jayne shielded Riddick as the explosion rocked the hall; the gunfire from the opposing side ceased. "_**Doc!**__" _Jayne roared over his comm.

A low, weak growl rumbled past the convict's lips; a rivulet of blood dribbled its way out as he tried to speak. He couldn't understand why they were crouched over top of him. There was shit to do. His fingers twitched around his shiv; his wrist flicked and the blade was impaled into the grating as if he was using it to try to push himself up. The movement caused a fresh wave of pain to sear through his body. He tried to focus it. He tried to channel it. He tried to roll himself back and use whatever it was that had gotten him up on his feet on Ariel; but even Shirah was silent.

_/River./_ The thought forced itself out and with it the convict's eyes fluttered closed.

*T*F*C*

River faltered and jerked Kaylee backwards at her abrupt stop. Pain seared through her torso; phantom blood bubbled up from her lips.

"River!" Kaylee yelled, as she tried to tug her forward.

River did not hear her.

"_**Doc!**_" Jayne's voice roared through the comm and echoed into the airlock entry. River heard the yell more clearly then her own heartbeat.

_**Reality shifted.**_

"_I can save him."_

_River jerked her head back wildly at the sound of her own voice echoing from outside her own lips. As her head moved, her environment shifted. The Skyplex seemed to bleed away and her blood turned to ice in her veins as stark white walls built themselves around her; three walls of white and one a solid mirror. Where the eyes lurked._

"_You're pathetic." River's eyes landed on the source of her stolen voice. Despite the colder tone to it, despite the controlled rage which lined every syllable, she knew it was hers; just as she knew the girl who stood before her now. She was taller, only slightly, and leaner. Her musculature was more defined. The silk ribbons braided into her hair were black. She wore leather, worn and, in some places, blood crusted the edges. The girl leaned against the mirrored wall with contempt laced across her features. "Weak." The girl pushed herself off the wall and strode towards River. She circled the Girl; a sneer plastered across her face. "They'll all die. And then where will we be? Cowering in some fucking corner, pulling our eyelashes out."_

"_This isn't real." River whispered._

_The Killer laughed; it was a giggle. It was the sound of blood bubbling from lips laced with the chiming of a thousand bells. It was intoxicating; seductive. "We are what they made us. Let me out to play, Girl."_

"_You won't give her back." River shrank back; she was afraid of this woman. This woman was the bringer of blood and death. "Lies and deceptions. Blood and secrets. That's what you are. You won't give the Girl the body back. You're a taker. They made you."_

"_They made __**us**__." The Killer hissed. Her arm snapped down and a blade retracted from her sleeve with a hiss which mimicked her tone. "He'll die. We can feel him. We can feel the breath leaving his body. I won't give him up. I'm asking now, Girl. I will take if you make me."_

"_He doesn't want you!" River shrieked. "Wants the whole; not the parts."_

"_That's why I'm asking." The Killer growled."Don't make me take."_

"_You'll give her back." It wasn't a question._

"_You give me the body when we need it; I will give it back when we're through."_

"_You'll stop pushing. You'll stop taking."_

_**/River./**_ _The sound of Riddick's mind broke through their minds. Both woman released a cry, fell to their knees, and gripped the sides of their head as though they were mirror images. They locked eyes._

"_I will." The Killer gritted out; the two words were a force of rage unto themselves and The Girl felt it ripple through her spine and strengthen her resolve. "We promised." The Killer reminded her._

_**/I won't make you kill, River, I won't be a Taker. But if the time comes, I gotta know you're with me. I gotta know you'll come after my ass, just like I do yours./**_

_**/She will. This is Dao./**_

_The Girl felt the memory be forced to the forefront of her mind. She looked up; the lethal intensity in her eyes mirrored the Killer's. "Done."_

_**Reality shifted.**_

"River!" Kaylee tugged on River's wrist again to try and get her moving.

River's head snapped up; her eyes darker, focused; she released Kaylee's hand as if the contact had burned her.

"River?" Kaylee's voice trembled as she took a step back.

River's head snapped back viciously. "Hold this ground." She pulled the gun from the holster on her thigh and crossed the distance that remained between herself and her brother.

"River!" Book and Simon shouted in unison as she stepped past them and spun out across the hall. Her back slammed into the wall as she pressed herself against it and used a thin beam as her only cover. She glanced around the bar.

"Don't look." She spoke seemingly to herself as she closed her eyes and once more spun from cover. Bang. Bang. Bang. It was just a rapid fire of the trigger.

"River " She heard her brother call her cautiously and she opened her eyes. Three new corpses littered the ground.

"_**Doc, move your ass!"**_ Jayne's voice roared over the comms.

Simon didn't have time to response. River grabbed him by his wrist and yanked him into the hall. She hesitated only long enough to glare at the Shepherd. "Hold this ground." She repeated the order but did not wait for a reply.

*T*F*C*

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

_Bullet in the brainpan. Squish._

Simon's eyes widen as his sister giggled. At the moment, Dr. Tam and Simon were warring for control. Someone was down and bleeding; River was going to get him there in time, and that was all that mattered. On the other hand, his sister was firing a gun as though it was an extension of her body. Every shot was a lethal one. She moved with fluidity; there was no hesitation or remorse. He was terrified and fascinated at the same time. He didn't have time to argue with himself, however, as River lead him around a blind corner and Riddick's prone form came into view.

He felt his stomach sink for a brief moment as he braced himself for River's breakdown. The sound of her gun firing shook him into reality and he was skidding across the floor swinging his med-kit to his front in the next breath.

"Talk to me, Zoe." He ordered; there was no hesitation left in him.

"What the hell are you doing here, girl?" Jayne snapped as River flanked him and pressed her back up against the wall.

River didn't answer. Objective One had been completed. The job was not finished; getting Simon to Riddick would serve no purpose if they were still overrun. The Killer was not done yet. She glanced around the merc's body; memorizing angles and trajectories; processing information at a speed which would have rivaled the Alliance's greatest super computers.

"I can seal the bullet holes." Simon rushed as he slammed a fresh cartridge into a liquid skin applicator. "It will stop the bleeding and buy me enough time to get him back to the ship." Dr. Tam looked up to hold Zoe's gaze. "I can't carry him myself."

River acknowledged her brother's words. "Get him back to Mother." She gritted out to Jayne. She didn't wait for him to protest; she yanked a spare gun from his thigh holster and spun out from cover.

_Bang. Bang._

_Spin._

_Step._

_One. Two. Three._

_Wall. Kick off._

_Bang. Bang._

_Forty-five degrees._

_The speed of a bullet._

_The force of artificial gravity._

_Bang. Bang._

_Spin._

_Discard weapon._

_Blade. Thigh._

_Spin. Shoot. Leap._

_Slash._

River landed in a defensive crouch; her right hand still clenched a gun in its grip; her left the blade. A single bead of blood dripped from its sharpened tip as she pulled herself upright. The corridor was silent. Zoe, Wash, and Jayne openly gaped; seemingly frozen in time by what they had witnessed. Simon was the only one not focused on her. His attention was centered around stabilizing Riddick as he wrapped pressure bandages around the freshly sealed bullet wounds.

River could feel their shock, touched by awe, and edged by fear. Her hand trembled slightly under the weight of their stares. They were afraid of her.

"Jayne!" It was Simon that brought the trio out of their haze and not a moment too soon. As their attention shifted away from her, River felt herself resettle beneath her skin. She dropped her gun; it was empty and no longer served a purpose. "Jayne, I need you to help me get him back to the ship." Simon urged the merc.

Jayne looked to Zoe who nodded. "Get him back, we'll go after Mal." The first mate's eyes shot towards River and the girl returned the woman's question with a slight nod.

Jayne nodded and shoved Vera to his back as he bent down to throw Riddick over his shoulder.

"River-," Simon called quickly. "_Mei-mei_-"

"Go." She cut him off and he nodded, turning on his heel to fall into step behind Jayne.

"Ammo check." Zoe barked to her husband.

"You don't want to know. I got less than two clips." The pilot rushed, breaking free of his own trance. River yanked a new gun from one of the guards bodies; choosing a compact handgun rather than the large rifle she knew had too much of a kick for her to fire properly. Force was nonessential if aim and speed were impeccable.

"It will be enough." River informed them. "It is time to move."

"Lead the way River." Zoe popped a fresh clip into her own weapon; River could feel fresh waves of respect and determination rush off the older woman. She didn't want to know how or why. She knew River could shoot, she knew she could kill, and she knew they were getting the captain back. That was all that mattered.

"By all means, psychics first." Wash nodded with a slightly nervous tic to his voice. He would process this all later; now was not the time.

*T*F*C*

Mal was staggering; it didn't stop him from throwing a right cross which sent Niska flying through the door of the torture room and into his office. The old man crawled his way desperately along the grating only to be ripped off the floor by the back of his collar.

"How do you like the real me?" Mal growled out as he sent Niska flying into his desk. The stained glass lamp, Niska's treasured Earth-that-was artifact smashed onto the ground, shattering into dozens of pieces. He didn't have the time to mourn its loss as he felt the captain's hands wrap around his throat. "I paid you back." Mal gritted out. "We were square." He slammed Niska's head into the desktop; cracking the built-in computer screen. "People gotta know what happens when they cross my crew." Mal cocked back his right arm, ready to deliver another blow to the old man's face, and he heard the footstep behind him too late. A length of barbed metal wire tightened around his throat and Mal was ripped off of Niska.

"Kill him, Ivan!" Niska choked, forcing air into his lungs. He did not wait for his order to be executed. He fumbled for a button beneath his desk; the bookshelf behind him hissed open and he ducked into the hidden passage.

Mal latched his hands onto the arms which held the barbed wire whip around his neck and struggled furiously. Every breath burned and darkness began to creep around the edges of his vision. Ivan was too strong; he wasn't going to be able to break his grip. Mal threw all of his weight back in an attempt to knock the man off balance; he was unaware they were struggling in front of one of the large glass windows which overlooked the core shaft. Glass shattered as they fell through it; neither man giving notice to the large gashes the broken shards had torn into their bodies.

Mal was thrown over Ivan's head as they fell; breaking the man's grip, he struggled to his feet, taking a blow to the jaw for the effort. The captain attempted to counter but was knocked back again and found himself precariously teetering over the ledge of the core shaft.

"Haven't you killed me enough for one day? !" Mal spat out as he fought to tear the man's hands off his throat.

*T*F*C*

"Get him on the table!" Simon barked as he tore through the infirmary doors. "Book, can you hook up an IV?"

"I can manage." The preacher's voice was steady and he moved for the equipment without a moment's hesitation. He was no medic, but he'd been in enough firefights to know the basics of triage.

"Get it done!" Simon ordered.

"Doc-," Jayne started as he shifted nervously. Riddick had taken those bullets for him but he was useless in the infirmary and outside the ship the fight was still raging.

"Go, Jayne!" Simon didn't even bother to look up as he began ripping away the first of the pressure bandages.

"The girls won't be able to hold the doors themselves." Book affirmed.

Jayne didn't need any further reason, he turned on his heel and headed for the bay at a full on run.

"He's lost a lot of blood." Simon was speaking but Book knew he wasn't addressing him. "I'm going to need to do a transfusion. There's a blood typing kit in the right cabinet."

*T*F*C*

River was the first through the door; Zoe and Wash fanned out on either side of her, their eyes and guns landing immediately on the smashed window. River, however, was more focused on the passage way beside the bookcase. She was not needed here; but nothing escaped The Flow of The River.

"This is something the Captain has to do himself." Zoe stopped her husband from pulling the trigger. River thought it was a particularly idiotic thing for anyone to say or think; she did not voice her opinion. Instead, she took a step back and towards the passageway behind Niska's desk. The Killer had business to attend to.

Wash lowered his gun slightly.

"No! No, he doesn't!" Mal yelled as he planted his boot into Ivan's kneecap, breaking the hold on his neck.

"Oh." Zoe smirked and fired. She and Wash didn't stop until they had emptied what remained of their clips.

"Help!" Mal cried out as Ivan's massive body crumpled on top of him.

"Sorry about that, sir." Zoe grinned as she and Wash pulled the corpse off of a floundering Mal.

"'Bout time ya'll showed up." The captain grumbled. "Where's everybody else?"

"The others are holding the ship. Riddick took a bad hit." Zoe grunted as she and Wash pulled Mal up between them and helped him back over the window ledge.

"Less talkie, more walkie." Wash joked; his feeble grin faded completely as he looked around the room. "Where's River?"

"Whaddya mean where's River?" Mal's voice rose. "You let her off the ship?"

*T*F*C*

River slid down the elevator cables; landing with a near inaudibly thud. She cracked the ventilation grate open using a blade from her boot and dropped into the car. It was a maintenance tunnel; the corridor outside the elevator was dimly lit. She did not require light. The careless beat of her quarry's footsteps gave away his position. He was moving slowly; nearly blind in the semi-darkness. She closed her eyes and focused her mind; her awareness narrowed. She raised her gun and fired a single shot.

A scream of pain ripped down the corridor; a dark smirk curled around River's lips as she allowed her footfalls to echo. She ran the butt of the gun along the metal walls; it shrieked a warning as she walked. He was panicking now; trying to claw his way forward on the floor; the shattered kneecap prevented him from standing. His fear permeated her skin; she drank it in.

*T*F*C*

"It's wrong." Simon risked a glance up at the test card only long enough to frown and go back to work. Riddick shouldn't have still been breathing; the amount of blood that he had lost so far should have killed him long before they made it back to the ship.

"It's the third test." The preacher deadpanned.

The implications whirled through Simon's head but he forced them into a distant part of his mind. "In the freezer." He jerked his head slightly to the left as she plucked another shard of metal from Riddick's stomach. "River's O neg. I took a liter from her before Ariel just in case."

"Is that going to even work?" Book asked, though he didn't hesitate to do as Simon had ordered.

"We don't have any choice; O neg's universal. It doesn't matter what his blood type is. Hook up the line."

*T*F*C*

"Are you familiar with the writings of Shan Yu?" River questioned; her head cocked slightly to the left; the tone of her voice foreign and heavily accented.

Niska could only gape at the slender young woman standing over him.

"Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose." She raised her gun. "You are neither a scholar nor a philosopher. You are neither warrior nor poet."

Niska swallowed hard, "What am I?" He didn't know why he asked the question; in the final moments of his life it seemed appropriate to ask.

River fired. "Dead." The gun fell from her hand. "Nothing in the 'Verse." She whispered.

_**Reality shifted.**_

"_Nothing in the 'Verse." The Girl's head jerked up at the sound of the voice that was hers but wasn't. She raised her eyes to see the Killer once more causally leaned against the wall. A bloodied handprint was left behind as she pushed herself off. _

_**"You ain't broken, girl. You're better; we're better. We're stronger and smarter and faster than all the other fucks out there. Universe is ours, River-girl, ain't nothing or nobody capable of standing in our way. You proved that tonight, girl."**_

_Their eyes did not break contact as The Killer forced the memory of the night on Canton to the forefront of her mind. Riddick's graveled voice rolled over her skin as though his arms were around her and his head lowered to her ear._

_**"That's my girl." He smirked wickedly at her before forcing her head to turn once more by guiding it with his own. He inhaled deeply and his words dripped like honey from his mouth. "Nothing in the 'Verse, River. Let them try and come, girl. This is what happens when somebody tries to cross us."**_

_**Reality shifted.**_

River threw up. The stench of piss and blood in the poorly ventilated maintenance passage was nearly overwhelming. It clotted in her nostrils and clung to her skin; she choked it up. Tears burned in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She pushed herself back onto her feet. She closed her eyes against the sight of death and her mind against the sound of it. She pushed herself outward. Her feet followed the trail her mind located and, as she passed by the elevator shaft, her pace picked up until she was sprinting.


	54. War Stories V

River pulled Riddick's arm around her waist as she rested her head against his bare chest. Dried blood still crusted her arms and face; she couldn't summon the energy to care. Instead, she closed her eyes and lost herself in the rhythm of his heartbeat; the steady rise and fall of his chest. She had banished her brother from the infirmary; closed the doors, dimmed the lights, and drawn the blinds. She could not will the rest of the universe away; instead she chose to ignore it. It was unfortunate the universe does not like to be ignored.

_**Little one.**_

River's body tensed. The lyrical voice sang inside her head and the smell of wet foliage tickled her nostrils.

_**Do not be alarmed.**_

River's body twitched in time with the sensation of the cord between herself and Riddick being severed. Panic shot through her veins and the only thing which kept her silent was the reassuring beat of his heart. Reassured Riddick was indeed still alive and breathing; she found it in herself to be more than a little angry that she had been so unceremoniously forced from Riddick's mind.

A low and very Riddick-like growl of irritation rolled past her lips. It was with no little smug satisfaction that River finally relaxed; realizing whether or not she was present for the conversation was inconsequential. Riddick had promised to conceal nothing from her; she would just read it from his mind when he awoke. She could wait until then.

*T*F*C*

Riddick opened his eyes as the smell of sulfuric ash wafted into his nostrils,

the scent was laced with wet foliage and damp earth.

He inhaled deeply.

_**Your time has not yet run its course.**_

Her voice was lyrical and light with amusement.

_Your timing's shit._

Riddick rumbled as he pushed himself up. He was unsurprised by the lack of pain and yet not naïve enough to think it would extend back into the real world.

_Coulda used a pop of whatever the hell it is you got before I passed out._

_**Again you assume I have any tangible influence over the world outside this realm. **_

She answered idly as her gaze drifted out and over the mountains.

_**A storm is brewing.**_

_That some kind of cryptic bullshit?_

_**Take it as you please.**_

Riddick repressed the urge to growl.

_Where were you?_

Shirah's head tilted to the left slightly, an amused smile played at the corners of her lips.

_**I was where I always am.**_

_Don't fuck with me._

Shirah's eyes flashed and Riddick took an involuntary step back. The weight of the slender woman's presence seemed to multiply and grow heavy in the air.

_**You forget yourself.**_

Her voice retained its lyrical quality but Riddick felt the edges of it bristle again his skin.

_The night with the Blue Sun Agents._

Riddick refreshed her memory.

_I heard you in my head, I felt you in my veins, __**you**__ made me stand. Where the fuck were you tonight?_

He snarled against his better judgment.

_**You honestly believe that had anything to do with me?**_

Her laughter bubbled out of her lips.

_**I told you, Furyan.**_

_**I enlighten.**_

_**I do not interfere.**_

_Then enlighten me._

The Furyan gritted out; unaware his veins had begun to pulsate, his eyes glow.

_**Anger, rage, Fury.**_

_**Love, bliss, Passion.**_

_**Emotion, instinct; that is our life blood.**_

_**Your ignorance grows tiresome.**_

_**You treat yourself as one of them.**_

The distaste and contempt in her voice was apparent.

_**You are Furyan.**_

_**Look at yourself.**_

Riddick looked down at his arms; words failed him as he watched the color pulsate beneath his skin.

_**She will bring you to me.**_

_**You rose, fueled by her memories; by her fear.**_

_**You rose for her.**_

She rose from her perch; the air around her crackled with energy.

_**Not for me.**_

_**You answered my call only after her influence.**_

_**Do you think this pleases me?**_

Her laugh was bitter.

_**Fate is cruel.**_

_**Leave me.**_

_What do you want from me?_

Riddick roared at her.

_What is this shit? What the __**Fuck**__ am I?_

_**If you have to ask, you are not ready to know.**_

_**Leave me.**_

_Not until I get my answers._

Shirah spun on him violently.

Several meters of space separated them; but Riddick felt her blow as if she had physically struck him.

His body flew backwards and slammed into a rock wall.

_Fuck you!_

Riddick roared as he propelled himself back to his feet. He lunged for her; moving so quickly he was nearly taken aback by the speed at which he reached her.

She spun easily out of the way.

The atmosphere crackled.

Lightning bolts tore through the sky as the violet clods churned wildly; turning almost onyx in their fury.

Shirah moved at a speed in which Riddick had no hope of tracking.

He was on his back; coughing and gasping for air before he realized he misjudged his lunge.

The tip of a sword pricked his jugular.

_**One day, Furyan, you will have the right to challenge me.**_

_**One day I will kneel before you.**_

_**Today is not that day.**_

_**Forget not your place.**_

_**Honor your ancestors.**_

_**Honor your mate.**_

_**Look to your clan before yourself.**_

_**Avenge blood with blood.**_

_**And perhaps one day, Riddick,**_

_**You will be worthy of your birthright.**_

Shirah pulled away her sword and turned her back on him.

_**Leave me.**_

_**She awaits you.**_

She made no attempt to conceal the bitterness in her voice.

_**Watch over her, Furyan, she holds the key to your salvation.**_

Riddick's eyes snapped open; it took several moments for reality to shift fully into focus. Gradually a familiar scent wafted into his nostrils; recognition was slow coming as his body fought the effects of the drugs which were pumping through his system. He didn't risk movement of any kind. He wasn't afraid of injuring himself; he was unconcerned with which parts of his body still functioned and which didn't. None of it mattered. That smell was River, the weight on his chest was her small frame, the breathy snore came from her lips as she slept; her hair fanned out across his chest. He made no attempt to wake her. He inhaled her. He ran his fingers over her skin.

_**She holds the key to your salvation.**_

"River." He rumbled softly as he tucked a loose braid behind her ear, letting his fingers dawdle over a length of silk ribbon entwined in it.

River's eyes fluttered open and focused themselves intently on Riddick's silver gaze. She did the only thing which seemed rational; she leaned her head up and kissed him.

Riddick did not push her away, he did not rush her lips, nor force anymore than what she gave him. He savored the taste of her lips against his. His tongue fumbled as images began to bombard his mind; as she showed him everything that had occurred after he had been shot. She broke away as the final shot blew through Niska's brain and resettled herself against his chest. He felt her pain and sorrow radiate through her skin; he felt her reluctance to kill war with the satisfaction of a justified kill. He felt her guilt for killing each man and heard the echo of their fall ricochet through her mind. It was the warmth of her silent tears which brought him to speak.

"Don't you cry for them, River." His hold tightened despite the flare of pain the action caused.

"Not for them." She whispered so quietly he wouldn't have heard it if not for his enhanced hearing. "For her. There is no going back. She came when he called."

"I'm not sorry." Riddick answered her honestly.

"Nor am I."

*T*F*C*

"Sure this thing's gonna stay on, Doc?" Mal asked as he approached the doctor who was packing up the equipment which enabled said ear to be reattached.

"The dermal mender creates an excellent tissue bond. It should be fine." He frowned as he looked up at the captain. "Just don't fiddle with it."

"Well, that's reassuring." Mal snorted but ceased his fiddling. "Be sure to uh, thank the Councilor for me. Awful nice of her to pull those strings and lend us the equipment." He cleared his throat uncomfortably as he thanked Inara.

"It was the very least she could do." The Companion replied sadly as she took in the captain's battered face. "I just wish you had killed that old bastard."

"Yeah, well I got regrets on that score myself." Mal replied quietly. He wasn't entirely sure Niska was in fact still alive. River's sudden disappearance and even more sudden reappearance as she dropped from a ventilation shaft nagged at him. She hadn't spoken on where she had gone or what she had done; in fact, she hadn't spoken at all other than to throw every one out of the infirmary. A point in which she had been ear-bleedingly vocal on. He had plans to talk to the Little Bit on that account. "So, I hear ya'll took up arms in that little piece of action back there." He said to Book and Simon. Both the doctor and the preacher appeared disinclined to speak on it and rather than look at Mal they looked everywhere else but. "How you farin' with that Doctor?" Mal asked, genuinely concerned. Simon was a doctor; it was his job to save lives, not try to end them. The preacher, Mal could see the weight of the night hanging heavy on his features.

"I don't know." Simon admitted. "I've never shot anyone before."

Book rested his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I was there, son. I'm fair sure you haven't shot anyone yet."

Mal had to chuckle a bit at the look which crossed the boy's face; his chuckle was followed quickly by a flinch of searing pain which made him regret it instantly. He opened his lips to address the preacher again but the look in the man's eye told him the question was better left unasked. He turned and headed up the stairs to reach the mess.

"Get that equip back to its owner, I wanna be off this rock and headed the hell out of this quadrant. We still got this run for Mr. U to make." He called over his shoulder as he slowly made his way up the stairs. "That beach Zo keeps talkin' 'bout is lookin' more and more appealin'. Captain's sick of being stabbed, that's for damn sure." He added under his breath to no one but himself.

*T*F*C*

Despite everything, Wash could not bring himself to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face as he smoothed out the placemat in front of him. The smell of Wife-y Soup tickled his nostrils. Zoe knew damn well he was wearing that smirk; she couldn't have cared, her men were alive and, thanks to the Councilor's dermal mender, relatively in one piece.

"Mmm Wife Soup. I must have done good." He grinned up at her as she set the bowl down and tucked a napkin into his shirt.

"Yes, dear, you done good." She leaned down and kissed his cheek; thanking every God she had ever heard of that she still could.

"Ow." Mal groaned as he stepped down onto into the mess from the rear stairwell.

"Captain, come sit," Wash waved his hand rather dramatically. "Get some Wife Soup. Unlike some wives, mine makes enough for everyone." He said smugly as he devoured the first spoonful.

"Thought we agreed we'd never mention those days again." Mal grunted as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"No, sir, I believe you ordered us to never speak about it and we've resorted to pointed looks and veiled remarks behind your back." Zoe smirked as she squeezed her way onto her husband's lap.

"Don't forget snickering. We do a lot of snickering behind your back, captain." Wash added cheerfully as he carefully navigated his spoon around his wife's hair.

Mal choose to ignore that as he carefully took a seat at the table. "One of these days, I'll fire the lot of you, and get myself a crew that knows how to give their captain the respect he deserves."

"Empty threat." Wash snorted, the action hurt slightly and he made a mental note to not snort until his broken nose had healed completely.

"Try all you like, sir; you won't find a better lot than what you got."

"Speakin' on the lot I got. I still am havin' some difficulty believin' the stories I've heard about the Little Bit's role in all of this."

"Would have been humped without her, sir." The lightness retreated from Zoe's tone.

"You have to admit it's a little scary." Wash said nervously. "Least she's on our side."

"Never seen anything like it, sir; not in the war, not ever. Girl was unstoppable; fired with her eyes closed and nailed every one."

"She kicked off a wall and shot two men square in the head with her eyes closed." Wash added. A bit incredulously. "We ever get an answer of where she disappeared to?"

"I got a clue." Mal said as he sipped his coffee. "Got a feelin' she went after Niska."

"Think she got him?" Wash asked.

"I do." Mal nodded.

"I owe her another shirt."

"Apples or chocolate, ain't that what she asks for?" Zoe asked seriously.

"I'm thinkin'more along the lines of a permanent position as a part of the gun crew." Mal answered.

"Wasn't she already?" Wash asked as he slurped down another spoonful.

"She was; but I'm thinkin' it's time we outfitted her right. Zoe, you'll see to it?"

"Yes, sir." Zoe agreed.

"Right then." Mal groaned as he pushed himself up. "That only leaves one other order of business."

"Sir?" Zoe arched her brow curiously.

"You didn't tell her, Wash?" Mal asked with feigned surprised.

"Tell her what?" The pilot looked up from is soup.

"You're husband has demanded we sleep together." Mal informed Zoe quite seriously.

"Really?" Zoe asked as she stood up from her husband's lap.

"What? Mal, come on." Wash groaned.

"He seems to think it would get all this burning sexual tension out in the open." Mal explained to Zoe, ignoring Wash. "You know, make it a fair fight for your womanly affections."

Zoe bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud. She feigned a creased brow.

"No. That was the torture talking. Remember the torture?" Wash clarified with a pointed jab of his spoon.

"I know it's a difficult mission but you and I have to get it on." The captain said neutrally as he placed Zoe's hands on his body and tried to not be utterly weirded out as he touched her as well.

"I understand, sir." Zoe cleared her throat and tried to not shudder. "We have no choice. Take me, sir. Take me hard." She managed to say evenly and without bursting into hysterical laughter.

"Now something about that is just downright unsettling." Jayne said from the foredeck hall, grimacing slightly.

Wash threw down his spoon with an eye roll and stood as Mal and Zoe made an attempt to kiss. The motion was awkward and unsettling in every way possible. Zoe was actually quite relieved when she felt her husband pull her away.

"We'll be in our bunk." Wash said pointedly as he turned Zoe in the direction of his desired destination. He slapped her ass for good measure as he followed her up the stairs.

Jayne stepped away to let them pass utterly confused and disturbed by the situation he had walked into. His confusion was quickly replaced by excitement as he spied the abandoned soup on the table. "Hey, free soup."

Mal chuckled. "Ow."

"Imagine that'll hurt like a bitch the next couple of days." The merc snorted as he helped himself to the forgotten bowl of soup.

"Imagine it will." Mal groaned slightly as he retook his chair.

"What its worth, glad you ain't dead."

Mal's face scrunched slightly at the merc's remark. "Thanks?"

"Would have been iffin' it wasn't for crazy killer woman."

"Keep hearin' that."

"Girl's got a hell of a shot."

"You got any objections to making her a gun?" Mal raised an eyebrow.

"Why the hell would I?" Jayne looked up incredulously. "Girl's gonna keep us all from gettin' dead." He looked at Mal with a half smirk. "'Tween her and Riddick, they'll make us a shitload of coin, too." Jayne's smirk faltered. "He up yet?"

"Ain't rightly sure." Mal narrowed his eyes.

"Took those bullets for me, Mal." Jayne admitted as he pushed the bowl of soup away; suddenly no longer hungry.

"That play any role in River becomin' a gun?" Mal asked curiously.

"Wasn't for her, he woulda bled out on that floor. That woulda been me, Mal. Don't rightly know how I feel 'bout a man dyin' in my stead. Wasn't for her, Kaylee woulda been dead in that explosion; weren't for her and Riddick that bullet on Canton woulda had my name written all over it; woulda been pinched for sure in that hospital job and we sure as hell wouldn't have made if offa that Skyplex. Girl's got a hell of a shot and can sniff out a set-up from a rock away. Can't rightly see a reason not to trust her. Seems kinda dumb to not."

"Jayne, I do believe that's one of the longest and most eloquent speeches I've ever heard you make." Mal said as he wondered if he would ever figure out the man seated across from him.

"What's eloquent?" The merc's brow furrowed as he debated whether or not he should be offended.

Mal shook his head and once more pushed himself out of his chair. He clapped Jayne on his shoulder as he headed out of the mess.

"Hey," Jayne barked. "What in the ruttin' hell didja call me?"

*T*F*C*

"I don't have any answers." River spoke suddenly, breaking the comfortable mental and verbal silence which had fallen over them.

"Does it matter?" Riddick asked her.

"She doesn't know." River sighed.

Riddick chose to ignore the pronoun slip; though, if he were to be honest, the constant switching between first and third person was more annoying than the constant third person.

"Can't help it." River answered his thoughts omitting the pronoun altogether rather than deal with the complications of its misuse. She was mildly amused that she hadn't thought of it earlier.

Riddick smirked. The doctor hadn't skimped on the drugs and he decided, at the moment, he couldn't be brought to really give a shit about any of it all. He had held true to his word and moved out of River's bunk. He'd missed the way her hair felt against his skin and the way her scent would cling to his skin in the morning.

_You fucking pansy._ He meant to think only to himself; the drugs however let the thought slip cleanly though. He knew she'd caught it when a sudden eruption of giggles tickled his chest.

*T*F*C*

Mal wasn't beneath eavesdropping; though it hadn't been his intention as he made his way down to the infirmary to speak to the last two members of his crew. The blinds were still drawn on the infirmary and the doors closed; but there was a slight crack and the distinct sound of the Little Bit's laughter caught him completely off guard. Laughter was the very last thing he had expected to encounter and so, as he found himself carefully positioned outside the door ,he told himself it was a captain-y right and didn't think on it again.

"Fuck you." Riddick rumbled out; the smirk on his face betrayed any pretense of annoyance.

"Likes him better on Prekocadrine." River continued to giggle.

"That what your brother gave me?" Riddick asked.

"Five hundred milligrams."

"That alot?"

River frowned suddenly and pushed herself up.

"His blood is wrong."

Riddick gave her a look somewhere between curiosity and indifference. He didn't quite understand how the question had required her to pull away to answer. "What's that got to do with dosage?"

"There are three alleles of the Blood type gene-," River started; trying to phrase her explanation in a way to make Riddick understand, "- A, B, and O. Two of these genes are present in blood; resulting in six possible combinations. These are genotypes-,"

"River-," Riddick groaned, "- I didn't understand shit of that."

River rolled her eyes. "You are genetically different."

"Knew that." Riddick smirked although he wasn't entirely sure why he was smirking.

"Simon did not." River informed him. "He wants more tests."

"He ain't gettin' them." Riddick shrugged; he wasn't seeing the issue still.

River's frown deepened and her eyes darted toward the door. The action did not go unnoticed by Riddick; his nostrils flared. "Lurking is considered creepifying." River scolded loudly.

"Wasn't lurking." Mal said indignantly as he opened the doors. "Ain't lurkin' when you're the captain."

"Suppose you got questions now." Riddick said easily even though a part of him was pissed the man had gone unnoticed for so long. A much larger part of him however didn't really give a shit at the moment.

"A few." Mal conceded.

"Warn you, captain; River doesn't have any answers." The convict smirked.

"How 'bout you?"

"Just as fucking confused as she is."

"Suppose you got the time to figure it out, seein' as you're lookin' to be bedridden for a bit." Mal mused.

"Shame I'll miss whatever job that creepy little shit has in store."

Mal snorted. "Not a chance in hell, Riddick. I told Wash to take the long ways; figure a two week haul will give ya plenty of time to get back on your feet."

"Kind of you."

Mal's brow furrowed slightly. "That's the drugs talkin', ain't it?"

"Most like." Riddick shrugged pleasantly.

"Kinda prefer you this way." Mal chuckled and once more regretted it instantly. "Ow. Had a reason for coming down here."

"Would be honored." River answered his unspoken words.

Mal quirked an eyebrow at her odd phrasing but didn't remark upon it. "Been told I got you to thank, Little Bit."

"I got shot for you." Riddick complained.

"People get shot around here all the time, Riddick; you want a medal or somethin'?"

"Wouldn't go bragging about it, Mal." The convict deadpanned.

"Anyway-," the captain shot the man a glare. "Just so's we're clear, Little Bit, you're acceptin' an official position aboard our girl here."

"She's a ruttin' mind reader, Mal; guarantee you she got the point before you even walked through the door." Riddick rumbled.

"Ain't the point, Riddick. I didn't offer if the words didn't come out."

River leaned over the edge of the bed and, in a very uncharacteristic display, threw her arms around a very surprised Mal; ignoring Riddick's sudden spike of jealousy. It took the captain a moment to recover from the shock of the gesture before he returned it.

"First Zo and now River." Jayne shook his head as he leaned against the infirmary doorframe. "Captain or not, I catch you huggin' up on Kaylee, I'll have to break your gorram arms on principle."

"Zo?" Riddick quirked an eyebrow as he tugged River back against him on the bed and out of Mal's embrace.

"It's 'cause I'm too damn pretty." Mal said unabashedly as he pushed himself off the stool. He had a feeling Jayne's appearance wasn't random. "Little Bit, you got your brother worked into all sorts of knots, you best go and check in with him 'fore he ruptures somethin'."

Riddick tightened his grip slightly in an almost reflexive action. River, however, was well aware of Jayne's purpose and she reluctantly pulled herself away.

Jayne waited until River and the captain disappeared up the stairwell before entering the infirmary.

"Got something on your mind, Cobb?" Riddick rumbled as he idly picked at one of the bandages on his chest.

Jayne dropped onto the stool Mal had occupied moments before and unscrewed a flask of whiskey. "Suppose I owe you, Riddick. Would be me iffin' you hadn't of knocked me outta the way. Know better than to do what I did. I didn't even look 'fore I stepped out." The merc took a long swig off his flask.

"You pass that this way and I could be convinced to call it even." Riddick replied eyeing the flask. A drink sounded real good at the moment.

Jayne took another swig and handed the flask over. "Hardly call it even." The merc grunted.

Riddick tossed back a mouthful before answering. "Ain't that what crew does?"

"Mal give you that one-open-eye-blinking speech too?" Jayne chuckled.

"Sure did." Riddick smirked. "To trim and crime, Cobb." The convict tipped the flask; took a quick sip and passed it back off to the merc.

"Trim and crime, brother." Jayne grinned.


	55. Interlude 10: Of War and Love

**A/N:**

**My deepest and most sincere thanks to everyone who reviewed.**

**Sxevlbtch, GenocideWolf, , librarywitch, Aireon Maris, Mstrentreznor, Dericof Diname, JadeSea, Serenitie1, Ashi-Eiketsu, SusanMarieS, pyrobabe7713, forestreject, Rachet, Amythest246, Elliesmeow, Bianca, ArtLightLove, Sabrina1204, ZenRyu, NightStar28, Surtur676767, Alexydra, Sere011, Rianeliza, Dessel Ordo, & Hidden Relvance**

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**You guys are exceptional. Much Love. Seriously.**

**Thug, for once more holding my hand while I cried and moaned and threw melodramatic fits, you are the whetstone to my shiv, a bazillion and one thank yous.**

***Standard disclaimers apply. Please don't sue.***

** This Interlude picks up immediately after the close of War Stories.**

*T*F*C*

Interlude 10- Of War and Love

_Ariel_

_Five miles south of Ariel City_

The corners of Four's lips twitched downward almost imperceptibly as his fingers moved deftly across the holographic keyboard. Directly to his left, his counterpart, Six, wore a startlingly similar expression as he worked his own screens. "There's nothing left."

Six made a sound in the back of his throat; a slight rumble of dissatisfaction. "The data banks have been completely wiped."

"Recovery?" Four questioned.

"Not possible. The system has been completely corrupted. There are traces of fragmented data suggesting a viral upload."

"Manual?"

"Not likely." Six answered somewhat absently as he tried to bring up another file location only to be completely shutdown as his screen fizzled and died. "Nav records have been destroyed completely."

"The Alliance is displeased with The Company's progress. The warrants on the Tams are being declassified in the next forty-eight hours. The Merc Guilds will have full access." The distaste in Four's voice was more than apparent.

"We cannot allow The Company to be exposed in such a way." Six stated firmly.

"Recovery in the next forty-eight hours is not possible. Twelve and Nine are fortunate they are dead. Their incompetence should not have been allowed to continue. Termination protocol should have been executed immediately upon E-7's escape." Four's displeasure was more than evident.

"We will assume that the Subject has completed the mission for us?"

"I believe we are beyond assumption at this point, Six. This is unfortunate." Four's minimal expression mirrored that of his comrade's. "The destruction of their computer databases, as well as themselves, can only signify that the Subject's cognitive, emotional, and volitional responses are stabilizing. To effectively neutralize both our Agents, as well as all of their tracking records, displays an unprecedented amount of conscious control. She is more of a threat than originally perceived."

"Such progress should not be possible."

"Dr. Tam." Four mused. "He is an important variable. The Subject was unable to facilitate her own escape until his assistance."

"You believe the Subject and Dr. Tam are receiving help?"

"It would be unwise to discard the possibility." Four stood up from the console he was seated at and straightened the lapels of his suit coat. "We will allow the bounties to serve their purpose and flush them out. The Merc Guilds are populated by ill-educated and underfunded men. They can have no hope of a successful capture. A confrontation however, will allow us to locate our quarry as well as assess her combat ability. We will begin to plan from there."

"We could implement the Subject's recall protocol." Six suggested.

"There is a reason Twelve and Nine did not." Four countered quickly, his tone suggested he held knowledge his counterpart did not. "They were only saved from immediate termination due to their extensive knowledge of the Subject. Not all information was released to The Alliance; nor was all of it stored in the Academy's mainframe. Subject E-7's files fall under the highest of Company classifications."

Six actually looked mildly startled by the information. "I trust you have managed to obtain this information?"

Four's lips twisted into what could be vaguely considered a smile; there was something underlying it which was so deeply disconcerting it could however never truly be counted as such. It was the extent of his answer.

"Please, do share." Six encouraged as he swiveled in his chair.

"The recall implantation was never completed. Testing on the Subject was halted due to unforeseen complications."

"Unforeseen?"

"The removal of the Subject's amygdala, as well as the subsequent experimentation on her anterior cingulate cortex, caused the activation of latent psychic abilities. Subject E-7 is both telepathic and empathic; precognitive abilities were unstable as of her escape. It was noted that the probable cause for the complications regarding the subliminal programming was a direct result of her psychic abilities. Subliminal suggestion is triggered directly by emotional memory; fight-or-flight." Four paused a moment to allow his gaze to drift out the windshield of the craft and into the quickly darkening skies of Ariel. "The removal of her amydgala should have negated the effects of an emotional reaction to subliminal suggestion and activated her cognitive mind to complete the mission."

"Should have?"

"E-7's telepathic and empathic abilities, alongside her own hardwired survival programming, allow her to function beyond the immediate command to determine the survival logistics of either course of action. In other words, she does not respond blindly to the commands as intended. Her mind processes the intent of the command and the long-term consequences as it relates to her survival."

"The subliminal suggestion gives her control?"

"Partially. During the initial testing, when recalled back to her controllers, the Subject reacted violently and use of the verbal shutdown codes was necessary. Only four tests were conducted; resulting in the deaths of nine lab technicians."

"The lab technicians held the memories of previous testing subjects." Six rightly assumed.

"Subject E-7 has thus far been the only test subject to survive the process. Staying within the facility or returning to her controllers was a direct conflict to her survival programming. Each controlled experiment resulted in an escape attempt."

"If triggering a broad Wave leads to a violent outburst, we will find her all the sooner. I fail to see the issue."

"That was not the only complication," Four continued, "When controlled cognitively, the decision to fight-or-flee is made based on logic and experience; not an immediate emotional response. The Subject needs to first decide whether or not she had the skill to fight or the means to flee. For this, the subject would need to access stored information to determine her capability. Due to E-7's inability to control her telepathy and empathy, the emotional climate of her environment determined the memories and information which were accessed."

"I still fail to see the issue."

"Subject E-7 has been stripped of the ability to filter or block information. She receives even without conscious awareness. Her reaction to the broad Wave is not our concern. The memories which surface during the trigger are. As of now, they are buried deeply under layers of psychosis created by her cognitive mind's inability to process the emotional information she is subconsciously receiving at all times. The keeping of secrets is our sole priority. There is no way of knowing whether or not the Subject retains the memories accessed after the trigger. The Subject, while in custody, had been in the presence of high ranking officials on both The Company and The Alliance sides; yet another security breach in regards to the Subject. Their minds were completely accessed. There is no way of predicting which memories, and what information, she will access in respond to the suggestion."

"It seems their enthusiasm has comprised their reasoning. This cannot be allowed."

"Live capture is their highest priority."

"Their?"

"Above and beyond our superiors, we have dedicated ourselves to the progression of a better world. A world without sin and pain. Their continued obsession with the Subject has clouded their judgment. Subject E-7 was a failure on all levels. The subliminal suggestion was meant to both recall her as well as communicate vital mission details; thereby allowing the Subject to work on a controlled independent level and negating the risk of connecting her to The Company or any government agency in the event of failure or capture. The Subject was to retain no conscious knowledge of her purpose. The Company experimentation has destroyed all possibility of this. She no longer serves a purpose. We will act in the best interest of The Company and our own survival. If The Company is brought down, so are we."

"They have become prideful."

"They have become greedy." Four added.

"This cannot be tolerated." Six concluded with conviction.

"The entire retrieval mission has been comprised. Subject E-7 is now actively aware she is being pursued. Live capture is not only ill-advised but also improbable. Planning and execution must be flawless. To defy The Company is, however, grounds for immediate termination regardless of whether we could viably make it appear as though it was unavoidable."

"Are you suggesting we allow the Merc Guilds to actively pursue?"

"We allow them to pursue. We allow them to fail. As Subject E-7's kill rate rises, the Merc Guilds will begin seeking blood. They do not take kindly to their own kind being killed. They will begin to offer up their own bounties. They will act irrationally. Information will no doubt turn completely public."

"We allow her to embarrass The Company?"

"And we give them no other choice than to activate a termination order."

"Retrieval of her brain is the only true necessity." Six mused. "Though it would encourage a reactivation of the research program. There must be nothing left from which to withdraw even the smallest of DNA samples."

"We wait for the termination order; allowing the Merc Guilds to track her for us. Once the order has been given, we will take her out in space. On the ground, the possibility for escape is too high. In space, she has only her craft or the vacuum."

"Either way she dies."

"As does all hope of reinstating the program. The Company will not risk the investment again."

"It must be flawless."

"And it shall."

*T*F*C*

_Serenity_

River followed quietly behind Mal. The fingers of her right hand trailed along the stairwell wall. The captain's mind was a tempest; conflicting emotions warred each other as he struggled to put form to his thoughts. There was a jaggedness to his mind courtesy of the physical pain of his body and, with each one of his labored breaths, the edges pulsated slightly.

"His guilt is unfounded." River finally broke the silence as they reached the mess.

"I had no right trying to call you."

"Would have felt it regardless. She was prepared, at least in this way."

Mal arched a brow at her; not quite catching her meaning.

River chewed at her bottom lip as she sorted through her own thoughts; choosing carefully which ones to turn into words. "Think of it like a cord." She pointed first to her frontal bone and then leaned up on her tip-toes to tap his own. "When his cerebral activity ceased, she felt the echo. His voice joined The Flow. She is sorry she did not see. Cognitive consciousness comes with a price."

"You ain't tellin' me... you're blamin' yourself for this?" Mal asked incredulously.

"She should have seen. Selfish sacrifice for lucidity." She cringed away from the captain's sudden spike of rage but made no move to leave the room. She deserved his anger. Had she been able to see, Riddick would not have been in danger; Wash and the Captain would not have been tortured.

"_Feng kuang de shi bushi ye gi yu chun de jie kou _(crazy is not an excuse for stupid)." Mal snapped quietly. "Ain't none of this your fault, River. I was the one that turned the job on Niska. Anybody gonna shoulder the weight of this it's gonna be me. _Dong ma?_" Mal was seething but his anger had nothing to do with River; it was self-directed. "My mistakes. Not yours."

"Should have seen." She shook her head slowly.

"When you could see, all ya ever went on about was how you weren't meant to. Now ya can't and you're tellin' me you should have."

"The hypocrisy is not lost on her." She sighed as she toyed with a braid.

Mal limped slightly over to the table and dropped into his usual chair at the head. "You wanna talk 'bout things people should have seen, let's talk on the fact I knew Niska wasn't gonna let this drop. I was the one that set the deal on Ezra even though I knew his space station was here. I walked right into that trap. Blame falls anywhere, it falls on me."

"Inconsequential." River dismissed him. The man was dead now by her hand. She repressed the urge to shudder. It had been justifiable. The man was a monster. A monster that cut and sliced and poked and fed off of screams as he searched for the _Dao _hidden within.

"You killed him, didn't you, Bit?" Mal asked quietly.

"He took what did not belong to him." The captain was momentarily taken aback by the sudden darkness which flashed into her eyes. For the briefest of moments, he saw someone other than River sitting next to him at the table. "He took what was hers. This was unacceptable."

"So we're yours then?" Mal answered with a slight smirk; looking to ease the tension in the air which had spiked to an almost palpable level.

"You would have come for her."

"Nothing in the 'Verse woulda stopped us." Mal answered without hesitation.

"Family." River's posture softened, her tone eased and the tension in the room subsided. "'This is what we got. This ship. This crew. And the Black. That big beautiful sky beyond the sky.'" She quoted him back to himself and the slight smirk he had been wearing turned into a full blown grin.

"Speakin' of that big beautiful Black; captain's gettin' itchy sittin' on this dust rock. Whaddya say we fire our girl up and get back where we belong?" He pushed himself up from the table with a groan and jerked his head toward the bridge.

"He has been electrocuted, stabbed, burned; he joined The Flow, escaped The Current; was beaten, strangled-,"

"Yeah-," Mal cut her off with a grimace, "-I was there."

"Rest is the recommended activity. Flying, which requires mental calculation and focus, is not." River scolded him.

"Well, that's why my psychic is coming up to help." Mal shrugged. "Captain passes out; she'll make sure I don't kill the lot of us."

"She is not a pilot." River pointed out.

"Yeah but you are a gorram genius or so I'm told. I'm sure you'll be fine. 'Sides, I go out, just pluck it from my head." He shrugged again.

"Wash's would be preferable." River giggled.

Mal snorted. "You wanna fly or not, Bit?"

"The captain is more than adequate." River amended quickly.

"Don't believe you for a second, girl." Mal chuckled even though the action hurt somewhat as he headed down the foredeck hall. He dropped into the pilot's chair and his hands slid over the controls reverently. There had been a moment where he had thought he would never feel her again. "Been a long day." He sighed more to himself than River; who had seated herself neatly in the copilot's chair as he began the ignition sequence.

"There will be longer still." River's answer came on reflex; she was unaware of it as she studied the controls. Her eyes glazed and her head tilted to the left slightly. Mal had turned to reply but something about her posture caused him to hold his tongue. It was with no small amount of quiet fascination that he watched River mumble to herself as her fingers danced along the switches and controls. She pressed nothing, her fingers merely gracing over the warm metal, as her mind analyzed and broke down the secrets of the Mother's wings. Abruptly her eyes cleared and she straightened; a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Day is a vestigial mode of time measurement based on solar cycles. Not applicable. Only night; only darkness in the Black." She spoke softly as she looked up at him.

Mal frowned slightly. "You sayin' you'd rather keep to ground?"

River shook her head. "Not meant to walk into the light. Not anymore."

Mal felt her words echo in the core of his being. "During the Battle of Serenity-," the captain began slowly, choosing the words for his memory carefully as he completed the ignition sequence, "-those first few days we thought we had 'em; we thought we'd run them right off-world. We needed Hera. It was gonna turn the war back in our favor." He paused and inhaled deeply. "Days turned to weeks; sixteen brigades turned into ten and then five. Air tanks fell out of the gorram sky." Mal couldn't remember ever talking about the Battle of Serenity with anyone other than Zoe and even those conversations were short and stilted. "I believed in an all-powerful and mighty man on high in those days. May not be any atheists in foxholes but, at the end of a war, you'll find plenty. Lost alotta men then, but it was somethin' you accepted. You moved on. After the ceasefire though, the dyin' never stopped. It's those ones I can't get out of my head." Mal physically shook himself; he had a point when he had started talking but somehow it had gotten lost as the words spilled off his tongue. He pressed forward on the controls and with a slight shudder Serenity left the golden sands of Ezra far behind. He didn't speak again until they had broken atmo. "I ain't the man I was before the War; there's no goin' back to that man. He died somewhere on Hera, in a blood soaked trench. I suppose it ain't much different for you, Little Bit."

"There is no going back. Only forward." River said sadly, the smile which had only barely graced her face dissipated quickly.

"Then forward it is, Little Bit. You game?" He flashed her the trademark _Serenity-_smirk, shaking off his own tormented memories.

"Are you?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Darlin'-," Mal drawled out, "-it's what I do."

*T*F*C*

Book sat alone in his dorm, a broken down handgun in front of him as he methodically stripped and cleaned each one of its pieces. He had forgotten how soothing the familiar motions could be. He had crossed a line tonight; one he had sworn he would never cross again. He could have chosen to fire nonlethal shots but he hadn't. He had been angry. He had been enraged when Simon had opened the cloth handkerchief to reveal the captain's ear. The brutality of it had angered him; the mindlessness of it all. He was surprised to find that he held no regrets on what he had done. There was no guilt. There was no shame or remorse; only satisfaction that they had succeeded.

It disturbed him that he should feel nothing for the lives that had been taken. He had prayed over and buried the bodies of the bandits in Ridings West and yet he felt nothing for the corpses they had left behind on the complex. Perhaps it had been the look in River's eyes as she spun out from cover to clear the hall; perhaps it had been the condition of the captain as Zoe and Wash had hauled him back on board; either way, he realized the reasoning was inconsequential. He was a Shepherd; he had done what was needed to protect his flock. He had nothing to feel guilty over.

It was, however his hesitation to once more set aside the gleaming metal and replace it with his Bible which troubled him. Violence had been the way of life on Sigma Three. It had been his desire to leave it all behind him that had driven him to seek refuge among the brothers of the Abbey. Riddick's words regarding the pieces of the story they had left out haunted him.

"_And killing will undo those sins?" He had challenged._

"_No, but it might let you live long enough to."_

He had decided weeks ago that God had given him this flock for a reason. Was that the reason? Could redemption be found by protecting River? The pain in her eyes seemed to echo the thousands of unheard voices on Sigma Three. A daily reminder of the sins he had both committed and stood aside to allow to be committed. Perhaps this was his penance; a chance to atone. A chance to stand for a cause rather than hide from the darkness of his past. He slid the last piece of his gun back into place and tucked it into his waistband, pulling his shirt out to cover it.

X

"_You've been gone for four days, Riddick."_

"_I can count." The man replied easily as he rolled a blade across his hand. He flipped it once before catching it and sliding it back into his boot._

"_Goddamnit, Riddick!" Derrial snapped as his fist hit the table. "Riker has been missing for three of those four days and yet you stroll in here without a gorram care in the fucking 'Verse!"_

_Riddick arched a brow as a smirk edged across his lips. He didn't bother to reply._

"_I know about Rhea."_

_A snarl broke free from his smirk as Riddick's body tensed. "I'd choose my next words real careful-like if I was you, old man."_

"_Fuck you, Riddick." The Commander spat out. "Remember who the gorram hell you're talking to, boy. One word from me and you'll spend the rest of your shit life rotting away in Slam. I'd check my tone if I were you."_

"_That a threat, Commander?"_

"_No, Riddick." The older man dropped into a chair across from his underling. "It's a warning. You crossed a line."_

"_Got any proof?" The soldier smirked once more._

"_I don't care if you're innocent or guilty!" He barked, losing control of his temper once more. _

"_We're all guilty here." Riddick rumbled darkly. "Residential D-11? That wasn't a fucking uprising; that was a fucking bloodbath. And for what, Derrial? For fuck's sake, we mowed those people down and why? Cause they were fucking starving to death and got sick of begging for scraps. How many women can you hear screaming at night? How many kids do you watch march into those mines every morning?" _

"_Not our concern, Riddick. We do the job we're paid to do. You're a fucking merc, not a soldier. A point you're real keen to forget. We're not Alliance. We're not government. We're fucking Company."_

"_Wasn't the package they sold me on."_

"_What did you expect?" His Commander barked back harshly, shoving his chair out from behind him as he rose. _

"_I was fifteen. What the fuck was I supposed to expect?" He growled back, rising from his chair as well. He stood a full head taller than his superior and, to the older man's credit, he did not flinch away._

"_Don't play that card with me, Riddick. I know you. You like this life. You were born with a hard-on for this shit."_

_Riddick moved with blinding speed and the Commander found himself pinned against the wall before he had time register the movement. "I am __**not**__ a fucking rapist! I am __**not**__ a fucking murderer! Fuck you, Adams. Fuck you!" He snarled, his face a mere handful of inches away from the older man's. "Three pounds of pressure, all it takes to crush a windpipe." His voice was a graveled whisper, the hiss of it reminiscent of the Spitfires they hunted. To illustrate his point, he tightened his hold. "I'm done. I'm out." Abruptly, he released his grip and stepped back._

_His Commander did not collapse against the ground as Riddick had expected; instead, he found himself with a gun leveled straight at his head. "You put your hands on me again, boy, and I will end you." He threatened._

_Riddick smirked darkly and stepped forward, forcing the gun flush against his forehead. "Do it. Ghost me, muthafucka'. "_

_Derrial lowered his weapon. "I don't like to waste resources." He replied evenly._

"_Not a resource anymore, old man, or are you deaf? I said I was out."_

"_There's no leaving The Company, Riddick." The tone and demeanor of the older man changed significantly as he dropped back into a chair, gun in hand. "Don't you think I've tried? That's how I ended up here. Only way out is death; they leave that out in the contracts. You try to take the out and you'll be the first one down, I promise you, son. They have more power and money than you can imagine. You signed your name on that contract. They own you, Riddick. They own all of us. They can make you disappear just as easily as they make the miners here disappear. Standing against them is signing your own death warrant."_

"_I'll bring them down with me then." Riddick rumbled darkly. The corner's of his lips twitched as he savored the fresh memory of Riker's screams. The smell of his blood; the heat that spilled from the freshly gutted body... not that there had been much left to gut by the time he had gotten around to it. He'd even made a new Spitfire friend by feeding him the scrapes left behind._

"_What are you talking about, Riddick?"_

"_Give me some time to get some hard copy. I need your comm. codes to get the signal off-world."_

"_You can't bring them down, Riddick."_

"_Have you been listening? I. Don't. Give. A. Shit."_

"_She meant that much to you?" He asked quietly._

"_Don't you fucking speak her name to me, old man. You ain't worthy of the sound coming off your lips." Riddick growled._

"_I wasn't always this man, Riddick." Derrial said, defeated. He hadn't been; too many years of looking the other way and turning his cheek had made him jaded and bitter. He'd bought the better world gou shi hook, line and sinker, only to realize it wasn't anything but an ugly little lie."Get me something concrete. I'll get you and the evidence off-world."_

"_You could come with me, Derrial." Riddick offered. "You stay and they'll eventually figure who helped me."_

"_I can't get the both of us off-world." _

"_Signing your own death warrant, old man."_

"_And maybe it will undo some of my own sins. I'm an old man, Riddick, perhaps my last act should be a good one."_

_X  
_

"Know you're out there, Shepherd." The words rolled lazily past Riddick's lips.

"Even drugged, there's no sneaking up on you, is there?" Book said as he stepped into the Infirmary.

"Can smell your hair grease from across the ship." The convict smirked though his eyes remained closed. "Might as well say whatever it is you came to say."

"And what makes you think I have anything to say?"

"Seems like the whole ship has something on their minds tonight. River's been through here; Mal, Jayne, now you. Who woulda thought? I get shot up and the whole ship goes all pansy-like on me."

"I believe that's the first time that word has ever been used to describe me." Book said with a slight edge of amusement in his tone.

"You went all Godly on me." Riddick rumbled.

"Men change."

"Do they?" Riddick arched a brow and cracked one eye open. "Keep walkin' if you're looking to save me, preacher-man. Not enough drugs in the 'Verse to get me to buy into that _gou shi_ (crap)."

"I didn't come here to preach." Book said tiredly as he took the stool next to Riddick's bed.

"Why did you come?" Riddick asked curiously.

"When you look at her, do you see Rhea or do you see her, River?"

The snarl that escaped Riddick couldn't be controlled. "I warned you once about saying her name." The fuzziness in his head due to the drugs dissipated instantly. "And you will keep that name to yourself or I swear to shit, old man, it will be the last sound that _**ever**_ leaves your fucking lips. You have no fucking idea what you're talking about." He barked. "River ain't Rhea. Rhea's dead. Gone. Fucking halfway to dust by now. You fucking leave her there."

"My apologies." Book nodded his head slightly.

"Fuck you." Riddick growled and, for the briefest of moments, Book could have sworn the man's eyes flashed a brilliant cerulean.

"I didn't come here to provoke you, Riddick." Book said calmly as he removed the gun from his waistband and held in out in front of him.

"You come here to shoot me?" Riddick asked with a tilt of humor returning to his voice.

"I don't like to waste resources." The preacher replied, his eyes never leaving his gun.

"Seems like you playing at being a man of God is a hell of a waste to me." Riddick rumbled, his curiosity now thoroughly spiked. The preacher did not respond immediately and Riddick took the opportunity to see just how far he could push it. "Feels good, doesn't it?" The convict's chin jerked to the weapon in the shepherd's hands when the older man looked up. "How long has it been? Once told me I had a hard-on for this life; could say the same about you."

"Celibacy has many forms." Book mused idly. "I suppose it says something that this gun feels more right in my hands than a Bible ever did."

"We are what we are, preacher-man." Riddick rumbled as he leaned back against the bed, closing his eyes once more. "Can't fight your nature."

"You would be the expert on that, wouldn't you?"

Riddick smirked, "Maybe I am; or maybe I'm just as fucked in the head as River." He shrugged easily.

"They'll never stop coming."

"You wanna tell me something I don't know?" He arched a brow though his eyes remained close. "You saw her tonight." His voice took on a tone of reverence. "She showed me." He opened his eyes. "Through that thing with our heads. Fucking beautiful." He left out the fact she had been kissing him when she did it; that was just none of the shepherd's gorram business.

"You are aware she fires with her eyes closed."

"Fights in the dark." Riddick smirked darkly. "My kind of woman."

"That wasn't River fighting." Book said firmly. "I don't know what she showed you but you didn't see the look in her eyes."

Riddick leveled his gaze on Book. The smirk on his face deepened. "You're wrong." He said smugly. The automatic timer on his IV line beeped and the convict relaxed as a fresh wave of painkillers washed through his veins. "They have no idea what they unleashed when they fucked with her. Pay attention, old man, 'cause real soon my girl is going to show them."

Book did not remark on the prideful tone of his voice, nor the pronoun he had placed before the word girl.

"And it's going to be a hell of a show." The convict chuckled darkly.

"When the time comes, Riddick, I'll be there."

"Welcome back, Commander." Riddick replied somewhat smugly.

"No, Riddick. _**That**_ man is never coming back." Book corrected him, as he rose and headed back towards his bunk.

"He already is." Riddick rumbled quietly to himself as he listened to the Shepherd's retreating footsteps.

*T*F*C*


	56. Interlude 10: Of War and Love II

Serenity

_Dead Space_

_Three days later_

"How is your sister?" Book asked Simon over the chessboard they had set up on the mess table.

"Surprisingly well." The doctor replied with a slightly furrowed brow. Whether or not the expression was due to the game or the conversation, even he wasn't entirely sure. "She's been a bit quiet perhaps, but it's not the same kind of quiet as before, if that makes any sense at all."

"I suppose it does." Book mused as he took Simon's bait and captured his rook. "More of a serene quiet than-"

"The creepifying, crazy quiet." Jayne interjected from the small alcove where he was attempting a game of Mahjong with Kaylee.

"Be nice." Kaylee scolded as she completed another book.

"Didn't mean nothin' by it. Can't argue it was creepy as hell when she just sat there and stared." Jayne grunted; scowling more over the game than the conversation.

"I was going to say 'unsettled'." Book offered. "Your move." He prompted the doctor who had been distracted by Jayne's remark. "She has seemed more aware these last few days."

"The medication is helping significantly. I'm hoping, over time, she'll be able to develop a mental shield so to speak. The medication can only do so much; she'll need to learn a degree of control herself."

"And the side effects?"

"They come and go. I could give her more medication to counteract them, make them easier to deal with, but I can't fathom she would want them." Simon sighed. "Unfortunately, treating a psychic is beyond my realm of experience."

"Ever think maybe she don't need to be treated?" Kaylee interjected.

Simon looked up from the chessboard, his brow furrowed slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, ya'll talkin' like she's got some kinda disease or somethin'. Ain't nothin' wrong with Riv, 'sides the fact she gets confused. I know she's your sister and all and ya worry but, seein' as how Riv's a Reader, she feels all that worry and fear. We don't mean to but sometimes we all tip-toe around her like she's made of glass. Iffin' all the time every day people are just waitin' for you to crack, sooner or later you're gonna crack."

"That's surprisingly logical." Simon blinked several times.

"All I'm sayin' is give her some room to breathe." Kaylee shrugged. "Gotta trust her and, when she feels that comin' offa ya instead of worry or fear, she's a whole 'nother person. Why ya think she's so calm with Riddick? 'Cause she knows that he trusts her. He ain't just sittin' around with one eye on her and the other hand on a needle."

"I don't sit around with a needle in my pocket, thank you." Simon lied. He felt he was entitled to; after all, Riddick was also walking around with a syringe in his pocket. He wasn't going to correct her though because that meant revealing why the needles were necessary.

"Just an example." The mechanic shrugged again. "Me and Riv spend alotta time in the engine room together and she ain't never once had a fit with me in that room. Why? 'Cause we got a job to do in there and I trust her to get it done. _Serenity_ trusts her."

"I do trust her." Simon argued, though even he had to admit it came out as more of a whine than an argument.

"But ya spend all your time trying to fix her. Time to realize there ain't nothin' to be fixed." Kaylee pressed her point. "She's Riv, might not be exactly the same as ya remember her, but she's still Riv."

"Just got herself a whole new skill set." Jayne chuckled as he finally managed to complete a book. "Maybe she could show you a few things." He suggested to Kaylee, surprising everyone in the room. "I mean, ya'll the same size, she can show you basic defense. The way I fight won't do ya no good and, seein' as how this last run in with Niska played out, I feel a lot better if ya knew a thing or two."

"Ain't a half bad idea, Jayne." Mal said suddenly as he and Zoe entered from the foredeck hall. "I'd feel a lot better if everybody on board carried from this point on. Been thinkin' these bigger jobs Mr. U will be sendin' our way means we'll be cuttin' into the bigger crew's profits. May be a few that won't take kindly to the competition." He added as he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.

"Been thinkin' on that myself." Jayne grunted.

"Soon as Riddick's up and movin' around, we're gonna have a little ship meetin' I think." Mal mused openly.

"Wouldn't hurt to have some Plan B's set up." Zoe agreed.

The game in front of Simon was momentarily forgotten by him. On the one hand, he could clearly see the points being made; on the other, he was still River's _ge-ge._ Just because she had proven she could handle herself in a fight didn't mean he wanted her anywhere near one. The bigger issue being he didn't think exposing River to even more violence was such a good idea. He remembered the night before Ariel when she had come for blood all too clearly and, while her assistance had quite possibly turned the tide on Niska's Skyplex, he couldn't help but be slightly afraid for her. What if one day she was faced with something she couldn't handle? What if one day she couldn't turn it back off? How much was too much?

"Got ourselves a Reader we ain't been usin' to her full potential. Gonna need to develop a system of codes or signals; this way the Bit can tell us when something's about to go down." Mal added, seemingly lost to his own train of thought.

"How often do you plan on taking her on jobs?" Simon tried to ask neutrally.

"As often as she's needed." Mal dismissed him. He wasn't going to get into this conversation with the doctor again. River was a grown woman, albeit slightly confused at times. She wanted to work, be a part of _Serenity_, not just a passenger. Mal wasn't going to deny her, not after their previous conversation. "Where is the Little Bit this morning?"

"Where do you think?" Simon snorted, perhaps slightly bitterly. He couldn't decide if it was the doctor, the brother, or the sane human being in him that didn't like Riddick. River had asked him to trust the man so he would, but it didn't mean he had to like him.

"Might consider easin' up on the man." Zoe remarked.

"Excuse me?"

"Just sayin'." The first mate shrugged. "Man took a handful of bullets for Jayne back there, stuck around when they tried to burn you and your sister, not to mention that job on Ariel. You keep thinkin' he's dangerous for her to be around but, so's far as we've seen, he's done nothin' but put her and the crew first. For a man like Riddick, that says a lot."

Simon couldn't argue the point. "I'm her brother. I'm entitled." He chose to dismiss the argument altogether and tried to refocus on the game in front of him.

*T*F*C*

Riddick wanted to talk to River about Shirah. He had successfully walled off his last vision and he knew River was curious. He could feel her probing the wall; testing for weakness but she wouldn't find any. Allowing her access to the greater part of his mind freed up the energy to effectively seal off a much smaller part. River was not pleased over the fact, but had accepted it when he had told her he would tell her, he just needed to twist it around a few times first. The truth of it was, at the moment, he wasn't really twisting anything around in his mind except for the feeling of River's hair running through his fingers. The truth of it was, he was fighting the urge to say 'fuck it all' and run into the Black with her. It wasn't really an option. He knew it. It didn't stop the thought though. Talking about taking The Company and The Alliance head-on with Book was one thing, and entirely another when River was wrapped up in his arms; when the cost of the venture was a tangible concept he could feel breath against his skin.

"Where's your brother?" Riddick rumbled against River's ear. Jayne and Wash had helped him get the hell out of the infirmary and back into his bunk for the remainder of his recovery earlier that morning. The lights were dimmed to their lowest setting and River's body was spread out across his as his fingers twisted into her braids.

"Chess." She replied distractedly as her fingers traced the lines of his bicep, savoring the warmth of his skin. Riddick felt her head shift and her heart-rate lower. The aimless wandering of her fingers turned to a series of numbers traced out against his skin. He didn't bother trying to follow them; the calculations made no sense to him anyhow. "Should the Shepherd continue along his chosen strategy, Simon will claim victory in one hour, twenty-three minutes."

River listened to the rumble in his chest with a serene satisfaction. Mother was humming, her tone matched that of Sunshine, and warmth emitted from the usually cold metal walls. It was the calm before the storm. River knew this; she felt no need to inflict the knowledge on others. Her precognition was still inactive; it was not foresight which told her trouble lay ahead. It was inevitable. There was no need for calculation.

"Thinking about talking to Mal about making some changes." He rumbled.

"Daddy's mind has already begun to travel along those trails." River replied disinterestedly.

"Creepy as hell when you call him that."

"_Dao."_

Riddick, quite frankly, did not feel like expending the energy on that particular topic and so he ignored it to continue along his original line of thought. "Man likes to plan as he goes; makes me itch."

"Failsafes, protocols, rally points; not just the prized birds and those that chase to be wary of. Reputation comes at a cost."

"Won't take long for word to spread that _Serenity_ is the ship that took down Niska. Between that and that weird little shit Mr. Universe, won't just be the law looking for us now. Don't really think anyone will care to try to get blood for Niska, but we'll be stepping on a few of the bigger dog's toes once we start cutting in on the bigger jobs."

River propped her head up on her elbow to look at Riddick, an amused smile twitching at her lips. "Thought he was the biggest and the baddest in the darkness?" She teased.

Riddick smirked darkly. "Oh, I am. Doesn't mean it'll stop them from trying to make a name for themselves."

"Pride. Greed. The fall of men." River replied absently as she buried her face back against his chest.

"Had an idea, River." He mused after a few moments of comfortable silence passed between them.

"It is a viable theory." River yawned against his skin and it took Riddick a moment to recollect his thoughts.

Riddick had been toying with the idea ever since Book had brought up the fact she had shot with her eyes closed. Given River's mental capabilities, he had a feeling she didn't need more than a peek. He figured it wasn't precognition. It was more calculation. She pinned their positions and then tracked their movements as they shifted through a combination of tracing their thought patterns and calculating probabilities. If River could step into his long-term memories, who was to say she couldn't do the same with his short-term? River wouldn't have to see. As long as he could see, so could River; it all centered on how quickly see could access what he was seeing.

"It is you that cannot keep up." River muttered faintly.

It was more than loud enough however for Riddick to hear. "That so?" His voice held a dangerous, yet amused, quality to it.

"Fast like a freak." River yawned, halfway to sleep already.

Riddick gave her no warning. She let out a small shriek as he flipped her beneath him and had her hands pinned above her head. "So much for being faster and we already know I'm stronger." He rumbled darkly against her ear; his chuckle trembled down her spine making her hyper-aware of her position.

"Riddick." His name left her lips as nothing more than a whisper.

The convict purred at the sound of it. He was unaware he had ripped the IV from his arm in the process of pinning River; though had he been, it would have been just as inconsequential. He had been telling himself she wasn't fully there yet; that he had to wait, let her come to him. Those resolutions vanished at the feeling of her body bending beneath his. Her scent was shifting and he inhaled it deeply; his lips moving from ear to her jawline and from her jawline to her lips of their own volition.

"Riddick." She whispered again as he broke free for air and the low growl that rumbled through his chest caused her to forget the point she had been trying to make before he kissed her. Not that she didn't want his kisses; in fact, she very much did. It was the fact that his quick movement had not only torn out his IV but reopened his stitches and he was now bleeding on her, which she found unpleasant. "Riddick." She tried again.

"Stop talking, River. Stop thinking." He whispered to her as he felt her hesitation. "Haven't thanked you yet for saving my ass." He rumbled against her skin.

"You're bleeding." She deadpanned when he leveled his eyes on her.

Riddick froze; breaking himself free from the heady trance her scent had caused. His nostrils flared and he could smell his own blood. He hadn't felt the tear of the stitches or the IV; he was however, now brutally aware of both. "Fuck." He growled as he dropped his forehead against hers. It took him a moment to fully regain control of his senses. It was River's giggle which made him raise his head to see her clearly. "Not funny, girl." He pressed himself against her body to illustrate exactly why it wasn't funny; waves of frustration rolled from his mind into hers.

River blushed furiously as he pressed against her. She may have been naive on the actual physical act of love but she was a mind-reader. The human mind spent a considerable amount of time contemplating sex. In Jayne's case, the vast majority of its time. When Riddick rolled back off of her, she felt the loss immediately.

"Can you fix this?" He rumbled, beyond pissed off at himself. River didn't dignify his question with a response; Riddick saw quite clearly the _boob_ look as it etched its way across her features. Riddick chose not to dignify the look with a response. "Bleeding here."

River snorted as she swung her feet off his bunk. "His own fault."

"_Bi zu_ (shut up)." He growled as he watched her leave in a torrent of giggles. The door closed behind her and he fell against his mattress as he unleashed his own torrent of Mandarin. He made a mental note to show Jayne absolutely no mercy during their next spar. If it wasn't for the merc, he wouldn't have had the stitches and right now River would be moaning underneath of him instead of trying to snatch a suture set out from the infirmary. _Fucking mercs._

_/It is of value to note, had he not taken the bullets, I would not have been in his bed at all./_

_/Fucking Readers./_

_/Think quietly./_

_/Oh, fuck you./_

_/He was trying./_

Her response threw Riddick completely and he barked out an audible laugh. Girl was all sorts of fun.

*T*F*C*

_One Day Later_

"Well, look who it is." Wash joked as he swiveled in his chair to see River walk onto the bridge. "What brings you to my humble palace at such an hour?" He asked with an exaggerated wave of his arm.

River smiled genuinely at him. "He has a gift for her."

Wash's smile faltered momentarily. "You really do take the fun out of it, don't ya?"

River shrugged. "Can't help it. Think quietly and it is harder to hear."

"Think quietly?" Wash furrowed his brow. "Like whisper my thoughts in my head?"

River nodded as she hopped up on the railing. "So many thoughts." Her voice took on a dreamy quietly. "Always. It never stops, even in her dreams she can hear them."

"Dreams, huh?" Wash stuttered nervously. He might have escaped the room on the Skyplex but a part of his mind had never left it. Every time he closed his eyes, he could feel the cold metal of the table.

"She killed him. Sleep peacefully." River said softly, though with a surprising amount of detachment.

"Hence the present." Wash said quietly. "So, quiet thoughts." He added quickly, feeling the desperate need for a change of topic. "Guess if I whisper my thoughts, the volume of the others drowns it out then?"

River simply nodded still awaiting her gift patiently.

"Think quietly. Huh, I can do that." He mused as he idly fiddled with a dial.

"Not as easy as you think. Sometimes the loudest thoughts are the ones you don't know you are thinking."

"What's it like, Riv?" Wash asked seriously.

"Loud." She shrugged. "Confusing. Sometimes she sees things, things that aren't there. Echoes. Echoes of pain are the loudest; echoes of laughter are like a breeze on the wind. Energy doesn't die, it simply goes elsewhere."

"To The River?" Wash asked.

"Yes." She fiddled with a ribbon hanging from her hair. "You never told her."

"Huh? Told who what?"

River gave the pilot a pointed look.

Clarity replaced confusion on Wash's face.

"Told you, sometimes the things we never think are loudest."

"I wasn't in the war, Riv." Wash shook his head.

"Still played for the team."

"I worked on a crew that ran black market goods. Hardly the same thing." He snorted. "Not a hero, Riv. I never joined because I didn't want to die. Didn't have it in me."

"You're her hero." River said sagely.

"Zoe's?" The pilot replied with a half hearted smirk.

The Reader nodded.

"Zo don't need a hero."

"Needs you." River argued. "You chased away the sound of the screams that never stop; you chase away the smell of old blood from her nostrils. She needs you. You brought her back the light."

Wash tipped back in his chair, thinking over River's words. "You know, you were right. She walked right into that room and, when Niska told her just one, she didn't even hesitate."

"He wishes now that he had never asked for proof. Should have trusted her."

"Yeah," Wash conceded as he fiddled with Lucy. "There gonna come a time I don't think about that room?"

"Actively, yes." River answered. "The memory will, however, always remain."

"Coulda been Zoe if we didn't have that fight."

"Shoulds, coulds, what ifs; diseases of the mind."

"Sounding awfully 'there' tonight." Wash chuckled halfheartedly, making the quotations around the words with his fingers.

"Comes and goes." She shrugged. "She is learning how to not listen to them all at once; how to channel and filter. Riddick knows how to build walls and lock doors. She is learning from his example. Compartmentalize, validate, evaluate, and assign."

"Speaking of Riddick?"

"He heals well."

"Good." Wash nodded.

"No." River added.

"Huh?" Wash looked up from the windshield.

"He won't let you ride his bike."

"Oh." Wash huffed. "Pilot never gets to have any fun." He tipped back against his chair and reached behind him; pulling out a small, poorly wrapped, wrinkled package. "Guess I really didn't need to wrap it." He added sheepishly as he tossed it to her.

"The gesture is appreciated more than can be expressed." River smiled softly as she fingered the tattered brown paper.

"You gonna open it?" Wash asked.

River giggled softly and tore open the paper to reveal an orange and purple floral printed button-up shirt. "He bought it on Persephone. Zoe never lets him wear it."

Wash chuckled. "Figured you could pull it off."

"Thank you." River's small smile rapidly spread across the rest of her face, lighting up her eyes.

"Sorry it's not a crate of apples or a brick of chocolate. No stops 'til we hit the cheater's moon." Wash joked.

"Would have been you at the top if he had not hacked into the records; you should thank him. Your story would have changed if it had not been for that."

"Suppose you're right." Wash answered absently as he swung back and forth in his chair.

"She is." River said with a soft sigh as she tugged the shirt on over her head.

"You up for a round of Dinosaur Wars?" He looked up hopefully.

"Can she play Frank?"

"Don't ya like Lucy?" Wash asked, confused.

"She is tired of being right." River sighed rather dramatically as she hopped down from the bar, "No one listens to Lucy."

"I listen." Wash defended. "I trust you, Riv. Learned my lesson."

"Teach her to fly." River asked abruptly.

Wash looked at, her slightly confused. "Do you even need to be taught?"

"She would like to listen."

Wash grinned. "Alright then."

*T*F*C*

_Two days later_

"This shouldn't be possible." Simon spoke more to himself than Riddick as the doctor removed the last bandage. "How is this possible?"

"Always been a fast healer." Riddick shrugged. "This mean I'm clear to work?"

"Hardly." Simon snorted as he inspected Riddick's stitches. He frowned, realizing it wasn't his work. "When did you tear these?"

"Tell it's your sister's work, huh?"

"I hate to say it but her work is neater than mine." Simon found himself smiling slightly although he wasn't exactly sure why. Simon stepped back from the infirmary bed and pulled off his gloves; tossing them into the waste receptacle, he picked up his handheld to take down some notes. "You do realize you were shot three times and lost an obscene amount of blood? I mean, I was plucking metal shards out of your muscle tissue and yet here you sit before me nearly completely healed in less than a week."

"I can count, Doc." Riddick rumbled.

"I'll let the captain know you're cleared to be up and around; no weights, no work outs, no sparring, no lifting-,"

"Got it." Riddick cut him off as he slid from the bed and pulled his shirt back over his head; wincing only slightly from the effort.

"By the looks of things, another week and you should be fine."

Riddick studied the doctor from behind his goggles as he watched him take down what seemed to him an excessive amount of notation. He was bracing himself. He was about to swallow one bitter ass pill. "Never did thank you, Doc."

"Just doing my job." Simon replied without looking up from his handheld. "If it wasn't for River though, I wouldn't have gotten there in time; not to mention, it's her blood that kept you alive."

Riddick stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Simon looked up, startled. "She didn't tell you? She's O-neg; a universal donor. Your blood is interesting, to say the least. To be honest, I wasn't even sure it would take, but it was the only option at the time."

Riddick was unsure as to why he felt so deeply disturbed over having River's blood in his veins. He wondered briefly if it was a Furyan thing; both River and Shirah had gone on and on about the importance of blood to Furyans. Hell, it was the damn Contract that had gotten him all wound up with River to start. He supposed, if he had to have anyone's blood but his own, River wasn't a bad option. Was that why Shirah had gotten so pissed? He filed it away for later, it was unimportant now.

"You know-," Simon began, "-if you really wanted to thank me, you'd let me run those tests."

"Not a chance in Hell, Doc. I'm not a guinea pig." Riddick rumbled.

"Maybe then, you'll answer another question? I did save your life and all."

"Thought that was your job?" Riddick countered with a slightly cautious quirk of his brow. He wasn't sure if he liked where this was heading.

"What are your intentions with my sister?" He asked, undeterred.

"Been through this, Doc." Riddick answered as he rolled his neck.

"And you have yet to ever answer the question."

"I'm not going to run off with her." Riddick replied as he leaned against the counter. "Maybe that was the plan at first." He wasn't at all sure why he was being so honest with the man. "Not anymore. I'm good, but I'm not dumb. Might heal quick but it won't help if I take one between the eyes."

"Still not an answer." Simon said firmly.

"You and your sister; fucking annoying as hell. Can't ever just be happy with the answer you get."

"It's a Tam family trait. Be grateful you'll never meet our parents." The doctor deadpanned. "You do realize you are more than a decade older than her and a convicted felon with violent psychotic tendencies?"

"You do realize your sister is a government-crafted psychic assassin?" Riddick countered calmly. "It ever occur to you I'm just want she needs?"

"Did it ever occur to you that a life of violence is the last thing **she** needs?" Simon shot back, his voice rising slightly. "How many men have you killed, Riddick?"

The convict shrugged nonplussed. He and the doctor had been having this same conversation, just with different words, for the last several weeks. "Lost count." He replied simply. "Know how many your sister's killed?" He challenged a dark smirk crossing over his lips.

Simon paled and visibly balked.

"I do." Riddick took a step closer. "Sixteen before she ever left the Academy." He took another step closer to the doc, shortening the distance between them. "First one was with a pen. Know that? Straight through the jugular. Don't get any bloodier than that. One on Canton, fourteen on the Skyplex alone. Makes thirty-one, Doc. Still think your sister's all sweet and helpless?" He rumbled.

"Canton?" Simon managed to stutter out.

"Long story, Doc," Riddick replied, the smirk faded from his lips when he spoke next. "Point is, I'll kill for her, Simon." He rumbled darkly. "Don't doubt it." His voice lowered and dripped from his lips. "I'll die for her, too." Riddick paused a moment before continuing. "I don't really give a shit what you think of me. Only person I give a damn about is River." He turned to head out of the infirmary.

"Riddick." Simon stopped him before he could leave. "I have twenty-four different meds in here that can, and will, kill you. Fourteen of those would make it slow and extremely painful. You hurt her and I swear you'll never see me coming."

Riddick threw back his head and barked out a laugh. "Might be hope for you yet, Doc."

*T*F*C*

Inara sat with River in her shuttle; both sitting on their ankles, arms outstretched and resting on their knees before the Companion's statue of Buddha. River inhaled deeply; the scent of sandalwood which drifted from the burning incense sticks was strong as her breathing fell in time with the older woman's next to her. She had underestimated Inara in the past, never looking beyond the surface of her mind; doing so now, she discovered another woman entirely. There was so much more to the Companion than her title. However, River refrained from delving too deeply. In the meditative state, it was done too easily; it felt as though it was an invasion to do so. Respectfully, River attempted to build the walls around her mind; an action, much like Reading, that was so much simpler to do in her current state than outside of it.

A soft electronic bell chimed and the Companion opened her eyes slowly; breathing in deeply several times before she spoke. "I think that's enough for today. How do you feel, River?"

River slowly opened her eyes, a soft smile gracing her face. "Balanced."

"Good." Inara returned her smile and both women rose fluidly in a startlingly similar fashion. "Tea?"

"Please." River nodded gratefully as she sat herself on the Companion's sofa. "Three cups. Riddick comes searching."

"Riddick is a tea drinker?" Inara asked with a raised eyebrow as she lit the small hot plate and placed a kettle on it.

"He will frown and wish it had something stronger in it." River answered idly.

Inara laughed lightly as she set the tea things out on the tray. "Your hair looks lovely today." She complimented.

"Thank you." River replied sincerely as she inhaled the literal serenity in the atmosphere of the small shuttle.

"You seem well today." Inara remarked causally.

River merely nodded, growing weary of people remarking that she seemed "well" or "there" or "sane", as if it was truly a compliment.

"Girl's always well." Riddick rumbled from the doorway to Inara's shuttle just as the kettle began to boil.

Inara pressed her lips together in a thin smile. "Tea, Riddick?"

Riddick frowned as he eyed the cups. "Got anything stronger?"

River and Inara exchanged a look, as Inara shook her head and poured the three cups.

"What?" Riddick asked suspiciously as he stepped inside.

"Nothing at all, Riddick." Inara dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

Riddick didn't remark further but eyed both women warily as he sat down next to River and across from Inara. "Smells in here." He wrinkled his nose. It wasn't done because it was offensive, Riddick actually enjoyed the scent of sandalwood; the expression was due more to his enhanced sense of smell which caused him to taste the incense on his tongue rather than the tea.

"Incense." Inara dismissed his complaint, used to Mal's remarks on it.

"Knew a Companion once-," Riddick began, "-former anyhow, she kept flash-bombs as incense." The convict raised a brow at the Companion.

Inara smiled coyly. "We're not helpless women."

River's head tilted to the left, her eyes glazing slightly; the action drew the attention of both Inara and Riddick.

"What is it, sweetie?" Inara asked cautiously.

River shook herself free at the sound of Inara's voice and frowned. Her frown turned to a scowl as she looked at Riddick.

"Don't like my memories, stay out of my head." Riddick smirked unapologetically.

Inara had a good idea of the memories which could be related to a former Companion and River's dark look was only further evidence of what she assumed. "Companions are trained in several different forms of self-defense." She added quickly, hoping to redirect the conversation. "Sometimes it is necessary for when a client steps out of line." She frowned slightly, remembering the one and only time she had needed it. "There are also several skills which are considered to be hobbies among the wealthy which come in use out here. Archery, for one, is a competitive sport among the upperclass."

Riddick actually looked interested now. "Crossbows?"

Inara rose and walked over to a large trunk; Riddick's eyes bulged slightly behind his goggles as she withdrew a large crossbow. "That's not exactly competition grade." He arched a brow at the woman.

"Details." Inara dismissed him lightly as she handed the weapon over for his inspection.

"You have a scope on this thing." He chuckled slightly. "Full of surprises, Inara."

River was still however frowning at Riddick. "Nandi." She spoke the name almost as though it was an accusation.

"Stay out of my head if you don't like the memories." Riddick dismissed her.

"Nandi?" Inara asked startled. "That's the former Companion you know?"

"Old friend of yours?" Riddick asked.

"Yes. Yes she is." Inara answered. "The universe is so much smaller than it seems, isn't it? River, honey, where are you going?" She asked abruptly as the young woman rose and began to leave.

River didn't answer. She merely unleashed a tangent of nearly incoherent muttered Mandarin as she stormed out.

Inara looked at Riddick with a frown. The convict looked entirely too entertained by River's display.

"Jealous." He shrugged.

"Couldn't you have made the effort to **not** think about Nandi?" Inara asked archly.

"Could have." Riddick shrugged as he handed her back the cross bow. "More fun this way."

"Riddick-," Inara began carefully as she returned the bow to its home, "-what are your intentions towards River?" Riddick growled slightly in annoyance. "I mean no offense. She feels rather deeply for you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Riddick answered her as he tensed.

"I won't lie. I don't approve in the slightest." Inara answered confidently as she retook her seat across from Riddick. "River's happiness is my only concern."

"Why?" Riddick challenged.

"She deserves it." Inara answered simply. "If anyone in this 'Verse deserves it, she does."

Riddick exhaled deeply. "I answer you; we don't ever talk about this again, _dong ma?_"

Inara nodded and picked up her tea cup.

"Everybody on this rutting ship always wants to talk. Always wants a fucking answer; an explanation. Never talked more in my gorram life then I do here."

"Perhaps you should think of it like this, Riddick; have you ever been around people who cared to hear you speak? Around people who thought enough of you to want to understand you? My questions aren't laced with suspicion, Riddick; they are based off of honest curiosity and a desire to understand you. River trusts you. Her gifts aside, for a girl who has been hurt as she has-," Inara paused momentarily, "-well, it inclines me to want to see what she sees."

Riddick was honestly taken aback and he swirled the contents of his cup, wishing wholeheartedly that there was something stronger in it. "If you're looking to share some kind of moment with me, Inara, its not gonna happen." He put done his cup and rose from his seat. "You want to know I'm not gonna hurt River, tell you what I just told her brother. I'll kill for her. I'll die for her. There's nothing else that needs to be said."

"I think that alone says more than you think." Inara answered knowingly. "I think you care for her very much." She added with a bit of smug satisfaction. "Don't worry-," she continued off of Riddick's tense look, "-your secret is safe with me."

"Fucking women," was the only reply Riddick could bring himself to make as he turned and stormed out of her shuttle.

Inara rolled her eyes at the convict's retreating back. "Men."


	57. Interlude 10: Of War and Love III

Serenity

_Two days later…_

Riddick leaned in the doorway which led out to the catwalk above the bay. His head was cocked slightly to the left, in disturbing similarity to the pose which was River's habit. He was watching her now, studying her from the shadows. Of course, she knew he was there. For one she was a Reader; for two, he was really making no attempt to be covert.

She was lying stretched out across the metal. Her limbs curling and extending in a feline fashion; her movements slow, lethargic almost. Her hair was unbraided, it's length fell through the holes in the grating and cascaded downward in a valiant intimidation of her namesake. She was wearing one of his tanks, knotted at the waist to fit her and the silks of the long skirt, which he could only guess belonged to the Companion, twisted around her long legs. He made a mental note to somehow thank the woman for giving River access to her wardrobe.

River had been quiet since the Skyplex. At times, she seemed more sane than ever, but then there were other times when a silence fell over her. It wasn't necessarily a serene silence nor was it one of the crazy silences from before. She was just silent; both inside and outside of his mind. Her fluid movements, if it were possible, seemed to be even more so. There was a confidence now, underlying the lines of her muscle, that made her seem stronger. It was sexy as hell.

"Anybody ever tell you its kind of creepy to stare?"

Riddick turned his head to look at Zoe, who returned his study with an arch of her brow. "Not like she doesn't know I'm here." He rumbled before turning his eyes back to River.

"Got a point." She leaned against the wall, making no move to continue on to where ever it was she was heading.

"Don't let me stop you."

"Something's changed." The first mate ignored his comment as her own gaze settled on the young woman sprawled out along the catwalk. "She's different."

"She's right over there." Riddick remarked pointedly. "I'm not gonna talk about her like she's not."

"Fine then." Zoe replied archly as she slid past Riddick. He watched her warily as she sat herself down near River's head and let her legs dangle off the catwalk. "Something's different." The first mate directed her remark to the girl lying down next to her this time.

River opened her eyes to regard the Amazon, whose own gaze was fixated at some random point below them in the bay. "Subterfuge does not suit you."

"Are you dangerous?" Zoe asked bluntly.

"No." River remarked. She pulled herself up fluidly using only the momentum from her own body and her legs swung down to dangle beside the first mate's. "Not to you."

There was a darkness to River's tone, a hardened edge, that Zoe had never heard before and she turned her head to look at River. "What changed?"

"Everything." River answered plainly.

"Can I trust you?" Zoe asked, taking in the flash behind the Reader's eyes, the sudden tensing of the girl's body.

"Explicitly." Her eyes both hardened and softened, if such a thing was even possible, but her voice was heavy with finality and truth.

"Good." Zoe nodded. "Captain asked me to get you sorted. First rock we land on, we'll get you gear." She added as she rose from her seat.

"That's all?" River looked up, her head cocking curiously.

"I need to know anything else?"

"No."

"Than that's it."

"You're lying." River said easily, neither offended nor pressing.

"Already told me I don't need to know anything else. No point in asking is there?"

"Bullet to the knee. It stopped him from running." Zoe sat back down. "He pissed himself." River turned her head slowly, her voice detached and far away. "She followed. Death screamed its warning as she walked. He broke fingernails trying to claw away." River closed her eyes, Zoe couldn't be sure but she swore the smallest of smirks threatened to crack open cross the girl's face. "Bullet to the brainpan. It didn't squish. It splattered. I burned the dress. Brain matter doesn't wash out." River opened her eyes to look into the mind of the first mate, expecting judgment, expecting distaste. She found none.

"You're not a killer, River." It was a statement of fact; River could feel the woman's deeply rooted belief. "There's a difference between a killer and a survivor, River. Niska woulda kept comin'. You did what had to be done." River watched her curiously as Zoe untied the bootlace that she wore around her neck. The first mate twisted the cotton around her fingers. "Wore the boots this belonged to all through the war. When it was over, they were so caked in blood you couldn't hardly see the leather." River held still as the women took the strings and tied them around her neck. "I burned the boots." She began again after knotting off the string. "Kept the laces. Reminded me we do what we have to do to. Reminded me the only way to keep on livin' was to keep on walking forward; through the blood and the bodies. We all walked away from that complex and we walked away because of you." Zoe pulled herself up again. "You're not a killer, River; just somebody strong enough to keep on livin'. Nothin' wrong with that."

River didn't watch her as she walked away. She fingered the lace which was now knotted around her neck, feeling small pieces of Zoe fall into herself. Seeing flashes of mud and grit; smelling rotting flesh and clotted blood; she didn't shy away from the memories. She let them bleed into her, she let them ingrained themselves into bone and flesh, swallowing them greedily.

"Nothing wrong with being a killer." Riddick's dark voice rumbled from behind her. She didn't look up; instead she listened to the metal creak, waited for his weight to settle.

"Kill or be killed. She takes no issue with survival."

"Long as we're straight on that." Riddick grunted as he leaned forward to rest his weight against the bars.

"We are." She answered as she fingered the lace knotted around her neck.

"What's going on in that head, girl?" He asked curiously.

"I'll never be sane." She looked up at him seriously.

Riddick shrugged. "According to some, I won't be either."

"You're not a sociopath. You're a Furyan."

"You're not crazy, you're River." He smirked.

River tilted her head to the left, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "Yes. I am."

"Long as we're straight on that." He repeated himself.

"We are." River sighed as she leaned against the bars, joining Riddick in his study of nothing in particular. A silence fell over the pair as they gazed out over the empty bay, there was no need for anything else to be said.

*T*F*C*

_One day out from Mr. Universe's moon_

"_Jayne!"_

"Huh? !" The merc shot forward in his bunk, his head jerking around wildly for the source of the noise which had woken him.

_"Jayne! Earth-That-Was to Jayne!"_ Wash's voice rang out somewhat irritably over the comm. link.

"Gorammit." The merc muttered groggily as he viciously wiped the last traces of sleep from his face as he blindly reached for the switch.

"What's goin' on?" Kaylee mumbled, trying to force herself awake.

"Hell if I know." Jayne grunted wearily as his hand finally connected with the switch. "What the hell is it, Flyboy? Better be ruttin' good." He half-barked into the comm.

_"You got a wave comin' in."_ Wash's voice crackled back. _"Somebody by the name of Walker."_

Jayne's body immediately tensed at the sound of the all too familiar name. The sudden change in his demeanor did not go unnoticed by the mechanic he was currently sharing his bed with. "Jayne?" She pressed cautiously as one of her small hands reached out to touch his shoulder.

Jayne stared at her small grease stained hand as though he almost didn't recognize it. "Nothing, _bao bei_ (treasured one/darling)." He dropped an almost hesitant kiss on the crown of her head before pulling on his shirt and speaking back over the link to Wash. "Bounce it to the second shuttle."

_"You got it."_ Wash chirped back.

"Jayne?" Kaylee pressed again as she watched him shove his boots on and pull himself out of bed.

"Nothin' to worry on, Sunshine. Be back in a minute." He answered vaguely; already halfway up the ladder of his bunk. He didn't wait for her to reply before exiting fully and closing his bunk hatch. The pit in his stomach grew with every step he took towards the shuttle. Walker was a name from his past; a past that felt more like several lifetimes ago now. He steadied himself with a few deep breathes before schooling his features into a scowl as he dropped himself into the pilot's chair in the shuttle.

"Look who ain't dead." He rumbled darkly as the square-jawed visage appeared on the screen before him. The man was older than Mal; the lines of his face more hardened and unapologetic. An ugly burn scar marred the left side of his neck, a nauseating twisting of flesh that one couldn't seem to look away from.

"Could say the same 'bout you, Cobb." Walker replied easily as he toyed with an unlit cigar and leaned back in his chair.

A small silence followed, one Jayne was entirely too uncomfortable with to allow to remain. "Ain't lookin' for work."

Walker's self-assured half-grin faltered only momentarily. "You ain't even heard me out yet."

"Don't need to." Jayne shook his head firmly. "I'm out of the bounty game."

Walker's grin only deepened this time. "You're a merc, Jayne. Your Guild membership may have expired but you ain't ever out of the game. I need a gun on this one, Cobb. Type of gun that can kill a man from five hundred yards with a bent scope. Heard tell you been livin' cushy on a smugglin' crew; can't tell me you ain't itchin' for a good brawl."

"Might be on a smugglin' crew, but a good brawl ain't somethin' we lack here."

"Heard 'bout that raid on Niska's complex... your captain's got a pair on them, I'll tell ya." Walker made a noise that could have been considered a chuckle had he not choked partway as he inhaled the first puff of his cigar.

"Word travels fast." Jayne replied warily.

"Coin travels faster." Walker grunted. "You goin' hear me out or not, boy? You owe me a little somethin' and we both know it. Taught you just 'bout everything you got rattlin' around in that head of yours."

"Don't owe you shit, old man." The merc replied tersely. "Can't keep callin' the same debt in. Paid that in full long time ago."

"You forget who hauled your sorry ass off that scrap heap?" Walker snapped, losing his cool for only the briefest of moments.

"You got yourself the rep and the coin to hire on any gun you want. Why in the gorram hell are ya yappin' at me? Guild won't take kindly to you hirin' on a man that told them to go and fuck themselves."

"Guild won't know shit. I need a sniper and a tracker, Jayne, and I need the best in the game. That would be you, Cobb. Got the bounty of a lifetime sittin' on the hook; were talkin' the kinda coin that could buy a man his own moon."

Jayne refrained from retorting that he already had a moon; had himself a folk song and a statute to go along with it. "Told you, Will, ain't in the bounty game no more."

"Hear me out Jayne, that won't cost you nothin' but time and potentially payout more coin than you could hope to earn in five lifetimes slavin' away on a smugglin' ship.

"You got five minutes, old man." Jayne grunted, knowing full well it was better to let the man get out whatever offer he was sitting on.

"A new bounty just popped up on the Guild boards; two actually."

"So? Dozens of bounties go up every day; you're wastin' your minutes here." Jayne answered gruffly.

"You gonna let me finish?" Walker snapped a bit heatedly. "These just ain't any old bounties. They were sittin' pretty on the Corporate boards, nothin' my crew would even sneeze at; no listing of crimes or skills, just descriptions and names. All of a sudden, they jump up to the Alliance boards. All of a sudden, they got a listing of skills longer than my arm. All of a sudden, they go from commercial terrorists to the Alliance Most Wanted lists."

"I'm listenin'." Jayne answered honestly. The first twinges of real curiosity prickling at the back of his skull, right alongside the sudden appearance of an itch that usually meant nothing good.

"We're talking a pair of brains with tactical military training; we're talking high-level espionage we ain't seen since the War."

"Still ain't seein' why you're itchin' to have me join up."

"Word is this skirt got a knack for nosein' out an ambush. It's been months she's been on the Corporate boards and ain't not a body even seen a flash of their hides. Alliance wants these two bad. I can feel them itchin' and somethin' tells me these bounties ain't to be takin' lightly. I need a man that won't hesitate to shoot. I need a man that can sniff out a trap faster than they can lay it; and that man's you."

"You said you need a man that won't hesitate; what's there to hesitate over? Sounds like a pretty bit of coin."

"Like I said, one of the pair's a skirt." Walker grinned somewhat maliciously. "You ain't got morals Cobb, ain't got no qualms over nothin'. Girl's just a chit; some kid. Ask me, I don't see the threat, but she's got a list of skills that would make a SpecOps boy shit himself. I need the best, Jayne." He added with an undertone of seriousness which was previously unheard in his voice.

It took every bit of Jayne's self control to remain impassive at mention of the girl's age. He mentally swore at himself for not putting the pieces together sooner. "You got the info?" He asked, feigning a look of thoughtfulness. "I ain't hopin' on board." He added quickly. "Like I said, I got a sweet deal here and I ain't gonna give it up iffin' it turns out these two are a whole lotta chase without the payday."

"Sendin' it now." Walker leaned back in his chair. "I'll give ya a day to turn it over. Can't wait on this forever; we ain't gonna be the only ones chasin'." The smugness in his tone was justifiable. He thought he knew Cobb, and he did, though the Cobb he knew was an outdated version of the man the merc was now. Had he born witness to the changes in the man over the last several months, he would not have bothered to go through the trouble of tracking him down. As it was though, he had no idea; as it was, he thought he had hooked himself the merc.

Jayne merely nodded as he watched the data upload onto the ship's computer. "Iffin' you don't hear from me, don't bother callin' back." He grunted and unceremoniously killed the link as the data completed its upload.

"_Qiang bao hou-zi de fei fei de pi yan_. (Monkey raping baboon's ass crack)" Jayne audibly swore as a pair of hauntingly familiar brown eyes appeared on the screen in front of him. "Son of a bitch." He fumbled for a spare data chip and plugged into the shuttle's computer. He downloaded the information on it and slipped the chip into his pocket.

"Jayne?" Kaylee's tentative voice from the shuttle entrance caused his head to jerk up.

"What are you doing up, _bao bei?_" He asked with an almost uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Jayne, what's wrong?" The mechanic frowned as she stepped inside and he met her halfway, wrapping up her small body in the cage of his arms.

"Trouble, Sunshine; a whole shitload of it flyin' our way." He mumbled against her hair.

"What kinda trouble?" She frowned as she pulled away just far enough to look him in the eyes.

"Guild trouble."

"Guild?" She asked warily.

"Wake the ship."

"Jayne, what's going on?" The tremble in her voice could not be masked.

"Game just changed."

*T*F*C*

"What in the gorram hell is so important Jayne, you gotta drag us all outta our beds?" Mal groused as he rubbed the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes.

The merc took a deep breath, his gaze landing first on River and then Riddick, before he spoke. "Seems like the Tams just beat you out for 'Verse's Most Wanted." He grunted as he slid a portable cortex screen across the table. "Just got a wave from an old captain. He was lookin' to shore up his crew 'fore goin' after the bounties."

Mal's mouth opened and closed several times as he scrolled through the screens; vainly, he searched for an appropriate response and found he was at a loss.

"Looks like you made the big time, girl." Riddick let out a low whistle as his eye caught the bounty price at the bottom of the screen. "Least they still want you alive." The calm rumble of his voice belied the ripple of anxiety which coursed just below the surface of his skin.

River was however nonplussed. She dismissed the screen without so much as an inquiring look. "I don't understand." Simon's brow furrowed. "What's the big deal? We had the bounty on our heads before. Granted, it's gone up a bit, I fail to see why it is such an issue."

"You really don't know anything about the way this 'Verse works, do ya?" Jayne scoffed. "You'd figure, sometime while you were plannin' on bustin' your sister out, you'd take the time to look into what happens after."

"Nothing mattered except getting her out." Simon answered tersely.

"Ruttin' fool." Jayne scowled as he dropped into his chair.

"Now liste-,"

Simon was abruptly cut off by Mal. "_Bi zui_ (shut up)!" The captain snapped as he ran a hand through his sleep tousled locks. "Ain't gonna help a gorram thing, you two tearin' each other's throats out. This here, this little surprise, this changes the game."

"Um, somebody wanna fill in those of us who don't speak convicted felon or fugitive on the run?" Wash asked sheepishly. "At the risk of sounding like, well, like the doctor here, what does it mean?"

"Means we're in a world of _gou shi_ (shit)." Zoe informed her husband.

"Bounties ain't as simple as posting a wanted bulletin on the cortex." Mal said as he accepted a cup of coffee from the shepherd.

"The Merc Guilds have a system for cataloging the bounties, the higher up the levels the more dangerous your target is, some bounties are only opened to those that gots a high enough ranking in the Guild to make the bid. The Guilds don't like ta waste resources on greenies with a hard-on for adventure." Jayne snorted.

"So?" Wash urged.

"First you got your General board, that's where your planet-bound bounties sit; usually don't go over 'bout ten-thousand. That's where the few warrants I got on my name sit." Jayne started to explain. "And that's why, when the Alliance raided us after that fuck-up of a salvage job we tried to pull, I didn't even show up as a blip on their radar. Small-time; too small-time for them to bother keeping in their system."

"First time I think I ever heard Jayne confess to bein' small-time." Wash chuckled.

"Watch it, Flyboy." The merc half growled.

"Hey now." Mal rapped the table with his knuckles; the infusion of caffeine clearing his mind.

"Anyway-," Jayne began again with an annoyed scowl, "-next level up is your Corporate board. That's where you and your sister were sittin' pretty. Bounties can get pretty high but it ain't unusual for the details to be vague. Commercial terrorists, rich folks with grudges; it's all that white collar, under the carpet _gou shi, _crime. Ain't enough to get the big boys hoppin' on you, but it's enough to get your faces out across the 'Verse and any independent wantin' to make a name for himself to get the itch to try."

"Which is exactly where Blue Sun would have wanted you." Book took the opportunity to interject. "It was enough for you to show up on the radar if you were seen, but I don't think they actually believed any independent merc would be able to make the capture. The bounty was solely put out to flush the two of you out of hiding and into the open."

"Well that's comforting." The doctor groused.

"I wouldn't get all cozy yet, Doc." Riddick rumbled, noting the complete lack of fear or even apprehension in River's mind and posture. In blatant contradiction to the reaction he had expected, River actually seemed to be pleased by the information. A probe into the climate of her mind revealed the truth of his observation as swirls of smug satisfaction intertwined with… anticipation? He allowed it to go unremarked upon for the moment, but as soon as they were alone again he would be mentioning it. "After the Corporate boards, you hit the actual Guild Boards. The guys that go after these ain't the same little shits sniffing around the lower levels; chances are the bigger dogs didn't even have a nose for you. Corporate boards just ain't worth their time."

"He's right; Guild boards make the difference between a bounty hunter and a merc. Channel's private and encrypted, gotta have an access code to even link to it. They let the public bounty sit, it's got a lower price on it, and then they open it up to the mercs with a private and much higher price. They don't actually believe a non-Guild member will be the one to catch ya, but they let the smaller guys flush ya out for them. Riddick and the Shepherd are both listed on the Guild Board."

"Okay, so we rank up there with Riddick now? How is it any different from any other day aboard _Serenity?"_ Simon pressed.

"You're not just on the Guild Board." Riddick rumbled. "That coded number at the bottom of your warrants, that's The Alliance Board. War criminals, traitors, people they want to make disappear; only one or two Guilds will even receive the information. They'll leave the Corporate bounties up, but what these Mercs got on you now-," Riddick let his voice trail off. "This new bounty, it's got every weapon River is trained in listed on it, her school grades from before the Academy, it's got your grades from the Med-cad, everything, right down to your gorram shoe size. Welcome to the big leagues, Doc."

"News gets worse." Jayne grumbled. "William Walker, captain of the _The Executioner,_ he's the one with the hard-on for this. He's got a one hundred percent capture rate, been in the game for the better part of twenty-five years and he's like a gorram rabid dog when he gets a whiff of somethin' that smells like coin. Got a feelin' he's fixin' to make you his retirement."

"Taught you everything you know." River injected suddenly, her voice taking on an unnerving dreamlike quality. "Wants his protégé back."

"Offered me a spot on his crew." Jayne grunted. "He ain't dumb. Minute ya'll hit the big leagues, he went diggin', knows somethin' ain't right. Iffin' he's callin' me, he's lookin' to lay a few traps, lure ya in deep and pull the trigger from a half a world away. It's his M.O. He ain't above nabbin' family members or killin' off kin, long as he gets paid at the end of the day."

"Now may be a good time to consider growing that mustache." Book mused quietly to the doctor, breaking the uncomfortable silence which had settled over the mess.

"Captain?" Zoe questioned.

"Doc's right to a point." Mal answered as he swirled the dark contents of his cup. "Don't much make a difference, we gotta step a little faster, a lot lighter. Little Bit will be able to sniff out a set up. We just got to be on top of the game."

"It doesn't list anything about her… abilities." Book remarked as he scrolled through the screens. "There are some secrets, it seems, they are not willing to give up. That can only work to our advantage."

"Need to have some escape plans laid down." Riddick rumbled distractedly. River's lack of reaction was beginning to itch at him.

"Not a bad idea." Zoe mused. "Fallback points on rocks we frequent."

"Wouldn't hurt to stash some weapons and ship coin. If we need those fallback points, it means _Serenity's_ been compromised." Riddick added, forcing himself to focus on the matter at hand and not River's eerily calm mind.

"That'll have to wait 'til we see the fruit of these supposed jobs Mr. Universe has got set up; ship coin is runnin' a bit scarce." Mal remarked, his gaze once more drifting to the now cooled liquid in his cup. "For the time bein', nobody goes off ship alone, and everybody carries. That includes you, Little Kaylee." Mal raised his eyes to look at the Companion who had remained quiet throughout the discussion. "And you, 'Nara. Ain't tryin' to step on the toes of your business but, sooner or later, it'll be known who you fly with and these mercs ain't the only trouble we're bound to have sniffin' on our tails."

"Won't be makin' any friends when we start to cut into the bigger jobs." Zoe added. "If we drop you in inner atmo and pick ya up there it'll help distance ya from the ship but it won't work forever."

Inara nodded slowly, not trusting herself to speak, although she was well aware River was listening intently to the turnings of her mind. She had no desire to leave _Serenity;_ she also had no desire to wind up dead. It was a question of choice. One she wasn't prepared to make but felt as though she would be forced to sooner much rather than later. The lines were being drawn. She would have to choose a side. The Alliance and her livelihood; or _Serenity_ and the freedom of the Black. The rules were changing too quickly for her to keep track of; the truths she thought she knew were quickly revealing themselves for the reality. It was a brutal lesson to learn; that reality and truth were sometimes not one in the same.

"Wash-," Mal spoke up, "-you get me a list of the rocks we frequent, I want a constant stream of the bulletins those worlds are posting. From now on, somebody's always on that bridge, one ear always on the cortex. When we hit dirt, everybody takes a walkie, ship never gets left unguarded. We avoid major docking ports; use the shuttle and mule to move across distances."

"Check-ins on the hour every hour." Zoe took up where her captain left off. "Somebody fails to make a check-in, everybody falls back."

"If Mr. Universe can really deliver on his promise to wipe the facial data from The Alliance computers, it will go a long way." Book added. "Though, changing appearances might not hurt either. I wasn't entirely joking when I suggested you grow a mustache."

"River could pass as an apprentice." Inara spoke for the first time. "It won't help if you're working, but the veil and costume will allow River to move freely through the cities without suspicion. She carries herself with all the grace and poise of a Companion already."

"Been awfully quiet there, Little Bit." Mal mused, Inara's suggestion drawing his attention to the uncharacteristic silence of the ship's resident Reader for the first time.

"There is nothing to say." River remarked idly as she fingered one of her braids disinterestedly. "I told you they would come. They'll never stop. Inconsequential."

"Takin' this real well." Mal added cautiously. "You know somethin' we don't?"

River shot the captain a look; The Look. The one usually reserved for Simon and now occasionally unleashed on Riddick. "Of course I do." Her voice held an almost playful quality even Riddick was surprised by.

"Care to share?" Mal asked tersely.

"Don't ask questions, she doesn't have the answers." River dismissed him.

"Riddick?" The captain arched his brow at the convict.

"Beats the fuck out of me, Mal." The convict rumbled curiously though his eyes did not leave River. "Talking in riddles, girl."

"Just because he cannot keep up doesn't mean she isn't making sense." River dismissed him, neither angered by his accusation nor intrigued; for all intents and purposes, the Reader looked bored out of her mind.

Riddick repressed the urge to growl. He was under the impression that she had been making progress; an impression that was quickly being proven false.

"River, what's inconsequential?" Kaylee spoke up for the first time. The mechanic had clocked more hours working side-by-side with River than any other member of the ship including Riddick. She had learned to listen between the lines of what River said; how to ask the right questions to get the answers she needed.

"So concerned over who is the one hunting, they overlook the importance behind the fact they hunt at all." She answered the mechanic.

"Anybody else confused?" Jayne's face furrowed.

Wash's face, however, lit with understanding. "Why bump her now?" He voiced the question to no one in particular and didn't waste time waiting for an answer before speaking again. "They were so concerned with keeping her a secret and now they're exposing her to the whole 'Verse."

"They're getting desperate." The shepherd spoke, following the train of thought.

River rose fluidly from her seat. "They fear her." A slight smirk curled at the right corner of her lips, her eyes darkened marginally and a flash of something blazed behind them momentarily. "Fear. It ripples across the sea and dances along her skin. Not her fear." She giggled darkly; the tone was eerily reminiscent of Riddick's own laughter, which joined the sound of hers in a disturbing melody. "They know. They know she knows. They don't know she doesn't know. The king trembles beneath his crown and sends his armies marching. For who? The fragile slip of a thing, just a girl. A girl they cut and poked. A girl they felt was too inconsequential to name." She twirled herself, the ribbons in her hair flowing behind her spin as she danced her way from the mess. Riddick's own dark chuckle grew into a near barreling laughter.

"Am I the only one who doesn't find this amusing?" Simon asked, anger underlying his tone.

"Not at all." Mal's lips pressed firmly together, hinting at his quickly growing impatience. "Care to share, Riddick?"

"She's getting off on the fact they're afraid of her." His smirk deepened, showing itself in the lines around his goggles and the smug posture of his body as he leaned back easily; his gaze wandered to the doorway she had just exited from. "River's been different since Niska-," he began quietly, "-think a few of those broken bits and pieces she's always going on about are starting to fall into place. Something's gone quiet in her." He added almost thoughtfully. "They made her. They know what she can do. Up until now, I think they thought they fucked her bad enough for it to not make a difference. They just raised the stakes; means maybe they 're not so sure she's as incapable as they thought."

"How is that a good thing?" Simon asked. "Don't we want them to underestimate her?"

"Oh, I guarantee you they still are." Riddick's smirk did not falter in the slightest. "That's not the point though."

"What is?" Simon asked still confused.

"Point is-," he said as he pushed himself away from the table and rose to follow River out, "-your sister's not afraid anymore, but they're scared shitless of what's floating around in her head. Even if she doesn't know what it is."

There was a long moment of silence which followed Riddick's departure; it was Jayne that broke it. "I ain't plannin' on wavin' Walker back, but Cap'n you oughta know, he ain't one to be overlooked or fucked with. Man's a real threat." It was an issue which needed to be dealt with and in, Jayne's opinion, a much needed redirection of focus after River's creepifying reaction to it all.

"Can't do more than deal with him as he comes." Mal replied distractedly. He was unsure how he felt on River's newfound confidence. On one hand, it would come in nice and handy; on the other, it was creepifying as hell. "Back to your bunks, people." He grunted without looking up from his coffee. "We'll be on Mr. U's moon sometime tomorrow; we take it as it comes." The captain ignored the scraping of chairs against metal, the various sidelong remarks and protests; he studiously ignored every one of them until they died all together. "You too, Zoe." He remarked absently, noting the presence that still dallied behind.

"Take it as it comes, sir?"

"You got a better plan?" He snorted.

"Not sayin' I did, sir."

"Not sayin somethin', that's for damn sure. Known you too long, Zo; out with it."

"I think we're in over our heads, sir." She replied bluntly. "I'm sayin' we're in the woods, deeper and thicker than we've ever been; what we seen so far ain't the half of what's comin', sir."

"You got a point, Zoe? This ain't nothin' I don't know." His tone stiffened slightly.

"I'm sayin' you got to be ready for distinct possibility we end up dead or in Slam." Zoe snapped, dropping all pretense of the first mate/captain relationship. "I'm sayin', whether you like it or not, we're back in the War; only this time it ain't air tanks and brigades. I'm sayin' we're gonna need some friends. Brown Coats ain't dead." Mal raised his head to meet the eyes of his former Corporal. "We got ourselves a psychic, Richard B. rutting Riddick, another former Ranger and a shitload of people looking for our blood. They want River alive; don't mean they care to keep us that way. River's right, they won't stop comin'; only way out is to go straight through. Sooner or later it's gonna all come tumbling down, Mal."

Mal regarded her silently for a moment. "Make the calls, Zo." He went back to his coffee. "Keep it quiet. Find out who's still out there we can trust. Test the waters, but no dippin' in for a swim just yet. _Dong ma?"_

"Yes, sir."

*T*F*C*

Riddick didn't hesitate in sliding open River's door; he didn't hesitate to take a step inside and throw the lock behind him. He leaned against it, pulling off his goggles as he watched her disassemble her braids in the semi-darkness of her dorm. Long moments passed in silence broken only by the sound of River's gentle hum. "Tell me a secret." His voice was a graveled whisper. It wasn't a request, nor was it a command; instead it dripped heavily of challenge and amusement.

"He didn't come looking for secrets." She replied easily as she pulled the last of the ribbons from her hair.

"That so?" He quirked an eyebrow as he crossed the small spaced and pulled out his chair. He spun it to rest his arms across the back and placed it directly in front of her before sitting.

"He came for answers. Answers to questions he doesn't have."

"Riddles. I can do riddles." The amusement did not leave his voice.

"He knows the answers."

"Like to hear you speak them." He quoted her words back.

"Since when does he like to talk?" She quirked an eyebrow back.

"Only with you. We gonna dance all night?"

"I like dancing."

"Whole lot more "I's" lately." He mused idly.

"All the king's horses, all the king's men, couldn't put her back together again."

"But you can."

"She's not sane." It was an honest warning.

"Heard that song already." Riddick answered more of his anger slipping through than he intended. "Quit running, River. "

"You're irritating."

"And you're being evasive. Admit it; you're looking forward to it." He challenged.

River's eyes flashed. "Purpose feeds clarity." She spoke abruptly, her posture shifting, her spine straightening as she fell almost seamlessly into a meditative pose. "She has found a purpose."

Riddick didn't need to voice the question on the tip of his lips; his curiosity rolled off of him blatantly.

"They come hunting. They come with intent to kill and take. It cannot be allowed."

"Love it when you talk murder." His chest rumbled with a dark chuckle.

"It is necessity."

"Tell yourself that. You want them to come."

"_Li kai_ (go away)." There was no real malice to the words.

"That ever work before?" He arched his brow. "Admit it."

"_Li kai_ (go away)."

"Can't lie to me." He pressed, his voice rolling off her skin. He pushed himself out of the chair, the smirk on his face deepening. "Nothin' wrong with being a killer, River. You know it's my favorite game." His voice took on an almost seductive quality. "Whenever you're ready to play, babe." He arched his brow in invitation before backing out her door.

*T*F*C*

River stood on the bridge, her hands clutching the rail in a white-knuckled grip as _Serenity_ drew ever closer to the swirling mass of electric violets and whites which constituted the ion cloud circling Mr. Universe's moon. She was vaguely aware of the presence of others on the bridge; however, that awareness drifted in and out as though it was the ebb and flow of a river against a shoreline. Reality bled into the swirling currents and she drifted on it. She was somewhere between the world of dreams and the world of waking, she was unsure of the border, she was unsure of which side of the line she stood on. It was all inconsequential, she told herself. It wasn't really, but as long as she held onto the belief, it didn't matter. She could quell the rising panic which festered beneath her skin. This place was important. This place reeked of finality and, in the core of her being, she knew they would be back.

/_Relax./_ She felt the foreign thought pushed inside her mind. She didn't need to turn to know he stood right behind her; leaning against a metal beam. He didn't watch her out of mistrust; he wasn't waiting for her to break, unlike the others. He watched her in anticipation and fascination. He knew he was bleeding into her. It couldn't be helped. It was the price she paid for the sanctuary of his mind. His words bled from her lips; his desire for violence ached in her veins. Her fingers itched for a blade.

She turned back, slowly releasing her grip, to meet his gaze; the ever present smirk on his face. River watched his nostrils flare momentarily and his smirk deepen. He could smell it on her. She could feel his heartbeat fall into the rhythm of her own; his breathing slowing to echo hers. She felt herself fade further into the recesses of his mind as their biorhythms fell into sync. He was toying with her.

Her hands released the rail fully and she drifted past his mass of flesh; acutely feeling the heat which hazed around his skin. Someone called to her, she ignored them. She reached the stairs and stretched her arms wide; trailing her fingers along the walls as she made her way down the foredeck hall. He was following. Deflecting questions and curious glances of those they passed. She was grateful.

His heavy footfalls were purposeful. Riddick could walk just as silently as she could, he made no effort now. Every bare-footed step she took was echoed and dominated by his larger heavier one. His shadow was both hot and cold against her skin. She was drifting, she was aware of this. It wasn't the same as before. The edges of his mind seemed to dance and toy with her own. She'd never answered him.

_**"Admit it; you're looking forward to it."**_

She was. Let them come. Nothing in the 'Verse. Blood. Death. Secrets raining deception and death from the sky while all of the 'Verse screamed at her at once to be heard. It was too much. She shouldn't be made to bare it. Silence. Solace. They were not unobtainable. They too came with a price; a cost. Riddick's mind. All darkness and Fury. Echoes of death. Echoes of pain. Loneliness, it screamed louder than everything else, silenced only when she curled her consciousness around his own. And then he purred. His energy hummed in soothing undertones she could drown in. She was drowning. She allowed herself to. Let him take her air and replace it with himself. He was strong and she felt it course through her veins and every action was laced with anticipation. She wasn't afraid. They should be. They should be screaming. Oh, she would make them scream.

The thought startled her. Riddick's mind hummed along the edges of it. He bled into her. It was only appropriate, her blood was in him. He could smell it on his skin, through his pores. He hadn't remarked on it, he thought on it. Often. Obsessively. In the darkness he would hold out his arm and trace the pattern of his veins; following her. In a few weeks it would be gone. Would he miss it, he wondered. It felt different. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew. Until Simon told him he didn't realize what it was but he felt it. He'd dismissed it as the lingering traces of the drugs, but now he knew. He knew it was her blood.

Something was pacing; beneath his skin, she felt it move beneath her own. She hadn't expected this. She hadn't realized the consequences of her constant presence in his mind. She could feel his every movement; smell as he smelled, hear as he heard. Everything he experienced echoed through her own senses. It was intense. It was overwhelming. It added to the thousands of streams which converged with The River and lapped its way over the walls of the dam. She must build higher, stronger. How could she be so lost in the search for herself?

She could hear her brother, but he faded in and out of her vision. Her vision faded in and out of tangible reality; images melting into swirls of colors reminiscent of the ion cloud they now passed through. She could feel its current tingle through her pores, a whisper caress, hot breath against her skin. She felt cool fingers against hot skin. Did the cool fingers belong to her, or was it her skin which seemed to boil almost to the touch? She couldn't tell. They were speaking. Riddick's voice, like sandpaper rushing across glass; the fine grain etching thin streaks along the smooth surface. It was a delicious sensation rumbling through her spine. Her brother's voice came next, smooth, cultured, refined; laced with anxiety which tormented the lyrical edges.

_**/River/**_

"She is well." River's head snapped up abruptly; time and reality slammed into one another in a silent explosion which sent her world on edge. She faltered, stumbled. Riddick was somehow at her elbow; steadying her. Her Rock. "She is well." She repeated again, though for whose benefit she wasn't entirely sure.

"_Mei-mei?_" Simon pressed cautiously.

"I am well." River reaffirmed, changing the key component in the sentence.

"River-,"

"Says she's fine, Doc." Riddick cut him off before he had the chance to protest. "A little dizzy from all those _gou shi_ (crap) drugs you keep pumping into her."

"She's clearly not." The doctor replied tersely. "River, just let me check your vitals please."

"Landing in ten, we ain't got time. She's fine." Riddick half-growled; River's arm still is his grip, he turned them both around and headed into the bay.

_/Don't make me a liar, girl./_

*T*F*C

Mr. Universe toyed with a small data chip as he watched _Serenity_ break through the ion cloud. His eyes never left the wall of screens before him as he tracked their progress across his world. It was such a small thing, the tiny piece of hybrid metals and wires in his hand, and yet capable of such so much chaos. It was not unlike the girl, whose image had remained frozen on the monitor ever since the bulletin had first shown up. Congratulations were in order; River Tam had made the big leagues.

At the end of the day Mr. Universe was on Mr. Universe's side of the line. Alliance, Independent, Company, Convict, Guild; it really didn't matter all that much to him; everyone and everything was fair game. It was, however, the Alliance which had become his favorite target of choice. The establishment, the status quo, such order just would not do. A little bit of chaos, a little bit of violence and destruction; it wasn't really about the money for him, not anymore. He'd amassed enough to see him comfortably through several lifetimes, now it was all about the game.

The chip danced across his knuckles absently. The girl was chaos incarnate. He had no intention of turning her in, nor did he intend on letting anyone else. Richard Riddick and River Tam gallivanting across the 'Verse together... he could only hope they would not disappoint. It irked him beyond belief that, after five years of trying, the Blue Sun mainframes were still untouchable. Five years and he'd only managed to hack his way into a handful of useless accounts. Blue Sun wanted her badly; the question was why. The computers on the Blue Sun Agents ship he had hacked into had provided a plethora of information on _Serenity_ and the crew, deliciously classified information on Riddick, and yet infuriatingly little on Miss Tam. He frowned. That was a lie. There was a mountain of information on Tam, all of it heavily encrypted; in the last two weeks, he had spent countless hours trying to break the code, and he had come up with absolutely nothing.

Now _The_ _Fraternity's_ computer systems, it had taken him less than twenty minutes to break through their security. It had been all too easy, amateurish really. There hadn't been much there, however, that differed in any real way from the information connected to her bounty; some vague references to behavioral programming, failed subliminal tests. They had really known little to nothing about the girl when they had helped her brother break her out. It was really unprofessional of them actually. He snorted to himself; _The_ _Fraternity_ was really nothing more than a two-bit resistance group that had a tendency to hit and then run; literally. Since the attack on the facility, which to his understanding they didn't do much more than plan, there hadn't been a peep of activity from them and that was months ago now.

What had caught his eye amongst the data the _Fraternity_ did have in their possession was a thirty second clip of vid footage, which put some of Riddick's best work to shame. His fingers began to move rapidly across a holographic keyboard which rezzed itself to the right of him; a second later, a 3-D image appeared and he watched the clip play out for the hundredth time since it came into his possession. The girl was unstoppable. He watched with a twinge of awe. It was a dance and he gleefully counted off the steps he had memorized. Chaos incarnate. It was going to be so much fun. He turned his attention back to the new bounty.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, the Guild mainframes were harder to hack into than The Alliance military networks, and this particular bounty had only opened up to three of the twenty-five Guilds. He scrolled past the image and down to the listing of education and skills. The girl was a certifiable genius and absolutely lethal. Only the best of the best were going to go after her; one name in particular stood out in his mind; William Walker. His lip curled slightly in disgust. That man had cost him quite of bit of coin over the years; he wasn't going to allow his newest toys to be taken away so easily however. He had a few favors here and there stockpiled. He couldn't directly hit Walker but he could do enough to make the man's life hell for a little while. It was also an excellent opportunity to gain a bit of leverage over _Serenity _as well. Mr. Universe was rather fond of the, you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours school of thought, and this would be one very big scratch.

Mr. Universe tossed the chip once, catching it easily in his hand as he hopped down from his command chair. It was time for business.


	58. Interlude 10: Of War and Love IV

"Alright people, let's make this quick." Mal ordered, using his best captain-y voice as River and Riddick entered the bay together. "Keep your mouths shut and remember to nod and smile. Unfortunately, this is the last man in the 'Verse we can afford to piss off right now."

"My offer still stands." Riddick rumbled as he released River's arm and checked the clip in his gun. "I could always just kill him."

"We really do need to work on your people skills." Mal deadpanned. "Public relations, it means the other folks have got to still be alive to have relations with."

"I thought it was a valid suggestion." Jayne grinned as he shouldered Vera.

"Nobody asked you, Jayne." Mal retorted over his shoulder. He did a double take as he realized Jayne was carrying Vera. "Jayne, she ain't necessary, this is a friendly deal here."

"Actually, Mal, its blackmail." The merc grunted; he made no move to put Vera down.

"And whose fault is that?" Zoe asked archly.

"Didn't ask for him to cover our tracks on Ariel." Jayne argued.

"Jayne, leave Vera here." Mal ordered, not really willing to go into the matter at the moment. "Whether we like it or not, we need a friend like Mr. Universe." Mal's gaze slide sideways to River. "And you both know it."

"Aw hell." Jayne groaned as he slid Vera off his shoulder. "Kaylee?" He asked as he handed his now second favorite girl over to his first.

"I'll be gentle." The mechanic giggled as she slid Vera onto her shoulder. Jayne had to admit. It was a damn sexy sight; even if he knew Kaylee wouldn't be able to fire her without blowing her shoulder out as well.

"Little Bit, you ready for this?" Mal asked.

"I am." River answered with more confidence then she felt.

"Good. You stick close by Riddick. He ain't got any surprises waitin' for us does he?"

"No." River shook her head. "I cannot hear him from here, but there is no significant threat to us currently."

"Significant?" Jayne eyed her suspiciously.

"Something is wrong about this place." She frowned.

"How wrong is wrong?" Mal asked mirroring her frown.

"She cannot see." River shrugged helplessly.

Mal chewed his lip for a moment. "Well, too late to turn back now. You get an itch, you tell me right away, you _dong ma?_"

"_Wo mingbai_ (I understand)." River nodded.

"Good." Mal returned her nod and ran a hand through his hair. "Let's get this done."

*T*F*C*

"Salutations and greetings, friends-," Mr. Universe's gaze slid to the two women in the group of five that stood inside the entry way of his headquarters, "-and potential lovers." He leered suggestively, causing Riddick to step directly in front of River; a slight growl rumbling through his chest.

Zoe merely rolled her eyes in reaction. "Mr. Universe."

"Ah, my beautiful and terrifying Amazon, you look especially edible this day. Malcolm, good to see you're not dead. Jayne, you're looking as…large as ever." His eyes landed on the last two of the group and brightened considerably. "Richard B. Riddick." He shook his head slightly in admiration. "I am a big fan of your work. That footage from Ursa Luna, such artistry, and with a cryo needle as your only weapon too, just stunning, really. Your capacity for violence humbles me." The small man continued to ramble as he craned his neck around the convict's large form to get a look at the lovely Miss Tam. "Now, now, no need to hide behind Mr. Big Bad and Growly, Miss Tam. We are going to be good friends, you and I." He chuckled slightly, ignoring the steady rise in volume of the convict's growl. "Well, come in, come in!" He waved his hands excitedly. "You are the very first guests I ever invited to my headquarters, and I am just thrilled as peaches to have you all here." He held out his arm to River, "Now Miss Tam, if you would do me the extreme honor and allow me to escort you in the lead, we have so much to discuss and such little time before you must be off again."

_/Don't./_ Riddick growled a half warning through their minds.

River merely ticked her head to the left, her eyes glazed just slightly before ticking her head back to its normal position; a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She ignored Riddick's warning and stepped around him to accept Mr. Universe's extended arm. His mind was absolutely exquisite, intricate and complicated; physical touch would make it easier to decipher its motives. She could feel Riddick seething; she shot him a reproachful look. He didn't look chastised in the least.

Mr. Universe pulled her against his side gently, tucking her arm into his as he began to lead the way down the corridor.

"Remember, keep smiles on and your traps shut." Mal hissed sideways as they remaining four of them fell into step a few paces behind River and Mr. Universe.

"Fifty says I can ding him right between the shoulder blades from here. Straight shot right between Mal and Zoe." Jayne whispered quietly to Riddick as they walked and he mimed the gesture of tossing his blade.

"Hell, I'd pay up an outright hundred." Riddick rumbled back just as quietly.

"Hey now." Mal hissed once more over his shoulder as they approached an elevator shaft.

River was entranced. Not by the man himself, in all honesty he held quite an offensive odor and his voice was irritating beyond words. His mind, however, was utterly fascinating. Calculations, formulas, equations, angles, probabilities; the chaos was refined and controlled. She couldn't help but think that, if the Academy had been founded a decade earlier, it would have been him with needles in his eyes. The thought caused her to shudder. She would not think such things. She forced away the almost reflexive wave of fear which shot through her and focused on the job before her. Purpose. Purpose brought clarity.

River was trying extremely hard to filter the words which left her mouth; trying desperately to avoid the same mistake she had made on Beylix as she gave vague answers to an incessant stream of questions which poured out of the man's mouth. The moment the man had stepped into view she had immediately stepped into his mind to assess his threat level. He was perplexing to say the least. He had no intention of turning her or anyone aboard _Serenity_ in; his fixation around her, however, was slightly unsettling. He was frustrated by his lack of answers, his inability to break into Blue Sun and learn their secrets, learn her secrets. It always came down to secrets. Knowledge was power and no one she had ever encountered took the mantra as seriously as the man whose arm was linked through hers. She repressed the urge to wrinkle her nose. The smell really was quite offensive.

He, however, was of no immediate threat. She realized as the doors to the elevator closed and the man continued to ramble, oblivious to the fact that no one was listening at all. She found it odd to see a similar turning of his mind in comparison to Riddick's. The 'Verse was a playground. The difference was, Riddick played the game for survival, and took amusement from it; Mr. Universe played purely for amusement and he anticipated being deeply entertained by the girl and Riddick. She frowned deeply at the idea of being objectified for amusement. The expression did not go unnoticed.

She felt Riddick's mind brush against hers; there was no emotion or thought attached to it. It was a reminder. He was right there. The Rock. The Rock and The Family were depending upon her. She inhaled and exhaled deeply. On the exhale, she reentered Mr. Universe's mind. Her brow furrowed and for a moment she forgot herself as her anxiety was replaced by amusement and a small cascade of giggles escaped her. She clamped her mouth shut immediately; fortunately Mr. Universe had just made a very poor joke, and the man preened a little bit thinking River's laughter had been in response to that. She plastered a smile across her face and tried to look adoring. She was pleased to know she succeeded as a fresh wave of annoyance washed over her through Riddick.

_/Wanna share?/_

_ /Shhh. I am listening./_

_ /What I tell you about shushing me, girl?/_

_ /Bi zui. (shut up) She is working./_

Riddick bit the inside of his cheek to repress the sound which was rumbling its way through his chest. The smell of the little freak was absolutely nauseating in the confined space of the elevator and the incessant low-level buzz of all of the electrical equipment was wearing his patience thin and very quickly.

"And here we are!" Mr. Universe announced grandly as he stepped out of the elevator and into a large circular room. Directly to the left of them the wall was covered by several dozen monitors mounted haphazardly over top of a large workstation littered with empty coffee cups and mounds of computer components. Opposite of it, and equally messy, was a small kitchen/living area, leaving the crew to assume the man did not often leave this singular room. "Welcome to the Headquarters of the 'Verse. From here, I am the eyes and the ears of everything and everyone; a master of the puppet theater, if you would. Connected to the very pulse point of civilization; holding the power to tip the cards in whoever's favor I see fit."

"What's with the dolls?" Jayne snorted as he picked up a small figurine.

"They're not dolls!" Mr. Universe snapped as he snatched the plastic figurine away hastily. "They're action figures." He huffed.

Riddick and Jayne exchanged a look; both covering up their laughter with a clearing of throats and snorts. "If you say so." Jayne managed with a bit of a smirk.

"Isn't Jayne a girl's name?" Mr. Universe retorted archly.

"Now you-," Jayne took a step forward; fist clenched and Mal quickly stepped between Mr. Universe and his now livid merc.

"About this job," The captain ran interference, his salesman smile plastered across his face. "We can see that a man such as yourself is a busy one and it wouldn't be right for us to take up anymore of your time than necessary. So why don't we get the details on that squared and we'll be off your rock and outta your hair faster than you can spit."

"I don't spit." Mr. Universe replied distastefully as he removed the data chip from his pocket. "Here." He tossed it to the captain.

"So, that's it?" Mal scoffed, somewhere between irritation and incredulity as he turned the small data chip over in his hand. "We flew all this way for something you coulda uploaded to us?"

"You can't stop the signal, Mal. I couldn't risk it the dirty fingerprints of some low-life hacker touching it." Mr. Universe replied with a heavy amount of indignation as he dropped into his command chair. "How idiotic can you be really?"

"Hey." Mal bristled, forcing himself to ignore the insult.

"So, what the hell do we do with it?" Jayne eyed the small chip warily.

Mr. Universe frowned slightly. "You take it to Beaumonde. You exchange it for a large crate. You do not open or damage said crate. You return here." He spoke slowly and with no little amount of condescension.

"That's it?" Mal quirked his brow. "All this hype for a little trade?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What in the gorram hell is in that crate?"

"Don't men of your trade have a don't-ask-don't-tell policy about things like this?" The curly haired man replied, seemingly bored already with the conversation. "I needed a crew I could trust to land on my command post." He added with an eyeroll.

"We also got a policy about upfront fuel costs." Mal bit off tersely.

Mr. Universe gave an exaggerated role of his eyes and spun in his chair to rummage through a drawer in his workstation. "Here." He tossed the captain a small bag of coin. "That is a loan." The hacker said pointedly. "This job is exchange for my silence on all matters Ariel-related as well as the facial data. I have a job lined up for you once you return and I'll just take payment from your cut, along with my finder's fee of course."

"Coordinates?" Mal fought to keep the cordial tone to his voice.

Mr. Universe reached over and plucked another chip off his workstation, he tossed it to the captain. "On that one. Don't confuse the two. The first one's encrypted and it will fry your ship's computer on the first password failure." Mal wasn't sure if there was some kind of veiled warning hidden in his words. He decided he really didn't care. He'd ask River later.

"You got a name?" Zoe asked. "Who our contact is on Beaumonde."

"No." Mr. Universe shrugged. "I have an associate who prefers to be unnamed, and the unnamed has an associate whom he prefers to remain unnamed that you will be making the deal with. Really, I thought you knew how these things worked. Frankly, I'm beginning to question your professionalism. Need to know, and you're really not important enough to know." The sudden identical smirk which appeared on nearly every member of the crew's faces caught him slightly off guard, as though they were privy to a secret he was not. It was irritating. "Well?" He snapped. "What are you still doing here? Run along, do your little crime and try not to dawdle. The job I have waiting has been sitting for far too long already and interested parties are growing impatient." He dismissed them with a vague flick of his wrist and turned back around to his monitors.

Mal would have been offended. Would have been if he wasn't itching to get off the man's rock just as badly as the man wanted **him** off. "Right then." The captain grinned. The smugness in his expression could not be masked. It didn't really matter much if Mr. Universe wanted to be a tight-lipped _hun dan_ prick. River had all the answers anyway. He turned towards the elevator and jerked his head signaling for his crew to follow.

The moment the elevator doors closed behind them Mal turned to River. Before he could ask his question however she held up her hand. She tugged her ear and tapped the walls.

"Paranoid little shit, ain't he?" Jayne grumbled, understanding the gesture. The elevator was bugged.

"Fascinating actually." River replied absently. Behind her, Riddick made a sort of irritated growl-like noise from the back of his throat. "So many thoughts. So many plans." She added dreamily.

*T*F*C*

Mal wasted no time in giving the order to get _Serenity_ back into the Black. Zoe, Jayne, Riddick, and River followed him up to the mess where Simon, Book, and Kaylee were already waiting for the inevitable debriefing.

"Is he a danger?" Simon asked immediately.

"Relative." River shrugged.

"Well, iffin' that ain't all sorts of ominous." Jayne groaned warily.

"Maybe you want to be a bit clearer on the subject, Bit." Mal asked uneasily.

"We should wait for Wash." Zoe interjected. "This way its only gotta be gone through once."

Mal nodded distractedly as he studied River, who was not oblivious to the weight of his gaze. They were all looking at her expectantly. She didn't flinch away from it. She savored the moment. They were waiting for her words; her words which would spur action, words which decide the fate and course of Mother. It was empowering. She could feel their trust, their absolute faith in what she said, her words would be weighted; they would count for something. Clarity and calm fell over her mind, her thoughts for once falling easily into logical sequence with little to no effort at all.

_/Feels good, doesn't it?/_ Outwardly, Riddick's face remained stoic. His head ticked slightly as he heard Wash's footsteps coming down the foredeck hall. _/Your show, babe./_

"Bit, now that we're all here-," Mal prompted as though he was cued by Riddick's thoughts.

"He's an odd man." River remarked, the dreamy undertone returning to her voice as she conjured the memories of his swirling mind. "He is egotistical and power hungry. His mind swirls in violent oranges and erupts in purples and yellows. Strange. So very strange."

"Comin' from you, that's all sorts of disturbin'." Jayne muttered.

"Jayne." The warning was echoed by nearly every mouth at the table.

"What?" He huffed defensively. "Just sayin' what everybody else was thinking."

River frowned. They had all been thinking it. Riddick included.

"'Side from the color of his brain what else was there?" Mal redirected the conversation. "What's on this chip?" He jerked his chin to said chip on the center of the table.

River chewed her lip. "The War is not over."

Both Mal and Zoe stiffened immediately, both replaying the conversation from the previous night as they waited for her to continue. "You will not be pleased." She admitted.

"And the ominous just keeps coming." Jayne groaned.

"Jayne, quit it." Kaylee hissed.

"Just give it to us straight, Bit." Mal encouraged her.

"The chip contains several dozen security access codes for the Alliance military network's satellites in the Kalidasa System. Alongside detailed blueprints of several military installations scattered throughout the system." River rushed out as she toyed with the edge of the table.

"And we're headed straight for Beaumonde." Book observed with a degree of resignation.

"What's wrong with Beaumonde? We're there all the time." Kaylee asked.

"Crawling with Blue Sun." Riddick answered for the Shepherd. "They got more than a few factories on Beaumonde; supposedly they're producing canned beans."

"Supposedly?" Simon asked.

"Supposedly." Riddick didn't elaborate any further. "Seeing as how we blew up two of their boys, might be best we dock outside the cities. Keep you and your sister anyway from anything close to a facial scanner until that data gets wiped."

"Who's his contact, Riv?" Zoe asked redirecting the conversation to something within their power to prepare for. "And was he lying about knowing who the meet is set with?"

"He does not know the name of ship or the name of the captain." River answered.

"Who's he selling the chip to?" Riddick rephrased the question.

"You will like this even less." River answered uneasily as she turned her eyes on the captain.

"Truth hurts. Out with it, Bit." Mal said, his words heavy with acceptance and resignation. The last six years, all he had tried to do was steer clear of the Alliance and the Brown Coats and now it seemed everywhere he turned the War just kept coming back to haunt him.

"MacArthur."

"Oh, you've got to be rutting kidding me!" Mal snapped abruptly as he leapt out of his chair and kicked the table. "Of all the goddamn, rutting _hun dans…"_

"Old friend of yours?" Riddick quirked a brow at the first mate, whose stoic persona had hardened. His observation of the captain and first mate caused him to miss the stiffening of the shepherd; River, however, did not, and her head ticked to the left curiously.

"MacArthur was one of the diehards." Zoe explained. "Cease-fire or not, the War never ended for him. He tried to get me and Mal to sign onboard after. We didn't want no part of the dyin' anymore. We lost; some of them though, never accepted it." The first mate informed the rest of the crew as her hand tightened around her husband's underneath the table. "He didn't take it too kindly when we turned him down."

"He broke my gorram jaw!" The captain snapped as he righted his chair and sat back down.

"In all fairness, sir, you did swing first." Zoe pointed out.

"Loyalty, Zo." Mal reminded her.

"I question it every day, sir." She smirked ever so slightly.

"What's in the crate?" Riddick interrupted the trip down memory lane with a question he felt was even more pertinent.

River's attention was jerked away from the curious turnings of the preacher's mind. The name MacArthur had caused a stirring and he was trying to place it.

"River?" Riddick pressed curiously.

She blushed furiously, hesitating on answering as she lacked a proper explanation. For the first time since the meeting had begun, her words became jumbled and incoherent in her head.

Riddick ticked his head. "What?"

"Lenore." She answered.

"Aw hell, Mal!" Jayne snapped, throwing his hands in the air. "Didn't we learn our lesson over transportin' crazy girls in boxes? No offense, Riv." He added hurriedly.

"I will not be a party to human trafficking." The Shepherd jumped in. "I cannot sit by and abide it either captain."

"That's disgusting." The doctor curled his lip.

"Why would he? I didn't think he was like that? How could a body?" Kaylee faltered as she fretted.

"Now wait a gorram second here!" Mal snapped. "I ain't gonna be a party to nothin-."

"Assumptions." River cut them all off, her annoyance apparent. "She is not alive."

"Ew. We're movin' a corpse?" Kaylee asked.

River sighed deeply. "No." She chewed on her lip. "Lenore, model number: RTU-7."

Riddick furrowed his brow. "Model number?"

River blushed again. "A… a companion."

"A companion? What, wait. Really? Oh, gross." The captain groaned.

"What? I'm missin' somethin'?" Jayne frowned.

Riddick barked out a sudden chuckle, only causing the confusion around the table to grow.

Wash caught on in the next moment however. "Oh, model number, a LoveBot." He frowned. "Ew. A LoveBot." He shuddered.

"Just how in the hell do you know that?" Wash shrank under the scrutiny of his wife's glare. He chuckled nervously; panic tickling the edges of the sound.

"What? I'm up all hours at night by myself on the bridge. I spend a lot of time on the Cortex, and they advertise!" He said defensively.

"A LoveBot?" Jayne still looked deeply confused. "Why the hell? Oh." His face changed as he understood. "Really? They make stuff like that? Why would anybody wanna sex up a machine? Be all cold and starin' at you all dead like. Like the real thing myself." He leered suggestively at Kaylee.

"Jayne." Mal shuddered. "Imagery is not needed."

"Not everythin' that runs offa batteries is so bad." Kaylee shrugged innocently.

"Whoa! Stop right there! I can't hear this!" Mal cried.

"I could stand to listen." Jayne waggled his eyebrows at the mechanic. "How come I ain't never seen any of the stuff you got that runs offa-"

"Jayne!" Mal snapped again. "Really, you don't stop, I swear I'm gonna shoot you myself."

"Would that break you're celibacy vows preacher?" Riddick goaded.

Book merely snorted.

"Enough!" Mal cried exasperated. "Sweet Buddha, enough."

"It seem strange to anybody else that that's the only thing that weird little shit is getting out of this job?" Riddick asked, his tone completely serious. "A chip like that-," he motioned to the small piece of metal, "-seems like the cost of it should run a bit higher."

"Man's got a point." Jayne agreed, though he was only listening with half of his attention now; the other half was pointedly focused on Kaylee and what kind of battery operated things she had been hiding.

River glared at the merc for his thoughts. They were a bit overwhelming. "Stop." She hissed at him from across the table.

"Huh?" Jayne looked up abruptly.

"Focus." River continued to glare.

The merc grinned out her. "Stay outta my head then."

"Cobb." Riddick warned.

"Aw hell, you can't expect me not to think about it."

"Sweet Buddha." Mal complained. "A little rutting focus here, people." He rapped his knuckles on the table. "Riddick's got a point. You got any insight into that, Bit?"

"The arrangement benefits the contractor as well as the contracted." River answered.

"He's got something else written into that chip, doesn't he?" Wash asked, pleased he had understood right away.

"Correct." River nodded at him. "He's made himself a door. Always planning, always a step ahead of the next. Anything he does for you, benefits himself."

"He gonna turn on us?" Riddick asked.

"No. He is waiting to be entertained. He hopes Riddick and Tam will not disappoint. A little bit of chaos, a little bit of disorder and destruction." Her voice was strangely playfully and her fingers punctured each word in mid-air. "Wants to play but doesn't want to get his hands dirty."

"Give me five minutes in a room alone with him, won't find me so entertaining then." Riddick growled darkly, less than pleased over the prospect of being toyed with.

Wash rolled his eyes. "What else did he write on that chip?"

"A door." River replied simply. "Wants their computers, wants all that they know. Knowledge is power."

"Is it weird that makes me feel better about this job?" Mal asked.

"Knowing he has something more at stake than a LoveBot, sir? I'll say it makes me a mite more comfortable with the whole thing." Zoe answered.

"So, we got a weird little hacker on a power trip blackmailing us to hand over a chip that's gonna hack both Alliance and Resistance computers on a world crawling with Blue Sun to pick up a sex bot cause the little freak can't get himself laid?" Riddick summarized, though his tone was more amused than anything else as he leaned back in his chair and fiddled with the end of a ribbon dangling from River's hair.

"That's the gist of it I suppose. Don't sit right with me either." Mal agreed. "But we ain't got much choice. Mr. Universe is a powerful friend."

"And I don't doubt an even greater enemy." Book added. "If he's really capable of wiping our facial data, I can only imagine what he could do if he was working against us."

"You don't want to know." Wash admitted shaking his head. "I may hate the man but he is the best at what he does. Do you even know how he got that moon?" He didn't wait for an answer. "It was being terraformed; he wanted it for obvious reasons, the ion cloud prevents scanners and satellites from picking up surface activity and gives a nice healthy boost to his own signals. Anyway, he hacked into the Alliance geological survey and had the computers report back everything from biological mutations to poisonous gases. They never bothered to physically check up on it. There's been so many other failures in the system they just wrote it off. He's got EMP cannons all over that rock, any unauthorized ship comes in-," he dipped his arm and made a whistling sound, followed by a wild jerking of his hands to mime out the explosion, "- down they go. It only reinforces the fact the rock isn't safe."

"His mind is exquisite." River said admiring. "Utterly fascinating."

Riddick snorted.

"How many days, Wash?" Mal asked.

"Can't go full burn the whole way-," the pilot shrugged as he did a few random estimations in his head, "-if I actually stick to the standard shipping lanes instead of going stealthy in dead space, maybe the bad side of three days?"

Mal turned the information over in his head. "Push her as much as you think it's safe. I want nothin' more than to be done of this all soon as we can."

"Real curious as to who we're gonna find at the end of this all myself, sir." Zoe said.

"If it's MacArthur behind it all, I'm bettin' it's gonna be a familiar face."

"You know something." River's head ticked violently and her gaze landed on the preacher as he stiffened for a second time at the name. "Secrets aren't nice." Her eyes darkened and Riddick found himself reflexively reaching out and grabbing one of her arms underneath the table to stop her from lunging.

"Derrial's full of secrets." Riddick rumbled darkly.

Mal's eyes narrowed over the exchange and his fingers moved for his holster. "Shepherd, you got a story to share?"

"I'm certainly all ears." Jayne tensed.

Book, to his credit, didn't flinch. "Nothing like you think." He bristled. "The name sounded familiar was all and I couldn't place it until just now. I flew with an old friend of yours before this, don't you remember? It was on his recommendation you stopped on Tyrus to pick me up."

"Monty?" Mal asked, though he wasn't sure why it came out as a question.

"I overheard the name a time or two." Book replied. "As you are all well aware, I wasn't always a Shepherd. Monty and his crew, however, weren't and they tended to speak openly. I'm not saying that I know anything for sure."

"_Dao._" River relaxed instantly and the atmosphere in the mess relaxed with her.

"Well hell, I kinda hope it is Monty." Jayne shrugged. "Been awhile since we seen him and his boys."

"What are ya thinkin', sir?" Zoe asked, noting the familiar expression on the captain's face.

"I'm thinkin' it might not be so bad to run in with Monty or MacArthur. I'm thinkin' as much as I hate to admit it or suggest it, it might not be a bad idea to insinuate ourselves with those folks once more. Got a lot people chasin' our tales, be real nice to have a few that ain't."

A thoughtful silence fell over the bay, broken by River, whose head was beginning to ache from the tension.

"You will be pleased to know that the next job has nothing to do with political climates and everything to do with coin." River offered pleasantly. "The opportunity for honest theft."

"Well, that's something." Mal grumbled.

*T*F*C*

_Three Days Later_

Serenity

_Beaumonde_

_Seventy Miles East of Central Docking City_

"Riddick," Mal called as came down the stairwell leading to the common room.

"Yeah, Mal?" The convict looked up disinterestedly from the game of cards he, Jayne, and River were playing.

"Got a job for you and the Bit." Mal informed him as he leaned his hand against one of the low hanging pipes.

Riddick tossed down his hand and sat back. "I'm all ears, captain."

Mal reached in his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. "You and River take your bike, set yourselves up somewhere close enough to that meet point for River to "hear" and far enough away as not to be seen."

"Thought this was gonna be a cake run, Mal?" Jayne grunted as he cleaned up the pile of cards.

"Not taking the chance." The captain shook his head. "All this _gou shi_ is flying around our heads and I wanna make sure we stay a step ahead. Now, we're hopin' its Monty that's gonna be waitin' but I ain't countin' all my ducks just yet."

"Chickens." River corrected absently. "Not ducks."

"Whatever." Mal deadpanned. "Just gear up and get yourselves set. Deal goes down in another two hours and I don't want any surprises. Jayne, Zoe, and me will take the shuttle out. After it's done let everybody clear out, 'fore you make yourselves known. Take a walkie, but keep it silent. You good, Bit?"

"I am." River replied.

"Alright then." Mal nodded and moved to turn but paused for a moment to look back at his crew. "Why the hell were ya playin' poker with River? Ya'll know she's a Reader, right?" He asked, slightly confused.

"They're teaching her to cheat." Simon appeared in the infirmary doorway, his expression clearly stating his opinion on the matter.

"What?" Mal asked.

Jayne shrugged. "Well, she can talk to Riddick inside his head, but then Riddick's got to be able to talk to me. Workin' on tells and signals is all."

"Oh." Mal frowned slightly.

"Life-skill Mal." Riddick rumbled. "Best places to find information are the two-bit slum bars. Girl needs to learn how to blend in."

Mal opened his mouth to argue but found he couldn't; man had a point. Blending in and laying low weren't exactly Tam specialties. He did, however, have a hard time believing that River's best interests lay at the heart of this little experiment. "River, you're okay with this?"

The young woman in question merely shrugged. "Bored."

"Well, now there's a job to be done, so let's git a move along, people." Mal nodded. "We're gonna skip on takin' you out to gear up until we know that facial data is wiped. In light of the revelation of this bein' a Company rock, it's best for now." He told River. "We'll get this done and be on our merry."

*T*F*C*

Riddick stopped his bike on the outskirts of the abandoned mining complex; his nostrils flared distastefully, only reaffirming his belief that Mal couldn't find work anywhere that didn't stink like shit. The air was thick with the stretch of rotten eggs, with an undertone of ammonia; it was nauseating. It was bad even for Beaumonde.

River's face furrowed as her gaze fell on the rickety complex. "Inefficient. Wasteful. Dirty."

"Cheap." Riddick snorted. "All that matters." His eyes drifted across the landscape searching out a suitable spot to catch the show. "See that cargo container? Good as place as any." He jerked his head to the left and towards a hole-ridden, rusty shipping container as he powered down his cycle and stepped down.

"Acceptable." River shrugged.

"Think we'd find anything good in the complex?" His head jerked back toward the complex as they headed towards the crate to stash the bike.

"Ghosts. Nothing but ghosts left behind." She replied mournfully.

Riddick tensed. "Last thing you called a ghost was that Reaver kid we pulled off that other wreck." The convict eyed the complex with suspicion.

"Mining collapse. They died in the darkness." River clarified.

"What's wrong?" Riddick asked, curious over her tone and the detached look in her eyes. Her movements were lethargic and lazy as though she was walking through a fog.

"Everything echoes." She answered vaguely, studiously ignoring the human shaped wisp which strolled past her.

"Now really isn't the time for crazy." He replied warily as he pulled open the crate doors with one hand and balanced the bike with the other.

"Not crazy." She defended, snapping out of her trance. "Observant. Not crazy. This place is dead."

"Sounding a lot like crazy to me." Riddick snorted as parked the bike along the far end of the container.

"She doesn't want to go." River shook her head and pulled the doors of the container closed, encasing them in a dusty semi darkness broken only by the thin beams of sunlight filtered into the holes and cracks of the rusted metal.

"Fine." Riddick shrugged. He leaned against the wall and pulled is flask from his pocket; unscrewing the lid he took a deep swig from it. "How long?"

"One hour, nine minutes." River answered reflexively.

"Fucking shiny." Riddick threw back another swig.

*T*F*C*

"Vera, but no grenades." Mal said firmly.

"Aw, Mal." Jayne complained. "Just one. Call it a Plan B. You and Zo said we'd be needin' those anyhow."

"No. Grenades. Jayne." Mal repeated himself. "For Christ's sake, more like than not, its Monty we'll be tradin' with."

"It's the not that I'm wantin' to be prepared for." Jayne insisted.

"Jayne, I ain't gonna repeat myself again. You'll be on septic for the rest of your gorram life."

"Already am, for the warehouse." Jayne retorted smugly.

"Oh." Mal faltered. "Well... we'll add dishes to it."

"Aw, Mal, that hardly ain't fair."

"Ain't got to be. I'm the Captain." Mal smirked. "No grenades. Vera'll scare 'em enough, 'sides I got Riddick and River that'll be watchin' our hides."

The merc snorted. "Fine, Mal. No grenades."

"Good. Now be ready in twenty, I wanna get out there 'fore our contact does." The captain ordered as he headed up to the bridge.

Jayne dropped back down into his bunk. "Toss me one of them grenades, Kaylee-girl." He grunted as he knelt down in front of his locker to dig out a couple extra mags for Vera.

"Thought the captain said no?" Kaylee quirked an eyebrow.

"He did." Jayne smirked. "When I ever listen to the captain though? One in my pocket won't hardly go noticed but the cap'n will be thankin' me when I save his ass with it."

"Who says your even gonna need it I thought this was gonna be cake?"

"When is it ever cake onboard _Serenity?_" He challenged.

"Maybe ya should take two."

*T*F*C*

"Tell me a secret." Riddick's voice cut through the hazy darkness of the cargo container he and River waited in.

"Always secrets." River muttered faintly as she traced an intricate swirling pattern in the dirt.

"Knowledge is power." He smirked at her.

River frowned. She had said to Wash several days ago, she was tired of no one listening; her assessment had been incorrect. Riddick listened far too closely and was ever willing to throw her words back at her. "Can't trust her. She's crazy."

"Can't be crazy when you feel like it, girl." Riddick laughed, his voice reverted quickly back to seriousness as he added. "And you're the only one I trust." His lips twitched as he watched her stiffen. "Tell me a secret." He pressed again as he pushed himself up to his feet. His nostrils flared as River's scent seem to magnify itself in the small heated space. He wasn't planning on trying anything, he was just bored as hell waiting for the party to start and goading a rise out of River was always entertaining.

"She won't rise to it." River snorted as his thoughts.

Riddick's smirk turned slightly petulant. He really needed to work on masking errant thoughts from her. River's slight giggle only served to turn his smirk completely into a scowl. "Don't have to be so gorram pleased with yourself."

"You are still capable of keeping secrets." She said pointedly. "Tell her about Shirah and she will tell you a new secret."

Riddick sat back down against the wall. "Leave it, River."

"Why?" She pressed.

"Just 'cause you can be in my head doesn't mean you have a right to everything." He replied, struggling to put distance in his mind from her and to not think anything related to the woman in question.

"Just because you want secrets doesn't mean she has anything to tell." River countered. "Everything I know is everything I wish I didn't and I don't even know what is there. It comes; it goes, ebbs and flows in The River, but what it all means? What bit belongs to which piece, what part is memory and what is a dream? She cannot even begin to translate. I can feel them." She peeped through one of the holes in the metal which showed the wreck of the mine.

"I didn't hear any engines." Riddick rose missing her meaning entirely.

"Not them. Them." River tried to explain. "The ghosts. A man with a crumpled hat, another with a pick axe, a woman with a jug of water, they speak. Not to her. Not to The River, they speak words already spoken, memories, echoes. Energy doesn't die, it simply goes elsewhere, but traces of it are always left behind." Her voice was distant, faraway and Riddick was not entirely sure she was still speaking to him. "They all think she is getting better. As if what was done can simply be washed away. Blood doesn't wash away. Brain matter doesn't wash away. It stains. It drips off the hands and lips of the other. Medications, chemical components which only reveal to her how truly damaged she is. She understands her insanity now. It cuts all the deeper. She is aware of the screaming now, and yet she cannot understand the words. There is no sanity, only acceptance. She'll never be better, not as long as she can hear them scream."

"Hear who scream River?" He asked cautiously.

"Everyone." She replied simply looking away from the hole in the crate.

"You with me, River?" He asked her, his voice curious and his head tilting slightly. "Here, with me now?"

"Of course she is." She stood on her tip toes and tapped his forehead. "Here always." She made a sweeping gesture with her arm to the space around her. "Everywhere else is relative."

"Today's one of those bad days, isn't it?" There was no accusation in his voice. "Could have said something before we left." He was more upset with himself for having not noticed it.

"Relative to perspective." She shrugged.

"Comforting."

"Daddy's coming." She chimed pleasantly.

*T*F*C*

"Place smells." Jayne scowled as he stepped off the shuttle, patting down his pockets for a cigar.

"Didn't pick it." Mal wrinkled his face slightly in agreement as he blocked the sun to scan their surroundings. "How much time we got, Zo?"

"Should be hear any minute sir." The first mate replied checking a silver pocket watch.

"Where you reckon River and Riddick are holed up?" Mal asked.

"One of those containers, most like." Jayne grunted as he lit his cigar. "Where'd I sit. Could fit the muzzle of a gun through those rust holes easy enough."

Mal nodded as one hand rested comfortably on his holster, the other through one of the loops in his belt. The echo of the rumble of a shuttle engine whined in the distance just off the horizon. "And right on time." He muttered more to himself than anyone else.

*T*F*C*

"And cue the disreputable gentlemen." River whispered peeping through a rust hole.

Riddick didn't even bother to arch a brow at her.

*T*F*C*

"Malcolm Reynolds!" The bellowing voice of a monster of a man rang out from the shuttle hatchway. "Y'old son-of-a-bitch. You're still alive?"

"Monty." Mal's face broke out in a wide grin, relief washing over his features that it was in fact the bushy-faced giant himself.

Monty crossed the distance quickly picking the captain up _Serenity_ up in vise-like bear hug.

*T*F*C*

"More fucking hugging?" Riddick snorted. "Am I going to get to shoot anybody or have we just been sweating our asses off is this crate for nothing?"

"So eager for violence."

"It's what I do." Riddick shrugged.

"All is well." River replied, dismissing him and turning back to the small hole she was looking through.

"Fucking shiny." The convict bit off as he threw back other swig from his flask. "Waste of fucking time."

*T*F*C*

"Mon-Monty." Mal wheezed clapping the man on the back.

Monty dropped Mal and immediately spun to Zoe. "Zoe, girl! C'mere, girl, you're next ta give this old man a big one!" Zoe hardly had the time to reply before she was swept up in an equally bone crushing hug. "Cobb! Old boy, how ya been?" He turned to the merc who nearly lost his cigar as the man clapped his back and pulled him in for one too. "Where's that sorry-arsed ship of yours? Ain't a body told me ya'd be pickin' up this leg of the run." He added jovially as he released the merc. "You still got Kaylee-girl running your engines? How ya keep her is beyond me." He scratched his head, pausing in his rambling to take in the crew. "Reynolds, I sure am glad to see you, boy. When'd you join back up with the good fight?"

Mal shifted uncomfortably at that. "Ain't joinin' up with nobody Monty, just making a trade for a friend is all. Don't know anythin' 'bout nothin' 'xcept I believe this chip in my pocket is goin' to you in exchange for a crate." He was careful to edge a bit of suspicion in his tone.

"What's this talk 'bout joinin' up? Thought you were doin' honest hauls, Monty?" Jayne added as he took a pull of his cigar, picking up on the captain's lead.

Monty looked between his three old friends. "Ya'll really don't know nothin'? Woulda thought bein' as what's on that chip…" His voice drifted off.

"There somethin' we should know, Monty?" Zoe asked archly. "Between old friends."

Monty looked back to the two boys that had accompanied him to the deal. "Same old talk as always, Zo." He replied, his tone a bit dark, slightly guarded. "Same talk that there's always been, between old friends, and those that are still wearin' the colors." He added, noting the brown leather of both Mal and Zoe's coats. "Honest work is relative to perspective, I suppose."

"Only perspective I got is my own." Mal replied pointedly. "You heard anythin' 'bout MacArthur these days?"

"Ain't still sore over that shot to the jaw?" Monty chuckled. "You swung first."

Mal snorted.

"Listen, Mal, we go a long ways back-," Monty paused and looked back over his shoulder to his men, "-Danny, Jack, haul out that crate, will ya?" He looked back to Mal before continuing. "None of us are as we were then, but the root of it all ain't changed a bit. You get the itch for somethin', somethin' more'n than just survivin', you give old Monty a call, and he'll tell ya just how MacArthur's doin'."

"Fair 'nough." Mal nodded as Monty's boys came back out of their shuttle carrying a long, narrow crate between them. He nodded at Jayne and Zoe, who moved to meet the boys halfway and take the crate. "Your chip." He pulled it from his pocket and handed it over.

"Wind's changin', Mal." He grinned as he slipped the chip into his pocket. "Be seein' ya around." He winked and turned on his heel. "Zoe, you tell that husband of yours I said hi; 'til next time, boys!" He waved as he ducked back into his shuttle.

"Sir?" Zoe asked as they watched Monty's shuttle take off.

"War certainly ain't over." The captain mused, though if it was meant to be an answer Zoe wasn't entirely sure.

"Riddick's comin'." Jayne grunted and jerked his head as the man in question came walking out of one of the cargo containers, River trailing behind.

"Was it everything you thought it would be?" Riddick asked with a slight tick of his eyebrow as he got within speaking range.

"I do believe we were just invited into a resistance movement." Zoe answered for Mal.

"Ain't a hero, Mal." Riddick warned. "Not interested in riskin' my ass for them."

"Didn't ask you to, Riddick." Mal replied. "Little Bit?"

"He reeks of sincerity." She shrugged. "Malcolm Reynolds and Zoe Alleyne made a name for themselves in the War. Carved it out of flesh and blood; burned it with gunpowder and oil."

"You alright, Riv?" Zoe asked, genuinely concerned.

"Something about this place is making her head twitch." Riddick shrugged off the first mate's question.

"Could be the smell." Jayne snorted.

Riddick gave a sort of sideways smirk in agreement.

"She's clear enough though." Mal said looking at River. "Think it will rile a few more back to the cause."

"Their logic is not faulty." River shrugged.

"Ain't really wanted either. We'll keep it as an option. If MacArthur can stay hidden all these years, they'll be able to shelter us if it comes to it."

"Death is coming." River said, her voice unnervingly unconcerned.

"Long as it's not us." Mal dismissed her remark, used to her random and creepifying observations.

"Not for us. At us." River corrected.

"How in the hell does that make any kind of sense?" Jayne asked more than a little disgruntled.

"She'd tell you if she knew." River confessed.

"Think it's time we get the hell back in the Black." Mal said. "Grab your bike, Riddick; we'll all take the shuttle back."


	59. Interlude 10: Of War and Love V

"What do ya think she looks like?" Kaylee asked curiously as she and Jayne stood in front of the long, narrow crate containing the bot.

"Could take a peek." Jayne whispered, his head swiveling to ensure they were alone in the bay.

Kaylee chewed on the corner of her lip, debating. "Could ya open it and reseal it so it looked like ain't been touched?"

Jayne gave her a sort of odd look. "Just a crate, girl." He shrugged.

"Well, I know that-," Kaylee rolled her eyes, "-but if ya dent the metal or break off the hinge, everybody's gonna know we opened it."

"There are eight ruttin' other people on the ship, ain't like we'd be the first ones the finger got pointed at." Jayne argued. "Could just blame it on River."

"Jayne!" Kaylee admonished with a slight giggle.

"What?" He asked defensively. "Girl's like Mal's favorite, ain't like he'd be mad at her for long."

The mechanic rolled her eyes. "Get a crowbar, Jayne; it's killin' me, just one little peek couldn't hurt nothin', right?"

Jayne grinned at her. "Couldn't hurt a thing." He swiveled around to come face-to-face immediately with a frowning River and a rather amused looking Riddick.

"Cobb." Riddick nodded, repressing his smirk.

"Riddick." Jayne nodded back a bit uneasily. "Bit late, what you two doin' up?"

"Could ask the same of you." Riddick replied.

"Just takin' in the air." Jayne answered innocently. "You?"

"Well, we figured if you're gonna blame River we might as well be here to take a look too." Riddick said, the smirk on his face revealing itself.

"I wasn't gonna let him." Kaylee piped in.

"Rutting, gorram mind readers." Jayne muttered.

Riddick threw his head back and chuckled.

"Really, I wasn't gonna let him." Kaylee insisted.

"It is alright." River said, her face softening at the near pleading look the mechanic was giving her. "She is curious as well."

"Right then." Jayne swallowed hard as he glanced around for a crow bar. "Anybody see a-?" His question was cut off as River held out the item in question. "Right then." He nodded.

"I thought the captain said you were to leave the crate alone." Inara voice rang out through the bay as she came down the catwalk stairs.

"Shhhh! Woman!" Jayne snapped in a harsh whisper. "You wanna wake the whole gorram ship?" He turned back to River. "Some ruttin' lookout you make."

"She was never charged with the position." River folded her arms petulantly. "Inara is just as curious." She added smugly as she turned to face the Companion. "She won't tell."

Inara giggled slightly, almost happy to be a part of the mischief. She was honestly curious as well, after all, the bot was nearly competition. "Of course I won't." The older woman smiled as she crossed the bay quickly. "Well? Open it." She pressed impatiently.

"Full of surprises." Riddick mused to himself as Inara leaned in for a better view and Jayne went back to cracking open the crate.

"Now to make it clear-," the merc started, "-River, you're on lookout."

The Reader in question merely rolled her eyes.

"Jayne." Riddick warned.

"What?' The merc asked defensively.

"Open the gorram crate." Riddick deadpanned.

Jayne muttered a few choice words to himself before the lid gave way with a nearly ear splitting crack. The fivesome in the bay froze in unison, holding a collective breathe and looking to River. After a moment, the Reader nodded.

"Way to be discreet." Kaylee snorted.

"Got it open, didn't I?" Jayne retorted.

"For Buddha's sake, just move the lid." Inara groaned.

Jayne snorted but pulled back the lid. Five heads cocked slightly to the side as they took in the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, unnervingly realistic collection of metal and wires.

"She's staring." River frowned.

"She looks so real." Kaylee commented, a bit awed by it and not entirely sure why. "Wonder how she works? Like, where is the access panel?"

Jayne poked the bot on its cheek, his finger recoiling quickly. "Well, I'll be… feels real."

Riddick merely arched a brow. "Seen some really weird shit in my life…"

"I suppose she's okay, if you like blondes." Inara said a bit distastefully.

"Her measurements are unrealistic." River frowned. "If she was human her chest would cave in."

Inara snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "How in the' Verse could they possible compare a LoveBot to a Companion. It's insulting really."

"What? Don't like the competition?" Riddick goaded with a smirk.

"She's hardly competition." Inara crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Nothing more than a doll really."

"I could see it." Jayne shrugged. His shrug was immediately followed by a cry of pain as Kaylee's hand connected firmly with the back of his head. "What the hell was that for?"

"Jayne Cobb, you know good and well what that was for!" Kaylee snapped in a whisper.

"I was just say-"

"Not another word, Cobb." Kaylee said harshly.

"Well, she sure as hell wouldn't go around hitting a man for causal observation!" Jayne snapped back.

"Wasn't nothing causal at all." Kaylee pouted.

"Aw hell, girl." Jayne groaned as he moved to pull the lid back across the crate. "Makin' somethin' out of nothin' here."

"I'll decide what's nothin', thank you." The mechanic huffed.

River froze suddenly. "Daddy's coming." She whispered furiously.

*T*F*C*

"Can't tell me you're not curious in the least." Mal said to Zoe as they, along with Wash came down the catwalk stairs.

"Can't say I am, sir." Zoe shook her head.

"I would say I am, but that probably wouldn't end well for me. So I'll go for a no, with an enthusiastic head nod behind my wife's back." The pilot grinned.

"You don't hardly think before you speak, do ya Wash?" Mal asked humorously.

"Can't say I make it a habit." Wash shrugged. "Why over think pure genius? 'Let it flow', that's my motto."

"Husband." Zoe deadpanned.

"Right, or cap it. Genius can be capped."

Mal chuckled as they crossed the bay, shaking his head slightly. Zoe's hand caught his just as he moved to pick up a crow bar that had been left out on top of another crate.

"Sir, does it look like that crate's been open already?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

*T*F*C*

Riddick sat alone in his bunk, turning over a worn and well read scrap of paper between his fingers. He mentally snorted.

_Nothing but pressed cellulose. Numbers, chapter eleven, verse eleven. And _Moses_ said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? And wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the _burden_ of all this people upon me?_

It wasn't the words which meant so much as the set of coordinates which repeated themselves in between the lines. He had to remember though, that this was the product of a River rant. He couldn't help but think the words had meaning too. He had looked it up on the cortex; none of it had made any sense at all to him, and asking the shepherd for help was the very last thing he wanted to do.

_Eleven, important number, prime number, one goes into the house of eleven, eleven times, but always comes out one._

He folded the paper back up and slipped it under his mattress. He was going to have to ask River about it. He really didn't want too. For one, he was afraid it would set her off again; and the second, he really didn't think she had a rutting clue in hell anyway; so what was the point in riling her up?

_**She will bring you to me.**_

_**She is your salvation.**_

Fucking women. Fucking cryptic ass women. He rolled over, trying to make himself comfortable. The thin metal of the wall which separated Riddick from River was really not much of an obstacle. He could hear her heartbeat, just as restless as his own. He pushed himself off of his bed and crossed over to the offending wall. His fingers reached out to trace the metal. What the fuck was it about her? It was everything; his mind seemed to answer back. The secrets, the mystery, the blood, and violence; the way her body moved through space, the way her hair drifted behind her, the way her scent rolled off her skin and burned into his nostrils. The way her tears wanted to make him kill someone, the way her trembling hand caused something to stir inside of him, the way her fear nauseated him. The fact he knew he would die for her. The way her lips curved when he understood something she couldn't communicate; the way she laughed when his fingers ran across the line of her torso, goose pimples forming in a trail behind them. The way she looked at him; absent of fear and mistrust, filled with adoration and awe, as if he was some kind of god. He rested his forehead against the cold metal, breathing in the traces of her scent left behind in his dorm.

Fuck. He did love her.

*T*F*C*

River tossed restlessly on her bunk; unsure if it was the medications or the relentless swirling of Riddick's mind that kept her from sleep. His thoughts were intangible; hidden carefully behind a wall in his mind. She didn't begrudge him it. He wasn't concealing himself, just his thoughts. She wasn't at all surprised, however, to hear her door slid open. He could keep his thoughts quiet if he wished, it was a small price to pay for the knowledge that even when he did, he would seek her out when his mind was in chaos. She brought him the same peace he brought her. It was a small thing, but it meant everything.

She rolled over to watch him as he slide the door closed and kicked off his boots. His goggles were next, followed by his shirt. River sat up, confused.

"Relax." He rumbled as he dropped down next to her on her bunk. "Can't sleep is all." He pulled her back down and wrapped his arms around her; burying his nose into her hair and inhaling deeply.

"I don't understand." She said honestly. She really didn't.

"Neither do I. Just go to sleep." He rumbled against her hair.

"But…"

"Sleep, River. No talking. Everybody always wants to talk. Just go the fuck to sleep." His voice was calm, gentle even; laced with both acceptance and confusion.

River relaxed into the heat of his body, lulled by the steady rhythm of his heart. His arms encased her like the steel bars of a cage, one she felt safe behind. "_Hao shui_ (Good night), Riddick."

"_Hao shui._" He mumbled against her hair, his arms tightening their hold.

*T*F*C*

_Three days later…_

"It's quite beautiful." Inara remarked as she stepped onto the bridge, her eyes not leaving the swirling mass which encased Mr. Universe's moon.

"Not from my chair." Wash snorted. "Fries my scanners, nav goes fritz-y; takes skill to land on that rock, gotta do everything by line-of-sight, all the math's gonna be done up here." He tapped his head.

"Well, you're the best for a reason." Inara smiled at him.

"That I am." Wash grinned. "A leaf on the wind."

"Five hundred-seventy-five thousand pounds of metal, fueled by a standard radion-accelerator core." River corrected as she stepped onto the bridge.

Wash snorted. "Thanks, Riv. Steal the poetry, shatter my illusion." He complained good-naturedly. Inara couldn't help the slight giggle that escaped her.

"A leaf on the wind implies a non-aware entity fueled by the whims of fate and air currents. A leaf on the wind is chaos in motion. Wash behind the wings of Mother is skill and intelligence controlling freedom and power."

"And you're back on my good side again." Wash swiveled his head around to look at her. "Nice shirt by the way." He winked.

"Why thank you." River smiled and bowed her head slightly.

"Shouldn't you be in the bay, prepping with the others?" Inara asked.

"Should." River shrugged. "The view is nicer up here."

"I agree." Inara nodded slightly as her gaze returned to the ever nearing ion cloud.

"You know, you don't have to work the jobs as a gun." Wash suggested. "Could always use a co-pilot, and you're already in the engine room with Kaylee."

River smiled genuinely at him. "She is sorry to leave the flight crew as well. She is needed on the ground." She added almost regretfully.

"Offer stands." Wash shrugged a little regretfully himself. He had liked having River stay behind with him when the crew went on jobs; not that Kaylee wasn't good company. River just, well, **got** him.

"I doubt the captain would be on your side." Inara remarked.

"Mal?" Wash looked back. "Riv could get away with just about anything. Her and Kaylee both. Cap'n might not buy the feminine wiles, but he goes mush at the puppy dog eyes. I tried it, but he just looked at me funny. Guess it loses some of its effect when I try."

River couldn't help but giggle.

"See? She knows exactly what I'm talking about." Wash grinned at River. "Maybe you could puppy eye him into a well deserved raise for his pilot."

"Ain't a chance in Hell." Mal said as he stepped up onto the bridge.

"Speaking of the devil." Inara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"What'd I do today?" Mal asked indignantly.

"I haven't had a client in weeks."

"Had the councilor." Mal arched a brow at her.

Inara merely glared in response.

"Bit, you best get down to the bay, we're on the ground in?" He let his order die off into a question aimed at his pilot.

"Less than twenty." Wash answered without looking up from the controls. "Breaking atmo in five."

"Right then, you heard the overpaid pilot." Mal grinned. Wash snorted.

*T*F*C*

Mr. Universe was practically bouncing with excitement the moment _Serenity_ appeared on his monitors. It could have been due to the copious amounts of coffee he had consumed, or the fact that he hadn't actually slept in a good thirty hours or so; it was, however, more pointedly due to the crate he knew was stored on said ship. Obtaining Lenore had been a great deal more difficult than exchanging a few security codes and blueprints he had already had in his computers; the chip had actually been the last phase in a long and rather arduous quest for companionship.

He had first had to create an entirely new identity with an entirely new set of banking accounts to place the order; which had been bounced through nearly two dozen electronic channels to cover his tracks. He then had to bribe a factory worker to install an entirely different set of programming, which had taken weeks to write and another several to get into the hands of said factory worker. After everything was said and done, he then had to arrange for another crew to steal her, at which point then exchanged her for another chip, at which point she was traded for a shipment of freeze-dried beagles, and then finally made her way into MacArthur's hands to be traded for yet another chip. It was worth it. In the end, the theft of said LoveBot could never be traced back to him. Nothing was ever traceable back to him. Anonymity was exhausting.

However, the fruit of his labor was now just a mere handful of minutes within his grasp and he couldn't be more pleased with the way it had all played out.

*T*F*C*

_Serenity's_ airlock opened to reveal an impatient curly-haired man, nervously wringing his hands in front of him.

"Mr. Universe." Mal greeted.

Mr. Universe was beyond civilities at this point however and quickly bypassed the captain, ignoring his greeting as his eyes landed on a crate in the center of the bay. Riddick intercepted his beeline.

"Believe you got some vid-chips first." The convict rumbled.

Mr. U rolled his eyes and removed an envelope from his jacket. "The only evidence which remains of your Ariel escapades."

Riddick was grateful for his goggles. The darkened lenses made it impossible to tell who he was looking at and so when his eyes darted up to River, who gave a near imperceptible tilt of her head, the exchange passed completely unnoticed and he stepped aside.

"Well?" Mr. Universe looked around impatiently. "I can't very well open it with my bare hands." He snapped.

Mal arched his brow. "Thought this wasn't none of our concern?"

"Appearances, Malcolm; really no appreciation for dramatics or showmanship." The shorter man huffed. "The grand reveal. Really, we will be working very closely together in the future. I can't just trust anyone to land here. Now, first there was Hoban-," the pilot rolled his eyes at the use of his given name. An expression Mr. Universe paid little to no attention to before continuing, "-since we go so far back and there are already a number of delicious little secrets between the two of us; it makes me inclined towards a trusting business relationship. Add the Tams-," he gestured toward the doctor who hovered on the stairwell next to his sister, "-and Riddick-," he went on, ignoring the convict's growl, "- so many profitable delicious little tidbits. You have secrets, I have secrets; secrets which, if exposed, can become very hazardous to our respective lifespans. You scratch me and I'll scratch you."

Zoe wasn't the only one who had a difficult time in concealing an expression of absolute disgust over the thought of scratching any part of the smelly little man's body; figuratively or literally.

"Always comes down to secrets." River said dreamily, her head cocked slightly as she stepped down from the stairs.

"I'll bet mine don't even compare to yours, Miss Tam." Mr. Universe smirked.

"Puppets on strings. Who pulls the strings? You have secrets. Secrets you can't crack. Can't stop the signal, but you don't even know where it starts. You can't have her secrets." River's eyes darkened and she became acutely aware of Riddick's sudden appearance behind her.

_/Just can't keep your fucking mouth shut can you, girl?/ _ River found it highly amusing, it was more of a groan than a growl inside her mind.  
"And those scans would be the first scratch?" Book injected quickly, hoping to shift the focus of the conversation.

Mr. Universe stared at River a moment longer before looking over to smile mischievously at the older man. "Quite the career in the Rangers you had, and quite the role reversal as well I might add, but you are absolutely correct."

"Just what are you proposing?" Mal asked, deciding it was high time the captain got back in control of the conversation.

"Nothing more than business, Mal; steady work, good coin, and a whole lot of violence." Mr. Universe answered with a grin altogether too disconcerting for such a little man. "Aside from that, I'll need you to do a few supply runs occasionally for me. I can't simply stop what I'm doing and run off every time my food runs low, most of my work is extremely time-sensitive."

"Aside from the work, what kinda perks we talkin' here?" Jayne spoke up having managed to keep his mouth shut up until this point.

"I monitor the Alliance, the Guilds, someone gets close, I warn you, or-" he gave a slight tick of his head and straightened his jacket, "-send them a bit of their own trouble. You keep shut on my base of operations and keep me supplied on the sundries. Work a job whenever a mutually beneficial business opportunity arises. So what it'll be, Mal?"

Mal took a brief moment to exchange a look with Zoe; one that could only be read as, _what choice do we really have?_ "I believe we got ourselves a deal." The captain held out his hand; regretting the gesture instantly as Mr. Universe's sweaty palm encased his own.

"Wonderful!" Mr. Universe exclaimed. "Now, if one of your oversized Homo Sapiens would be so kind as to open up my crate?" He looked around expectantly.

"Jayne." Mal prompted when no one made a move.

The merc grumbled but complied; grabbing the same said crowbar he had used to crack the crate once before, and attempting to appear somewhat curious over its contents.

"Exceptional." Mr. Universe breathed as the lid popped and revealed his lovely Lenore.

"You wanna tell me now you don't play with dolls?" Jayne couldn't help himself, the remark slipped past his lips without any thought to it at all.

"Jayne." Zoe hissed. Riddick choked on the urge to laugh while even Mal had to bite back the noise that threatened to break out.

"Lenore is not a doll." Mr. Universe snapped harshly. Inara rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest from her perch above on the catwalk.

"About that other job you had lined up for us?" Mal took the opportunity to once more attempt to maintain a degree of control over the situation.

Mr. Universe held his glare on the merc as he answered the captain. "Have your crew bring the crate inside and we'll discuss details."

"Right then." Mal cleared his throat. "Riddick, Jayne, grab the crate, and be..uh…easy, will ya?" The convict and mercenary snorted in unison but otherwise complied. "River, Zoe, ya'll come along. Wash and Kaylee prep her to fly."

"Captain, I don't think-," Simon started but one look from Mal effectively killed any protest he might have openly made.

*T*F*C*

The crew of _Serenity_ shifted uncomfortably as they watched Mr. Universe coo over Lenore, getting her settled onto the sofa on the far side of the room. Jayne was personally exercising a considerable amount of control in keeping his mouth shut.

River was paying little attention to the odd little man. Her eyes kept drifting to his computers. Her fingers itched for the keys.

_/Don't even think about it./_ Riddick warned her.

River didn't bother to reply. Her irritation rolled off her blatantly.

"I have come to a decision, Captain Reynolds." Mr. Universe announced abruptly.

River's irritation broke into a burst of laughter; silenced immediately as every head turned to her. She froze.

_/Really need to work on that poker face, girl./_ Riddick's thoughts laced heavily with his own amusement drifted into her mind.

"Wash. Something Wash said." She rushed quickly. No one bought it, but their attention shifted as Mr. Universe cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, I have come to a decision." He repeated irritably. "Captain Reynolds, I'll need you to do the honor of officiating our wedding."

"What?" Mal looked at the man incredulously, River's laughter suddenly making sense. Jayne and Riddick did not even bother to conceal their own laughter as Zoe bite against the inside of her cheek to maintain her composure.

"You heard me." Mr. Universe bristled. "I'll need to make an honest 'Bot out of her."

"You can't be serious?"

"I am entirely." The smaller man narrowed his eyes.

"Mr. U, I ain't… I mean…. I can't… you know we got a preacher aboard our ship?" The captain tried at an utter and honest loss. "This wasn't the job, was it?"

"Of course it's not the job." Mr. Universe rolled his eyes. "It's a scratch in return for the whole facial data thing."

"Hey, I thought that was the delivery."

"It was but now its not. Really, I insist that it be you."

Mal looked pleadingly at his first mate, who couldn't offer more than a shrug. "We got a preacher." He tried again. "I ain't really about the whole sacrament thing. More of a sinner myself. Smuggling captain and all."

"Is that your problem? Well, set your worry aside." Mr. Universe assured him. "I'm not a religious man myself. You see, in this room, behind those screens I am God."

"Is this really happening?" Jayne whispered to Riddick.

The convict made no attempt to conceal his amusement. "Believe it is."

"This has got to top the weird shit list." Jayne shook his head with a smirk.

"Tell you what, Cobb, think it beats out your song and statue_._"

"Not a chance in hell. Nothing beats out Jayne as a folk hero." Zoe whispered.

"Mr. Universe, I really ain't…"

"Nonsense, Mal." Mr. Universe insisted. "I can't very well do it myself. I can make it worth your while." He baited him as he crossed the room and pulled out a bottle of whiskey from a cabinet in his make-shift kitchen. "New Cannan. The 'Verse's finest." He tempted. "I have a whole crate of these downstairs in storage with your name on it."

"He'll do it." Jayne stepped forward. "Hell, I'll do it." The merc amended.

"No, it needs to be a ship captain." Mr. Universe shook his head.

"Mal." Jayne practically pleaded.

"A whole crate?" Mal arched his brow.

"Sixty bottles." Mr. Universe assured him.

*T*F*C*

"Mal's doing what?" Wash was holding his sides as he doubled over with laughter in his chair. "Yo-you've to be kiddin' me?"

"Knew you'd appreciate it." Zoe chuckled. "Shut the ship down, we'll be here for awhile."

"Oh, this is…this is too good… this is priceless." Wash continued to chuckle as he powered down _Serenity._ "That poor, poor, LoveBot."

*T*F*C*

"What? You're lyin'!" Kaylee accused as she looked up from her toolbox.

"Swear on my Ma." Jayne chuckled.

"Ew." The mechanic scrunched her face. "Just all sorts of wrong."

"You're tellin' me, but hell for a crate of New Cannan, I'll play weddin'. You know how much that would bring out on the Rim? We could keep half and still make a pretty bit of somethin' offa it."

"Like even a bottle of that's even gonna make it off this ship." Kaylee joked.

"Not iffin' I get a vote." Jayne chuckled.

*T*F*C*

"You can't be serious." Inara replied flatly. "It's a machine."

Mal shrugged as he leaned in the door way of the shuttle. "Ain't one to stand in the way of true love." He grinned.

"Please, Mal, you wouldn't know love-," She went to retort but Mal cut her off before she could finish the insult.

"And a whore does?" He bit of harshly.

"Get. Out." She snapped.

"Got a weddin' to officiate anyhow." The captain replied tersely.

*T*F*C*

"He's odd." River mused as she fussed over a strand of hair that was rebelling against her complicated coils.

"Won't argue that." Riddick replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"So, when is the blessed event to take place?" Simon asked, barely repressing his laughter.

"Soon as we all show up." Riddick grunted by way of reply.

"You know, I don't think I could have morally agreed to marry them even if he had asked." Book mused, his own discomfort with the situation more than apparent.

"For a crate of New Cannan, my morals could be bought." Riddick smirked as he leaned against the counter where River was perched.

"Don't." River cut off the retort on the tip of her brother's lips before he could speak it. "Be nice." She chided.

"Let me guess?" Riddick quirked his brow at River. "Some cheap shot at my moral fiber?" He turned towards Simon. "Careful, Doc, you'll hurt my feelings." He warned, though there was more boredom to his tone than actual warning. In truth, he was getting a little sick of the same old dance with the doctor.

"Only likes to dance with the girl." River's voice was almost playful as she continued to fuss over her braids.

Riddick grinned at her before downing the last of his coffee. "Depends on the song."

"Liar." River teased as she hopped down from the counter.

"Might be." He shrugged as he followed her out of the mess.

"Ever get the feeling that they share some kind of big secret joke the rest of us aren't in on?" Simon asked after the pair had left the mess.

"I believe they do." Book smiled sympathetically.

*T*F*C*

Mal shifted uncomfortably as the LoveBot known as Lenore made her way stiffly down the make-shift aisle. He sent another warning glare to the rest of the crew, who were both standing and sitting all looking like they just might blow it and fall over laughing at any moment. Mr. Universe however, was sweating more so than usual; like Lenore was actually going to dump him at the altar. Mal repressed the urge to snort, covering the noise with a clearing of his throat.

"Um… Right then-," Mal cleared his throat again, "-We're here today…"

*T*F*C*

"Back so soon?" Inara asked archly as the crew sauntered back onboard _Serenity._

"Mr. Universe was anxious to um… well…" Wash blushed a little.

"Consummate." River finished for him. Her remark was meant with several cringes as well as chuckles from the two gun hands.

"Wrong on so many levels." Book shook his head.

"Who cares?" Jayne shrugged with a grin as he and Riddick set down the crate of whiskey. "How's about a little sampling Mal?"

"Sound's like a right fine idea to me." Mal returned the merc's grin. "Need a drink after today, 'sides, we still need to talk business with Mr. Universe, and he pushed it off 'til the morning."

"Right then." Jayne grunted as he cracked the lid. He pulled out the first bottle and tossed it to the captain; shrugging off the need for glasses he passed out a bottle to each crew member; skipping over River who merely scowled at the offered bottle. Thus far all of her experiences with alcohol had ended rather unpleasantly.

Mal spun the top of off his bottle and lifted it. "To _Serenity."_

"_Serenity!_" Echoed back at him.

Mal savored the slick burn of the aged whiskey, a slow grin spreading across his features. "Ya know, some days bein' a crook ain't a half bad deal."

*T*F*C*

Endnote: The purpose of this Interlude was originally just for the crew to do the job Mr. Universe had planned, as you have obliviously read the job wound up turning into more of a side plot the main one as I was writing. It kind of just happened. I felt like so much needed to be dealt with in the wake of War Stories I didn't feel like just leaving it hang in the air until the next opportunity came around, so I used the two week period before hand to examine what's going on with crew dynamics and River's rapidly changing mental health.

So this is what happened. I hope it was at least semi worth the wait.

Til After Now.


	60. Trash I

A/N: Hey guys! First and foremost THANK YOU.

**Angelwingz21, Ashi-Eiketsu, GenocideWolf, The Great Rick, Alexydra, Rachet, Elliesmeow, Dericof Diname, , bibirijks, ArtLightLove, lizziebug, bklyangel, librarywitch, Mrstrentreznor, pyrobabe7713, Dessel Ordo, CeruleanKitten, sxevlbtch, Nightstar28, bunnysmom, Chris, demon-lulu, NamelessHeretic, ZenRyu, KuMardagg, & Angel19ele**

WoW! Lol. Much love to you all. Those reviews keep me going and I can't thank you all enough. I bow to you all.

Special thanks to** Rachet**, whose kind little PMs worked miracles in keeping me motivated.

**And of course I cannot skip over the shiniest beta there ever was, Thug, the whetstone to my shiv. **

**U ROCK. :D**

Side notes:

I had to trade Firefly Chinese websites; the one I was using is no longer available. So from this point on if some familiar phrases appear differently it is because the new site has the phonetic translations rather than the actual spelling.

Just to clear something up, in the series the crew only had the ATV, the hovercraft (which I call the mule) appeared later in the movie. Initially I did not catch that little detail so I gave them both. However since the ATV was destroyed during the attack on Niska's complex we won't have much need for it anymore anyhow.

This episode has been written and rewritten a hundred thousand times and I'm not even exaggerating… well maybe a little bit. I killed off Saffron, insisting I had a fool proof plan for Trash; well… things are never as fool proof as they seem are they? Thanks for hanging in there.

_***Standard disclaimer applies.***_

_***Please don't sue.***_

*T*F*C*

"Gorramit." The captain of _Serenity_ flinched in unison with his first mate as they stepped off of the ship and into the morning sun. The ion cloud did nothing to filter the rays; if anything it seemed to make the sunlight more stark and desperate than usual.

"_Ai ya_ (damn)." Zoe swore as she raised a hand to shield her eyes.

"Think he did this on purpose?" Mal rasped out as they crossed the docking floor.

"What? Got us drunk so we'd be all bleary-eyed and compliant in the morning, sir?"

"It is exceptionally cunning." Mal replied, wishing like hell he had a pair of goggles like Riddick's.

"Whole crate of whiskey could sway me."

"Whole crate of whiskey _did_ sway me." Mal grunted as he hit the door controls and they crossed into Mr. Universe's bunker.

"How we really feelin' about this job, sir?" Zoe asked seriously as they found their way through the maze of corridors to the elevator.

"Only way we can, Zo." He tried for a cheeky grin; however, it came out more pained than cheeky and he abandoned the effort. "Sanguine."

The first mate merely snorted in reply as they stepped into the elevator.

"Thinkin' of makin' it our ship motto. _Sanguine._" He tested it out with a dramatic roll of his arm as he painted it in the air in front of them. "Maybe Little Bit will paint it across the side of the ship; right underneath the name. Whaddya think?"

"Think it suits, sir." She answered with a slight shake of her head and a smirk.

"Well, I figure since our name's gonna be out there now, whether we like it or not, might not hurt to class it up a bit. How many ships you know got a motto, Zo?"

"None that I can think. sir."

"See, all the more reason." Mal did get out a cheeky grin that time and kept it firmly affixed as the elevator doors opened back up and they stepped out. "Mr. Universe, mornin'!"

"Ah, Captain Reynolds, Zoe, come in, come in," The curly haired man returned their greeting with a distracted wave of his hand as he frowned at the space in front of him from his command chair.

"There a problem, Mr. U?" Zoe asked, shooting a nervous sideways glance at her captain.

"Yes…there is." He mused thoughtfully without looking up.

"Well, perhaps we can help-," Mal offered as he shifted his weight and adjusted his jacket, "-like to think of my crew as a crew of problem solvers."

"I think I need a desk." Mr. Universe answered, looking up.

Mal and Zoe exchanged a glance. "A desk?" The captain repeated.

"Yes, a desk." Mr. Universe rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Like, as in a table with drawers; perhaps a shiny little lamp and a hidden control panel."

"I am aware of what a desk is." Mal replied tersely.

"You see the problem is-," the short man began as he crossed the room to make himself comfortable on the sofa beside his dead-eyed companion.

"Good morning, Mal. Good morning Zoe." The mechanical and yet disturbingly lyrical voice of Lenore interrupted.

"Ah…" Mal cleared his throat, "Mornin' Lenore."

"Lenore." Zoe nodded as she bit her cheek on the inside to maintain her stoic and indifferent appearance.

Mr. Universe grinned broadly. "What was I saying? Oh, yes, a desk. You see, the problem is, it's all very causal here. The command post, the sofa, not business conducive at all. If I'm going to have a crew here, I need to set a definite business atmosphere. Frankly, I never planned on entertaining and so I hadn't planned for it at all."

"Right-," Mal replied slowly, "-speakin' on business; you had that job for us?"

"Well, good morning to you too." Mr. Universe half-pouted. "All business, business, business, really I thought we were beyond that, you and I."

"But you just said about the desk-,"

"Yes, but now I'm on the sofa." Mr. U cut him off, "And the sofa implies casual interaction. Please, have a seat." He gestured to the empty space besides Lenore. "I find, now that I'm a married man, I long for a slower pace."

Zoe stifled her laughter with a cough.

"Good morning, Mal. Good morning, Zoe." Lenore repeated as they sat down.

"Lenore." Zoe nodded.

"Mornin'." Mal nodded as well.

"Now, isn't this cozy? Just old friends shooting the breeze." Mr. Universe reclined.

"Good morning, Mal. Good morning Zoe." Lenore repeated.

"Ah, is she...?" Mal wasn't entirely sure what he was asking.

Mr. Universe frowned slightly. "I think I might have jostled something last…"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Mal jumped up from the couch, his whole body jerking in a shudder.

"Captain's a bit uncomfortable discussing the details of married folks." Zoe covered; she managed to keep from laughing only by firmly pressing her lips together. "Was married once himself; didn't go to well. She tried killin' us all and stealing the ship." The first mate explained as casually as she could.

"Well, he is a terrible judge of character, present company excluded my dear." Mr. Universe answered as he lifted back Lenore's hair and powered her down manually. "Business?"

"All means." Mal encouraged.

"Right then." The curly haired man crossed the room and picked up a thin digital capture. "This is the woman looking to hire a crew. Her name is Tera Kessler. She's a former employee looking to settle a grudge. The target is the Lassiter; very rare and very valuable." He handed the pair another capture. "Original laser tech and one of the few to survive the Exodus. I have bidders salivating, you're looking at a million square split at the very least, depending on the actual condition of the piece once you get through with it-," he paused to snort slightly, "-might even hit as high as one point five; maybe even two. A guaranteed platinum mine."

"What's the catch?" Zoe asked, looking up from the capture of the gun.

"She wants in on the heist."

"No gorram way." Mal shook his head. "We don't take on partners. You remember those four fugitives you just wiped the facial scans of?"

"You did hear me when I said a million square?" Mr. Universe deadpanned as he dropped into his chair.

"Not worth my crew rottin' in Slam; which is where we'll be if this Kessler gets the itch to make some coin on the side once this job is done."

"You're telling me the great Malcolm Reynolds can't pull off a con for a few days? Shove the Tams in a compartment; you fly a gorram Firefly. Your Shepherd's too old to be looked at twice and only a complete _chunhun_ (moron) would try to turn in Riddick. I'm not seeing the problem."

"Zo?" Mal looked to his first mate as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Don't like it, sir." She said honestly. "But that's a whole lot of shiny. Where are we meeting her?" She turned to ask Mr. Universe.

"She'll be waiting for you on the other side of Bellerophon. She has the layouts, key codes, all the things needed."

_"Ai tama de wo _(oh, fuck me). Bellerophon." Mal groaned. The rock was in White Sun, just a hop skip and trip to the Slam away from Ariel. "If she's got all the intel she needs, why's she goin' through you? How do I know I can trust her?"

"Did you just get into this game yesterday? Really, Mal? You can't trust her, just like she can't trust you. We're thieves." He deadpanned.

"Anybody ever tell you, inspirin' speeches aren't your specialty?" Mal cocked his eyebrow.

"I'm a realist, Mal, and so are you. She needs me to fence the goods and she needs you because getting around this type of security isn't a one-man job." Mr. U replied as he swiveled in his chair. "Do you want it or not? Time sensitive, you know."

Mal exchanged another quick glance with his first mate. "We'll take it." He grimaced.

"Your enthusiasm overwhelms me." Mr. Universe retorted sarcastically as he turned in his chair and started bringing up screens. "It's about a two week trip from here to there; if you stay away from standard shipping, but you could make it in one if you take Lane Q8R-678." He looked up from his monitors momentarily, "Which I highly suggest you do. I'll set up a meet with her once I hear from you that you're outside of orbit. Time sensitive, let's remember that."

*T*F*C*

"Wash!" Mal barked the minute he stepped back onto _Serenity_ again; the pilot, who had been lounging against a crate chatting with Kaylee and Jayne as the mechanic fiddled with the mule's engine, gave a slight jump and dropped the wrench he had been holding.

"Cap'n come back yellin', can't have gone good." Jayne muttered to Kaylee as he pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face for her.

"When's it ever go good?" The mechanic giggled.

Jayne chuckled with her. "Suppose it'd be a cold day in Hell."

"Got a direction, captain?" Wash asked as he fell into step behind the captain and his wife.

"Bellerophon." Mal grunted.

"Bellerophon? !" Jayne was suddenly on his feet. "Maybe you ain't recallin' that brush with the law we had back in White Sun on Ariel not too far back."

"Ain't nothin' wrong with my memory, Jayne." Mal called down from the platform he'd stopped on. "And we ain't landin' on Ariel; we're landin' on Bellerophon. Where the hell is my Reader?" His gaze darted around the expanse of space.

"She's with 'Nara." Kaylee answered as she collected her tools.

Mal nodded slightly and turned back to face Wash. "I don't feel my ship moving under my feet in the next ten minutes, ya'll gonna have one mighty pissed off captain." He ordered brusquely. "Zo, you get on the horn and find out all ya can 'bout this Kessler woman. Only the friendlies; the ones we know won't go talkin' 'bout our questions."

"Yes, sir." Zoe nodded as she and her husband bypassed him on the stairs.

"Kessler woman?" Jayne frowned. "Aw hell, we're takin' on a partner too?"

"Jayne." Mal warned before turning to find his psychic.

"I'm gettin' shot." The merc grunted with a heavy degree of resignation once Mal was out of earshot.

"You wanna quit jinxin' it, baby?" Kaylee laughed as she hefted up her tool box. "I gotta get our girl fired up; you comin'?"

"Might as well." The merc shrugged as he grabbed the tool box from her hands. "And it ain't jinxin' if it's inevitable."

"Jayne, honey, that don't make any sense at all." Kaylee shook her head laughing as they exited the bay together.

*T*F*C*

"Daddy's coming." River remarked casually as she set down her tea cup.

"To spoil our fun undoubtedly." Inara replied dryly as she placed the last jeweled pin into River's elaborate coils. "Lovely." She smiled softly as she stood back and admired her handiwork.

River smiled appreciatively as she eyed the delicate lotus blossoms; their soft pink a drastic contrast to the ridged dark coils and bright green silk ribbons interlaced with her hair. "They were a gift from the Baron." The Reader observed.

"Just about the only thing the man is good for." The Companion laughed softly as she settled herself on the sofa, no longer bothered in the slightest when River spoke of things she'd never been told. "He gives the most exquisite gifts and then ruins it entirely by opening his mouth. You can have them, _mei-mei-,_" she offered, "-the color is terrible for me and the pink brings out the blush in your cheeks." She sipped off her tea. "In one of those trunks there is a matching kimono he gave with them; pink on pink with the most intricately embroidered lotus blossoms; it really is beautiful."

"She is-," River paused to take in a deep breath, and continued, correcting herself, "-you are shedding feathers."

"What good is a bird in a cage, River?" Inara asked seriously. "You taught me that." Her tone lightened significantly when she spoke next. "Besides, they are rather useless these days; the way the captain flies, I should be lucky if I ever see another client again."

"Little Bit!" Said captain's voice broke through the literal serenity of the small shuttle.

"And speak of the devil." Inara said quietly as she rose, gathering her skirts regally and squaring off her shoulders.

River sighed deeply and made herself comfortable. The inevitable confrontation would most likely be time consuming.

"Malcolm." The Companion regarded the captain coolly as he entered her shuttle, without knocking. "Do I or do I not pay you to rent this shuttle?" She asked immediately, not giving him a chance to reply to her greeting.

"'Nara, I ain't got time-,"

"I do." Inara cut him off. "And I am not sleeping with you."

The captain balked slightly at her statement. Whatever he had been expecting her to say, it hadn't been that. "Well, no." He tugged nervously at his suspenders. "I do believe my keenly train-." Again, Inara cut him off.

"So, we have established that we are not lovers. You are not my mother; nor my House Mistress or anyone else who has any authority over myself or my affairs."

"Didn't claim to be." Mal kept his reply short to avoid being cut off again.

"Then we are agreed you have no right to enter my shuttle without my permission."

"You rent, as you so kindly pointed out; ain't yours, it's mine." Mal replied curtly. "And the day you stop distractin' my crew with all this frippery is the day I'll knock on your door. As it is, you got in your possession my Reader and, as it is, I got to have words with her over a job."

"Oh, a job!" Inara exclaimed with mock enthusiasm, "How wonderful to know someone is still able to work aboard this ship."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Mal yelled, losing his temper entirely.

"I haven't had a client in weeks." She replied coldly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"We go where the work is-,"He started to snap, but was once more cut off by Inara.

"Backwater moons, slums without so much as a temple built-,"

This time Mal cut her off. "I'll have you know Wash is on the bridge right now settin' course for the Planet of Rich, Lonely, and Appropriately Hygienic Men." He paused to smirk at her and tug on his suspenders.

"Really, Mal?" She arched her brow critically. "And which world would that be?"

"Bellerophon." The captain retorted smugly.

"What's the game, Mal?" Inara replied knowingly as she narrowed her eyes at him and arched her brow.

"What game? Ain't no game." Mal answered a bit too quickly to even have a chance of Inara buying it; even River rolled his eyes at his transparency.

"We were here for more than just the delivery of that atrocity."

"Aw, now just 'cause you're jealous that bit of metal is gonna put you out of bus-,"

"You! You, Malcolm, are going to put me out of business!" Inara accused, slightly more shrill than she had intended.

"Now, listen here, woman-," Mal started taking a step forward.

"Enough!" River shrieked, cutting him off before he could dig himself in further. A quiet stream of unintelligible Mandarin escaped her as she glared at the pair of them. The current emotional climate of the room was, quite honestly, beginning to give her a headache and now Riddick was poking inside her mind trying to find out what had her riled. It was irksome, to say the least. "She," River pointed to herself, not caring to extend the energy on pronoun usage any longer, "-is agreeable. You-," she jabbed a finger at Mal, "-must ask nicely." She jerked her head towards the Companion who was quietly seething; her metaphorical feathers obviously ruffled.

Mal exhaled deeply and looked up at the ceiling of the shuttle; pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, he counted silently to ten before looking back at Inara. "Inara, I was wonderin' iffin' you'd condescend to steppin' off that high horse and joining the ranks of us lowly, petty thieves?"

"There are so many things wrong with the nature of that request that I don't even know where to begin." Inara replied icily.

"For the love of-," Mall rolled his eyes and threw his arms up exasperatedly; River's glare however forced him to turn back and try again. "I would very much appreciate it if, while we took on this partner-,"

"A partner?" Inara scoffed in disbelief. "_Hua hu lei quan_ (draw a tiger as a dog (idiom)/you make a fool of yourself.)

"See?" Mal looked at River. "I'm tryin' here, this-," he jabbed a finger in Inara's direction, "-this right now; this is all her."

River's brow furrowed and she snorted irritably. "She is right; the probability of a partner-,"

"Hold it right there." Mal stopped her. "I am the captain of this ship-,"

"Mal-," Inara interrupted, "-just make your offer." She deadpanned as she settled like a snowflake onto the sofa, her skirts settling in an irritated huff which matched her mood.

Mal ran a frustrated hand through his hair. How was it one woman was capable of driving him absolutely _feng le_ (crazy)? "I need you to keep playin' dress up with Little Bit; pretend like she's your apprentice. You ain't been workin', 'Nara, and I know the situation ain't ideal but I'm willin' to cut you in on this; square share, just like the rest of the crew."

River tilted her head to the left thoughtfully. "He wishes us to play behind the scenes."

"Do what ya'll do best." Mal nodded.

"And what is that?"Inara challenged.

"Feminine wiles and such. The hell if I know, ya'll figure it out. However this all plays itself, I wanna know I got my Reader and a spare shuttle somewhere in a hidden pocket that this skirt ain't knowin' 'bout. Far as she's concerned, you'll be our cover to land on Bellerophon and nothin' more. Ya'll go off like ya have clients to entertain and lay low unlessin' we need ya."

"This skirt?" Inara asked with clear distaste.

"You in or you out, 'Nara?" Mal asked plainly. "You crew or are ya just a passenger?"

_"Serenity_ is my home." Inara replied curtly.

"Then you're in." Mal grinned at her.

"Yes, Mal-," she rolled her eyes and picked up her tea cup, "-I'm in." Though outwardly she seemed a little more than annoyed, River could feel the blatant waves of anticipation which rolled off her. The Companion was, in actuality, more than happy to play a role in a caper.

"Shiny; 'cordin' to Mr.U we have a week to make it there, wanna be in and out. Little too Core in those parts for my liking." The captain visibly shuttered.

"Civilization; you must be terrified." Inara retorted dryly.

"Shaking in my gorram boots."

*T*F*C*

"We got ourselves a job?" Riddick asked as he swiveled in his chair in front of the co-pilot's station as Zoe and Wash came on deck. It had been his shit luck that had gotten him the early shift on the Cortex watch and he had spent most of it with a headache as he flipped through electronic gun catalogs.

"And a partner." Zoe informed him almost reluctantly.

"You're fucking me?" The convict asked, pulling down his legs from the console they were propped on and straightening.

"I'd take personal exception to that." Wash snorted as he dropped into his chair. "So no, she's not."

"We got a name?" Riddick asked curiously, though he doubted he would recognize it even if they did. If this had been an Andre job, there was a slim chance he would, but he'd never worked anything through Mr. Universe before; a fact that was more than slightly unsettling.

"Tera Kessler." Zoe answered as she and the convict traded places and she powered up the 'Wave channels. "Ring any bells?"

"No." He shook his head. "But that means shit. I've got about six different names depending on which rock you ask on and who you ask." He shrugged.

"Captain wants me to do some diggin'." Zoe replied.

"I don't know what's worse-," Wash said as he powered up the ignition sequence after a go-ahead from Kaylee in the engine room, "-clean or dirty."

"Well, if she's clean then there's a chance there's some truth to her story and she's just some pissed off former maid. If she's dirty, it raises questions 'bout what kind of work she did for whoever we're rippin' off and how she knows about the goods. According to Mr.U, she's got layouts and codes."

"And we're heading-?" Riddick asked.

"Bellerophon." Wash answered.

"Gets better and better." Riddick rumbled more to himself than the other two occupants of the bridge. He felt River tense inside his head; something was clearly irritating her. "Never a boring day around here." Again the statement was directed more to himself; however he received two answering snorts as he reflected inward, trying to decipher River's sudden shift.

"Well, the captain must have a plan 'cause he went straight to find River." Wash shrugged. "Least there won't be any surprises."

Riddick merely grunted, not really at all surprised by the revelation and now understanding River's sudden spike in irritation. "Wouldn't let it make you comfortable."

"Why's that?" Wash glanced sideways at the convict as he pulled back on the controls and _Serenity_ trembled with lift-off. "Thought you were her biggest advocate."

"River's capable." Riddick shook his head, "That's not the point. She's not "_seeing"_ anything though. She can only Read what's in somebody's head to read. If this woman's impulsive or opportunistic, River can't help with that."

"Huh." Wash mulled over the thought. "Hadn't really looked at it like that."

"It's something we have to." Zoe agreed with Riddick. "We start to rely too heavily on Riv and, sooner or later, it'll bite us in the ass."

"Then there's that price on her head." Riddick pointed out as well. "Facial scans may be clean but that won't help if we run into somebody who keeps an eye on the Merc Boards."

"And just when I thought I might actually sleep at night." The pilot sighed dramatically.

"Take it as it comes, that's all we can do." Riddick shrugged.

"Startin' to sound like Mal." Wash rolled his eyes.

"Man ain't dead yet-," Riddick gave a sort of half-shrug, "-must be doing something right."

"...And now you sound like my wife." The pilot deadpanned.

"Could punch out your liver?" Riddick suggested with a barely concealed smirk.

"There's Jayne; my God, Riddick, I think the rag-tag smugglers are rubbing off on you." He joked.

Riddick barked out a raspy chuckle as he turned and headed down the stairs to find River. "Wouldn't get too comfortable, still a chance I might just off you all in your sleep." He threw over his shoulder.

"He was joking right?" Wash looked nervously at his wife. "Right? We were joking; shipmate camaraderie and all that?" His chuckle had a slight manic edge to it as he risked a glance over his shoulder.

"Honestly, husband?" Zoe arched an eyebrow as she glanced over her shoulder at the doorway the convict had just exited from. "Can never really tell with that man but he ain't killed Simon yet, so I think you're safe."

"Was that supposed to reassure me?"

*T*F*C*

Simon studied himself self-consciously in the reflective surface of one of the glass cabinets. The three day stubble of a mustache was just beginning to show itself and he couldn't yet decide if he was being ridiculous about the whole thing.

"I see you're taking my advice." The young doctor started slightly at the sudden appearance of the preacher behind him.

"It couldn't hurt, I suppose." Simon shrugged as he turned away from the glass. "The whole fugitive on the run thing is still a little new to me at times. I don't think I'll ever truly adapt." He admitted with a slightly feigned chuckle.

"Which brings me to the reason for finding you-," Book said, "-it occurred to me that you don't carry."

"Carry what?" Simon frowned as he patted himself down.

Book shook his head slightly, pressing his lips together to keep from chuckling. "A gun, Simon."

"Yes…well-," the doctor stuttered, "-as you saw on the complex, weapons aren't really, uh… a specialty of mine."

"Which is why I thought it might be helpful if I taught you how to fire and properly care for one. There may come a day when you no longer have _Serenity _to rely on."

"I do appreciate the offer-," Simon said as he busied himself with sorting through a collection of instruments he had been cleaning before his burgeoning mustache had distracted him, "- but, as much as I hate to admit it, it appears River and I are stuck with Riddick for the long run. And as Kaylee and Jayne so eloquently pointed out to me the other day, River is more than capable of protecting herself as well."

"Again, all the more reason, Simon." Book argued gently.

"I'm not following." Simon looked up confused.

"Do you think your sister would want for you to spend the rest of your life watching over her?"

Simon shook his head; he knew where this was going. "I appreciate your concern, Book, I do, but River wouldn't leave me. Yes, the medication is helping; and yes, the meditation sessions with Inara are greatly improving her control, but I have come to understand, much as she has I'm sure, that there will never be such a thing as sanity for River. I mean, could you be sane? If you heard all the thoughts around you all the time? Felt everything there was to feel at once in the universe, all of the time; could you be?" Simon shook his head again by way of answering for the preacher. "No, you couldn't. River will always need some degree of care."

"I'm not asking you if she's sane enough to be on her own. I'm asking if it is you that she will want to take care of her? Do you really think she has any chance of being happy knowing you gave away your entire life for her? You won't be getting rid of Riddick, you are right about that. Not now that he's-," Book paused searching for the word, "-attached himself to her. Is a third wheel the best you can hope for your own future?"

"If your goal was to make me depressed, you've succeeded." Simon snorted.

Book held up both his hands in a gesture of peace. "I don't want you to be in my position one day, Simon,looking back with nothing but regrets."

"Contrary to popular belief, there is more to my life than just River." Simon retorted, reddening immediately as he realized his slip.

"And would this more be a person or a thing?" Book asked curiously, noting the change in the doctor's demeanor.

Simon crossed the infirmary to close the doors, not wanting to be overheard. "Lara and I have been waving." He admitted almost sheepishly.

"Lara?" Book raised an eyebrow. "Jayne's sister?"

"It was innocent at first." Simon amended quickly. "I was just checking up on Matty and it kind of… Jayne would…"

"Pry out your eyeballs with dull chopsticks?" The shepherd finished for him humorously.

Simon rolled his eyes as he dropped onto one of the rolling stools. "So he claims."

"Hmm, it's probably all the more reason to let me teach you how to shoot." The older man chuckled.

Simon merely snorted dejectedly. He nearly jumped out of his chair when the captain threw open the infirmary doors.

"This a private meetin'?" Mal asked suspiciously.

"Just a check up on the old ticker." Book covered quickly.

"You alright there, Book?" Mal's face changed immediately. "He alright, Doc?"

"He's... um, fine. Just routine is all." Simon stuttered.

"Right then." Mal nodded. "Gonna be pickin' up a body on Bellerophon to do a job."

"Wait. You're taking on passengers again?" Simon asked incredulously.

"Not passengers; a partner." Mal said grimly and waited for the inevitable explosion.

The good doctor did not disappoint. "Are you out of your mind? _Bun tyen-shung duh ee-dway-ro _(phonetically, stupid inbred sack of meat)!"

"Hey now!" Mal yelled. "Ain't no call for name callin'. Know I set your sister up to play at 'Nara's apprentice, they'll be gone once Little Bit gets a clear read on this woman. We need this coin somethin' fierce and we're all gonna have to make sacrifices if we mean to be paid. And I mean to be paid." He said with a finality which left no room to be argued with.

It did not mean Simon was not going to try. "We just got the clean facial scans! For the love of Buddha, are you insane?"

"I'm gonna ignore that 'cause I figure that's a rhetorical question. I'm also gonna ignore the fact that my medic is yellin' at me like he runs my ship; seein' as how you might be a tad upset over me throwin' your sister off-ship for a few days."

"I don't understand. One day she's invaluable to you and the next you're just shoving her off on Inara. I can't believe you-"

"Watch yourself, Simon. Only so much lip I'll allow on my ship. Now you know 'Nara won't let no harm come to your sister. She's taken to her like a mother hen to a one-legged chick. This is how it's gonna be." He held up his hand as Simon went to argue again. "You get 'Nara your sister's meds and fill her in on the particulars, just in case they're gone for more'n a day or so. I need you and Book to lay low and hole up here in the dorm area for a day or two. I'm gonna give this woman the spare crew bunk so's I can keep my eye on her. Ya'll gonna be playin' the role of passengers 'gain. So while she's on deck you'll be confined to the mess and dormitories. Shepherd, the good brothers at the Abbey have seen fit to pay for a doctor to make the long trip with you, on account of that ticker of yours. Figure since you're both lyin' to me 'bout whatever it was you was talkin' on, we'll just let that little lie carry over."

"Mal-," Simon started the moment the captain paused for a breath.

"Ain't hearin' it." Mal replied and promptly turned his back on them and walked out of the infirmary.

"Book-," Simon said slowly, turning his head to look at the older man after the captain's abrupt departure. "I do believe I will take you up on that offer."

"You know-," Book chuckled, "-shooting the captain is not an option. You'll only create more work for yourself."

"Doesn't mean it wouldn't be satisfying." Simon grumbled.

*T*F*C*

Riddick caught up to River on the catwalk above the bay. "Going to fall and break your gorram neck." He grunted as he leaned against the railing she was balanced on. Her head was tilted off to the left, and her eyes slightly glazed, seemingly unconcerned with her precarious position.

She didn't reply immediately and Riddick didn't press. She'd answer whenever she came back to herself as though the conversation had never been placed on pause. The silence irritated him for a different reason entirely; the slight line of her bare calf he caught through his peripheral and couldn't seem to look anyway from. For once her feet weren't bare, but wrapped in the black slippers Inara had given her and he watched with no little amount of awe as she inhaled and rose herself up to stand on the tip of her toes; not a tremor of the effort revealed by her muscles.

"I never fall." She replied to his initial comment; her gaze fixated on some piece of nothingness drifting through the bay. "Simon is not pleased by Daddy's plan." She commented as though it was a remark on the weather.

Riddick refused to acknowledge the Daddy reference, he was beginning to realize it was an argument he wasn't going to win; with River, choosing your battles was essential. "And why do I have the feeling I'm not going to either?" He asked her as his gaze moved up the line of her leg visible through the slight slit in her skirt and Riddick once more made a mental note to somehow thank the Companion.

"She is flying away." River replied softly, one arm dipping out to mimic the movement of a shuttle through the air. Had it been anyone else but Riddick, they might have made a lunge for her, thinking the action would throw her off balance. Riddick was unsurprised to see her fall slightly forward, only to catch herself on one of the vertical wires which supported the catwalk and twirl around it as easily as if she was on the ground rather than meters above it. She came to a stop once more fully on her toes and began walking the beam in front of Riddick.

"What do you mean 'she's flying away'?" He questioned, feeling his temper rise already.

"For once, her meaning is literal." River dismissed him.

"Who's going off-ship with you and why the fuck are you so gorram flighty right now?" His question had started off calmly but, as she continued to pace the thin beam in front of him, it rose quickly to annoyance.

"Everyone is soooo…." Her voice trickled off as she spun around another vertical wire and this time Riddick had to repress the urge to catch her, if for no other reason than to make her sit still long enough to answer his questions.

"On edge?" He finished impatiently. "Taking on a partner we know shit about will do that to a crew." He spat out, pausing momentarily to consider River's actions. "Oh hell, is that why you're dancing around on the _**edge**_ of a fucking beam, because the crew is feeling edgy?"

"Manifesting the metaphorical as literal is incredibly soothing." She replied easily. "You cannot imagine."

"Fucking crazy girl." Riddick snorted.

"Perhaps." She began humming as she continued her balancing routine.

"So where the hell is the Captain sending you?" Riddick asked, returning to the focus of the conversation, trying to ignore River's actions.

"Away."

"That's really fucking helpful." He growled.

"Ask a better question."

"Who is going with you?"

"Inara." River replied. "Feminine wiles and such." River muttered lower to herself.

"You don't need any gorram feminine wiles." Riddick smirked. "Dangerous enough as it is."

River rolled her eyes as she made an elaborate bow to her imaginary audience and hopped down from the rail, with a grace and ease Riddick almost envied. He was good, but if it had been his ass walking the four inch wide rail, they would have been scraping him off the grating.

"Don't know until you try." River chided him for his thoughts.

"I'll leave it to you." He grunted as he turned to lean his back against the rail and face River again. "You're taking a gun."

The serene look of calm which had been comfortably settled across River's features faltered into a frown. "She will not."

"What happened to 'I'?" Riddick questioned ignoring her protest entirely.

"Ask her." River pouted petulantly.

"Who?"

"Her."

"You?"

"Her."

"Inara?"

"Her."

Riddick found himself gripping the bar behind him, the beginnings of a chronic eye twitch threatening. "You're taking a gun."

"She is more lethal than a gun."

"Then take one and save yourself the extra fucking effort." Riddick argued back. "I like a blade better myself but I don't want you fucking close enough to trouble to have to use one. What is so goddamn fucking hard to understand about that?" He snapped.

"She understands you are afraid." River stood on her tip-toes and pecked a small kiss on Riddick's cheek much like she had seen Kaylee do to Jayne often.

Riddick was so startled by her response he didn't speak, nor did he move for a moment.

"All will be well." River giggled, satisfied by his reaction. "She'll take care of you all." She twirled away from him before he could answer, a cascade of ribbons and hair brushing his chest as she spun and danced down the catwalk and into one of the stairwells.

Riddick blinked at her retreating back, confused as to what in the hell had just happened, and yet realizing he had just clearly lost an argument on something he had deemed nonnegotiable. Since when did Richard B. Riddick lose arguments? Since when did Richard B. Riddick get kissed by half-crazed psychic ballerina assassins? Another part of his mind argued as he continued to stare into the empty space River had occupied. He was somewhere in between anger, amusement, and complete incredulity when his thoughts were interrupted.

"Hey, Riddick!" Jayne's voice called up from the bay floor and snapped the convict back into reality. "You busy starin' at air or you want to lift a few sets with me?"

"Yeah, Cobb, I'll head down." He called back, thinking maybe the physical exertion would make something start to make sense in his head. Wash's remark about the crew rubbing off on him had not been forgotten and, after being so easily shut down by River, the convict couldn't help but wonder if he was going soft.

He felt less and less like himself with every week that passed onboard _Serenity._ That thought brought back a reminder of something Jayne had said, about _Serenity_ having an effect on people. He shoved it all to the back of his mind as he made his way down the stairs. He had been doing entirely too much self-reflection as of late; too much time playing big damn hero. That wasn't who he was, no wonder why he felt uncomfortable in his own skin as of late.

_Can't fight who you are, Dickey-Boy._ He thought to himself. _Sooner or later, Big Bad's gonna come out, you think they'll be so eager to play with you then? Can't fight what you are._

_/But one can choose what they do./_ River's thought intruded on his own and he mentally swore for not being careful.

"There a reason you're growling and glaring down at me?" Jayne grunted out between lifts.

"Rutting women." Riddick snorted.

"You're tellin' me." The merc chuckled. "Least yours don't bitch 'bout a few girly magazines."

"Never said she was mine." Riddick corrected him.

Jayne didn't dignify the protest with a response. Riddick could circle around it all he wanted, but the truth of the matter was more than blatantly obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes. Richard B. Riddick was going sweet and soft over a skirt; poor sonofabitch was the only one that didn't see it.

*T*F*C*

Mal finished his round through the ship in the engine room; waiting somewhat patiently as Kaylee finished off a rather violent streak of Mandarin, punctuated by the slamming of her boot against a complicated bit of parts Mal knew he should know the name of, but didn't.

"Need a little help there?" Mal asked cautiously as he ducked under a cloud of sparks. "Tell me somethin' else ain't 'bout ta fall off my ship." He groaned. "I just don't think I could handle it today."

"We're as ripe as peaches, Cap." Kaylee assured him cheerfully. "Ain't nothin out of the ordinary wrong with our girl."

"Nothin' out of the ordinary?"

"Well, the pert-line is still fritzin' from the beatin' it took when the catalyzer went ka-blooey and the primary artery is backfirin'. Girl could use a full-on systems flush iffin' we ever put down long 'nough, but she'll do pretty." She chirped and blew a loose strand of hair out of her face.

Mal nodded as his eyes made a reverent circle around the room. "Soon 'nough, there will be coin aplenty to get our girl in shape. I'm thinkin', once this next job is done, I'm gonna shave a bit of coin right off the top to get our girl a full-on overhaul. She's more than good to us, ain't a one of them has any right to argue over a little less coin in their pockets iffin' it means she's not gonna fall outta the Black."

"Ain't thinkin' they would much argue, Cap." Kaylee gifted him with an approving smile which seemed to warm the room and Mal returned it; forgetting for a moment his original reasoning behind coming down to talk to Kaylee as the pair of them stared in adulation at their girl. "You need somethin', Cap?" Kaylee asked, breaking him from his reverie.

"Yeah, wanted to tell you to put a new lock on this door, rig it if ya hafta, and I want it done 'fore we hit Bellerophon."

"So, we don't trust her then? This partner?"

"Kaylee, we don't trust nobody that ain't us these days." He ran a hand through his hair. "Just see to it."

"No problem, Cap. River can wire me up a board and I'll have it installed by the end of the day. Easy-peasy."

"Wish everybody had your attitude." Mal grumbled.

"I just don't think there's nothin' to fret over." She shrugged. "If you ain't noticed-," she lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned in, "-we got us a mind reader 'board this ship." She giggled. "River will have it all sorted and, if she ain't on the level... well, we got enough big, bad, scary men to handle it then."

"Devilishly handsome too." Mal grinned.

"That's right, we're too pretty to die." The mechanic said with serious conviction, her face broke however into a beaming grin.

"I'll say an amen to that." Mal chuckled.

*T*F*C*

Dinner was Mal's favorite part of the day; especially now that the preacher had taken to cooking. Breakfast was usually a slow begrudging ordeal full of grunted conversation and near brawls as none of his crew were particularly sociable in the early hours. Lunch was rushed, usually crammed in between half-finished chores or tedious reports in-between long stretches of boredom that tested everyone's patience. Dinner, for some reason was different. Dinner on _Serenity_ was a lot like dinner back home; when the ranch hands would gather at the big table in the barn. There was less food and more cussing and the smell of sunshine and hay was replaced by engine grease and gun oil; but it was, as River had once picked from his surprisingly poetic mind, like an echo of home.

This particular dinner was no different from any other aboard the ship; monastic humor, war stories, and bar room brawl retellings. There was a stare down over the last roll, which was inevitably won by River, and it was right as the doctor's life was threatened that Mal took the opportunity to speak on the things which had spent the day rolling around in his head.

"Alright now-," he cleared his throat as he rapped his knuckles on the table, "-time to talk on this job we got coming." He said in his best captain-y voice. It took another moment for the last of the side-mouth jabs and poorly repressed chuckles to die down. "Now I know ya'll ain't real keen about the idea of this partner coming onboard-," he ignored the few snorts which inevitably accompanied the statement and continued, "-but here's why we're doin' it. A million square as an opening bid, which we get a clean fifty percent cut on, after Mr.U's take of course."

Jayne let out a low whistle. "What the hell are we stealin'?" He asked.

"You'll like this especially, Jayne." Zoe smirked as she pulled out the capture of the Lassiter. "Dates back to Earth-That-Was; 'ccordin' to Mr. U, it was the first of the laser pistols."

"Well, ain't that a nice bit of shiny." The merc replied appreciatively.

"A bit of shiny that's probably got more security than an Alliance vault." Riddick rumbled as he eyed the capture.

"More'n like." Mal nodded. "Which is where this partner comes in, she's got security codes, blueprints; some disgruntled employee-," he paused, "-'ccordin' to Mr. U."

"And according to everyone else, Tera Kessler don't exist." Zoe added as she pulled out the other capture.

Riddick leaned over to get a better look, a twinge of recognition flared in the back of his mind; but it was vague and he dismissed it. He'd come across a lot of people; she could have been any number of faces.

"So we don't trust her?" Simon asked.

"Not a bit." Mal answered. "That's why Inara's agreed to assist us in this caper. River's gonna be playin' the role of her apprentice and the two of them nothing but our cover to get on Bellerophon." He looked at Inara. "Just keep an ear on the comms. If one of us waves you and calls you 'the Ambassador', it means 'we're humped, come and save us'." He shot his crew a cheeky grin.

"And we should?" Inara prompted dryly.

"Hell if I know-," he shrugged, "we'll figure it as we go."

"Lovely." Inara replied.

"Kaylee's riggin' a new lock on the engine room doors and I'll be puttin' this woman in the spare crew bunk; which reminds me. Riddick, you're gonna be movin' into Kaylee's old bunk. I ain't takin' the chance and I want to keep an eye on this Kessler. The Preacher is goin' back to playin' passenger and the doc his personal medic on account of a bum ticker." Mal added. "This job will go smooth as glass so's long as we all just keep our heads."

"Ain't we worried about her recognizing Riddick?" Kaylee asked with genuine concern that Riddick was honestly surprised by. "I mean we made arrangements for everybody else but we're stickin' him right next door to her and he stands out more'n all of 'em."

"Not if she ain't dumb." Jayne grunted as he sipped off his drink. "Might be a shiny price tag on Riddick's head but he's got a knack for escapin' that makes a man itch."

"Statistically speaking, it is risk." River added, unconcerned over the matter herself. "The probability that Riddick would escape and seek vengeance for his betrayal significantly lessens that of the informant's likelihood of surviving long enough to enjoy the monetary reward for capture."

"Didn't I just say that?" Jayne grumbled.

River ignored Jayne and caught Kaylee's eye; she tapped her own temple, "I will not allow it." She reassured the mechanic. The statement was simple for River. It was _Dao_; nothing more than a simple truth and she continued with another. "She will not allow any harm to come to any of you." It was the repercussions of her words which startled her. She had been expecting the usual affectionate indulgence which usually accompanied her statements. This time however, it was different; this time, they believed her.

"Know that, Bit." Mal winked at her, unaware of the effect of those simple three words. "That's why you're the ace in the sleeve."

The conversation continued around her, but River was unaware of what was being said. She felt the world around her still completely as a piece fell into place. She didn't know how, but she heard the click that shouldn't have been audible because it was metaphorical. She felt her very physical presence seem to settle and solidify in a way she was not quite sure even her extensive vocabulary could properly communicate.

_A purpose._

_/River?/_ Riddick's thoughts, which sounded as graveled as his voice, probed her mind curiously. He had undoubtedly felt the shift as well.

_/A purpose./_ She repeated her thought to him. _/A place. A home and a family. Connections. An identity is the sum of an equation which are the parts and pieces of existence. The identity is the result of an existence./_

_ /So... we're back to crazy?/_ There was no malice to the question, just more amused curiosity.

_/I am okay./_ She rolled her eyes but otherwise smiled genuinely at him.

_/Then you'll take a gun./_ He thought smugly.

River didn't justify his thought with a response.

*T*F*C*

_One day out from Bellerophon_

"Jayne!" Kaylee yelled as she bounded through the mess door, River just a step behind her.

Jayne looked up from the gun he had been cleaning, "What, woman?" He asked suspiciously as the mechanic tugged on his arm until he rose.

Riddick shot River a quick look; his curiosity peeked when the Reader returned it with a rather mischievous looking smile.

"Wanna show ya what Riv just taught me to do." Kaylee answered brightly.

"Ah…" Jayne stuttered, not at all sure if he really wanted to see anything River could have possibly shown her.

"Don't be a baby." Kaylee scolded as she positioned herself to be standing in front of Jayne with her back to him.

Riddick set down the blade he had been sharpening and sat back, thoroughly prepared to be entertained.

"Now act like ya gonna take me out from behind." Kaylee instructed over her shoulder.

"You sure-,"

"Jayne." Kaylee rolled her eyes.

"Alright then." The merc shrugged and reached out to grab her from behind. One arm snaked out around her neck, the other going around her waist; Kaylee reacted immediately. Her right elbow met his ribs brutally and his body jerked with the hit; in the same breath, her left ankle caught his from the inside and she kicked forward to knock him of balance. Jayne sucked in a quick intake of air as his back slammed into the grating and he lay there. Trying to figure out just what in the gorram hell had happened. Kaylee didn't give him the chance; she spun immediately and planted a quick kick to his ribs which had his body curling reflexively and a painful grunt breaking off his lips.

Riddick's barking laughter filled the mess.

"Oh, Jayne! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt ya!" Kaylee blurted out; her hands flying to cover her mouth as she dropped to check over the injuries she had inflicted. "Are ya alright?"

Jayne blinked several times. "Fucking hell." He groaned as he pushed himself up into a seated position, forcing air into his lungs. "Ya tryin' to kill me, woman?"

Kaylee couldn't repress her giggle. "Ya said you wanted Riv to teach me." She stated proudly.

"I take it back." The merc grunted as he stood himself up. "I take it all ruttin' back." He choked on his next deep inhale. "Jesus fucking Buddha, woman."

Riddick was still chuckling. In fact, he was trying extremely hard to not point as he laughed.

"Riv's a really good teacher; maybe she could show ya something." Kaylee beamed at her friend, who returned her smile wholeheartedly.

"The ruttin' hell she could." Jayne grumbled indignantly as he slowly rose and retook his chair at the table; glaring daggers at Riddick, who was still chuckling.

"Do it again." Riddick managed to spit out as he tossed a few slips of paper on the table. "I'll pay you."

"Shut the hell up, Riddick!" Jayne snapped. "Wasn't even ready for her to do nothin'."

"You ain't mad are ya, Jayne?" Kaylee wrinkled her forehead. "Don't be mad." Her bottom lip pouted.

Jayne's scowl broke as he looked at the hurt on Kaylee's face. "Aw, ain't mad at all, girl; just tryin' to get my ruttin' breath back. Proud as hell actually." He grinned at her and, the more he thought about it, the more truthful his statement became. "Ain't many men who can drop me like that."

Kaylee beamed. "I can show ya more! Me and Riv been at it all day."

"No!" Jayne spit out perhaps a bit too quickly. "I mean… ah… I got it."

"Alright then." Kaylee replied, though she sounded slightly disappointed. "We'll leave ya alone then-," she pecked a quick kiss on his cheek before grabbing River's hand. "Riv's gonna show me how to escape a pair of handcuffs." She called over her shoulder as they disappeared through the doorway.

"Holy hell, I think she cracked a rib with that kick." Jayne wheezed out as soon as the girls were out of earshot. The confession caused another riot of laughter from Riddick. "Don't see what the hell you're ruttin' laughin' over. Riv would turn you inside out."

Riddick's laughter immediately ceased. "The fuck she would. Girl's fast but if I got her pinned, her neck be snapped before she could blink."

"If." Jayne snorted as he pulled up his shirt to see the telltale signs of a soon-to-be bruise forming where Kaylee's boot had connected and another where her elbow had caught him. "Fucking hell." He groaned as he tested the tender flesh. "If Riv's gonna teach her to spar, might as well teach her to soften her goddamn blows." He grumbled under his breath.

Riddick opened his mouth to shoot out another insult when the sound of Mal's sudden yelp echoed up the stairwell that led down to the bay. A minute or so later, the captain made his appearance in the mess with a slight limp.

"Who in the hell suggested Kaylee learn to fight?" The captain barked as made his way slowly toward the fully stocked whiskey cabinet. "Ruttin' women aboard this ship-," the captain continued to grumble as he uncapped a bottle and took a decent sized swig. ""Look what Riv showed me', she says. 'Won't take but a second, Cap', she says. Next thing I know, I'm laying on my goddamn back lookin' at the ceilin' of my own ruttin' ship!" He snorted indignantly.

"If it's any consolation, Mal-," Riddick rumbled slowly, his trademark smirk crossing his lips though he tried his best to suppress it, "-Jayne here thinks she cracked one of his ribs."

"What the hell does it say 'bout us that each one of 'em could knock us blind?" Jayne snorted. "As if it wasn't bad 'nough with Zoe showin' us up all the time."

"Jayne **is** kind of a girl's name." Riddick smirked.

"Don't even fucking start, Riddick." Jayne barked.

*T*F*C*


	61. Trash II

Bellerophon was an odd, or perhaps not so odd, combination of the disgustingly rich mirrored by the disgustingly poor. Those of the former station lived a life of indulgence on one of the hundreds of mechanical floating islands which hovered over a pristine planet-wide ocean; those of the latter category scraped by on the coastlines of the single continent desert. Where there are the wealthy, there are inevitably a slew of poor folk to clean up the trash; and where there are poor folk, there are inevitably places for those folks to drown their sorrows.

The Scrap Heap was one such place. The bar itself, on the outside, was nothing more than a rough collection of sun-rotted metal wholly befitting its name. On the inside, like every other of its kind, it was dimly lit and the smoke of cheap cigars and hand rolled cigarettes swirled and glistened under the stark lighting; giving the place just a hint of intrigue. The chance of a brawl however was minute; not more than a handful of the crowd, which was just slightly thinner than the smoke, was even openly carrying. The people who populated the desolate little watering hole were grease-stained and battered; weighed down by the sun and the workload of the past day. The inclination to get drunk far outweighed their desire for a tussle. Quite frankly, in the heat, it wasn't worth the effort.

"We stick out like a nun in a whorehouse." Jayne grumbled from behind his glass as his eyes darted reflexively around the room from their back corner table.

"As usual Jayne, your powers of perception never cease to astound." Zoe retorted dryly as she toyed with the edge of her own glass. Truth be told, she was just as anxious as Jayne to be gone from the depressing little bar; she, however, saw the futility in stating the obvious.

Mal ignored them both as he swirled the dusty amber liquid around in his glass, frowning at it. "I think Mr. U spoiled us." His frown turned into a disgusted scowl as he took another sip. "Stuff tastes like _luh suh_ (garbage), we shoulda brought our own."

"Place is making me itch, Mal-," Jayne complained again, "-ain't a person in here that ain't given us the once over. Outsiders are kinda noticed 'round these parts."

"Quit lookin' so guilty." The captain shrugged easily. "This is gonna be cake, Jayne. Kaylee's right, ya know; only reason we keep gettin' shot is 'cause ya'll keep jinxin' it. Job'll go smooth, I guarantee it."

"That right, sir?" Zoe arched her brow. "We're takin' on a partner, one we can't find a scrap of nothin' on, while carryin' the cargo we're carryin', runnin' on fumes, while half the 'Verse is lookin' for blood... and you can guarantee this job'll go smooth? Respectfully sir, just how do you figure that?"

"'Cause." Mal smirked.

"Oh, right, the 'cause." Zoe replied, each word dripping with more sarcasm than the last. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, sir."

"Yeah, well, gimme some time, I'll figure a way to make us even on it." Mal continued to grin as he leaned back in his chair. Truthfully, had River been there, she would have seen right through his outward demeanor. The only real guarantee he was willing to make on their current business endeavor was its definite un-smoothness potential. He was relying heavily on River's uncanny ability to sniff out the setup well before it all blew up in their faces, and the fact that he was, bothered him less than he thought it should. River, on a good day, was halfway to _feng le_ (crazy); and on a bad day, well, he was kind of hoping he'd never have a real basis for comparison on that one. In the end, they were banking a whole lot on the whims of one slightly psychotic government assassin. It was a long shot through the woods; but the captain was rather fond of long shots and in the woods was where he felt best.

"Speak of the devil." Jayne said quietly as he killed off the remnants of his drink.

Zoe followed his eye line. "And devil she might be." She muttered under her breath killing off the last of hers as well. The first mate was no longer under the delusion they were dealing with a pissed off maid. Whatever the girl was, domestic it was not. It was in the way she walked across the bar, the confident sway of her hips, and the line of her jaw which was set firmly in place as she caught Mal's eye and began moving towards them. There was a lean hardness to her body which only came from a combination of physical labor and years of going hungry; a dark look in her eyes that said she wasn't much for going hungry these days. Zoe set her glare and rested her right hand alongside the butt of her mule's leg; causally flicking open the holster as she did so.

It was the gun on her hip which Jayne's eyes settled on. It wasn't just any old off the rack bit of metal; no, it was custom and well taken care of. If he had any lingering doubts, the slight bulge at her ankle would have eliminated them. She was carrying multiples and he was willing to bet there would be a few other pieces stashed away in the beat up duffel she carried slung over her shoulder. He noted with no little amount of concern the way her eyes moved, like she was only used to looking out for herself. It didn't bode well, in Jayne's book; the look was all too familiar to one he'd seen staring back at him from the mirror for quite a few years.

"Yup-," Jayne groaned in resignation as he, Zoe, and the captain pulled themselves to their feet, "-I'm gettin' shot."

"Ain't nobody gettin' shot, Jayne." Mal bit off tersely from the corner of his mouth. A sort of half-snort, half-chuckle escaped Zoe before she schooled her features into her usual stoic visage.

"Reynolds." The woman nodded as she approached. Her voice was the feminine equivalent of Riddick's; sultry and deep.

"Kessler." Mal returned the nod. "Gotta say, coulda picked a better spot."

"It's Bellerophon." She merely shrugged as she noticeably counted the crew's visible weapons.

"Sir, Inara's got a schedule." Zoe interrupted, more than a little anxious for River's Read on the woman, though the first mate was thinking one really didn't have to be a psychic to know the truth behind this woman's guise.

"Inara?" Kessler quirked an irritated and suspicious brow at the captain. "Reynolds, I was told you were the captain."

"And I am. Inara's our cover to be here; keeping her schedule keeps ours." Mal replied easily and reached down to drain the contents of his glass; repressing the urge to flinch against the cheap burn. "Best this little palaver moves some place more quiet like anyhow."

"Best it does." Kessler agreed.

*T*F*C*

"I've labeled everything and the vials are color coded according to the time of day." Simon explained as he held up a small glass vial. "Now there are needles beneath here-," he demonstrated how to pop the top section of the small black container and access the bottom compartment, "-and the red vials are for-,"

"They will not be necessary." River interrupted her brother.

"Please humor me, _mei-mei._" Simon asked, though the request was more of a plea. "The last time I took my eyes off of you, you were almost burned at the stake and before that…" He closed the lid of the box and set it down on the table, refusing to finish his sentence. "I just worry. I can't help it." He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before turning back to Inara. "You'll find the red vials have been pre-measur-."

"Simon." Inara stopped him by gently taking both of his hands in hers and leading him towards the doorway. "I doubt we'll be gone more than a day or so. She'll be fine." She reassured him, wearing a well-practiced smile.

"You're right." Simon steeled himself and exhaled a rush of air as he looked around the Companion to his sister. "Please, be careful." He opened up his arms to hug her tightly for a moment. "I just don't know what I would do if I lost you again."

"There's always Lara." River replied, her voice full of feigned sweetness, though she couldn't help the giggle which escaped her as he blushed furiously; his gaze darting to Inara who was thankfully involved in a rather intense inspection of a frayed thread on her sleeve.

"Brat." He squeezed her tighter. "_Wo ai ni He_ (I love you River)."

"_Wo he ni_ (And I you)." River whispered back as he released her.

"_Zhaggou de huxiang _(take care of each other)." Simon told them with feigned sternness concealing genuine anxiety.

"Simon, we will be fine." Inara assured him once more as she practically pushed the younger man out of her shuttle. "Well-," she said with a slight smile as she rested her back against the closed door, "-it could have been much worse, though you would think we were heading an expedition into dead space, rather than a few kilometers to hide out in a dusty canyon."

"He worries excessively." River shrugged with a slight sigh of her own.

"Dear, excessive is a bit of an understatement." Inara replied with amusement as she settled herself on the sofa. "Come, show me what you've been working on in your sketch book, _xiao yi_ (little one)." She patted the cushion next to her.

"Riddick." River shook her head slightly and offered the Companion a small smile by way of apology.

"_Wei ai-_ (For the love of-)," Inara rolled her eyes, but laughed good-naturedly as she rose for the door once more. She opened it just as Riddick was raising his hand to knock.

"River?" He quirked an amused eyebrow.

Inara gave him an amused smile before brushing past him to give the pair a moment alone. "I'll just be saying my farewell to Kaylee."

"Don't." River warned him after the Companion had gone.

"Where is it, River?" He asked brusquely ignoring her warning.

"Repetition is irksome." The Reader deadpanned.

"Don't think I gave you a choice." The convict replied as he pulled a gun from his back waistband and set it on the table between them as he sat across from her. "Don't fight me on this, River. Just take the gorram gun."

"She is far more lethal than a gun." River retorted.

"Ask me if I give a fuck." He pushed the gun closer to her.

"Ask a question that is not rhetorical." She snorted.

Riddick forced himself to inhale deeply. "Please." The word seemed to pain the convict, leaving behind a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Why?" River's head cocked to the left, a frown overtaking her features as she attempted to read his emotions but found nothing.

"Don't ask. Just take." Riddick rumbled darkly by way of reply. It wasn't that he didn't have an answer, he did; just one he didn't care to examine too closely.

"You're afraid." River informed him.

"Take the fucking gun, River." He repeated calmly.

"You don't want her to go."

"River." He warned again.

"No." She dismissed him and picked up her sketch pad.

A low warning growl rippled its way through Riddick's chest; his hand shot out and yanked the pad from River's grip. "Don't like being ignored, River."

"She wasn't ignoring you." River snapped. "You made a request. It was denied."

"Didn't give you the option." Riddick growled. "Just. Fucking. Take. The. Gun."

"Tell her." River insisted.

"Tell her what?" Riddick snapped pushing himself up from his seat. "Who the fuck is her, River?" He barked. "Inara, you, Kaylee, _Serenity,_ Zoe? I can't fucking keep up!"

"You. Know." River glared at him, mimicking his tone of finality.

Riddick turned his back on her, his fists clenching and relaxing with every carefully controlled breath. "If I tell you, _**out loud,**_ which I shouldn't even have to fucking do, will you take the goddamn gun?" He asked without turning back to face her.

"Perhaps." River replied, unaffected by his tangent. She really no longer saw the point in his little outbursts; they both knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"Haven't ever asked you for anything, River. This one thing…" He angrily abandoned the effort and made to leave the shuttle. The rippling itch beneath his skin was unfamiliar and irritating. He was afraid, for her, what they might find out there in the isolated expanse of desert. Riddick did not do fear well and was having an extreme amount of difficulty admitting to the emotion at all. He felt weak; yet another emotion he was entirely uncomfortable and unfamiliar with.

A wave of guilt rushed over River, the tone of his mind so uncharacteristic it frightened her, and she found herself reaching for the gun for no other reason than to alleviate his inner turmoil.

Riddick paused mid-step as he heard the sound of gun metal scraping against the table top. A deep feeling of satisfaction mingling with relief washing through him as he listened to her check the clip and pop it back into place. However, before he could reach smug, River opened her mouth.

"You are not angry at her. You are angry she is leaving." River remarked pointedly. "You are angry because her absence frightens you."

"You want to start this shit now?" He rumbled darkly, mentally swearing. Of course River couldn't just let it go; everything had to be analyzed and broken down and solved. Well, what if there wasn't a fucking solution? What if it didn't add up? Like the fact that she was absolutely fucking right. If he had to be honest, it wasn't the gun issue that had pissed him off. It was the unfamiliar pit of anxiety which had been festering just beneath the surface of his skin ever since he had found out she would be leaving the ship; without him. He felt like the doctor, which pissed him off and, more than anything, being called out on it _really_ fucking pissed him off. "Just watch your ass out there." He growled without giving her a chance to reply and stormed out of the shuttle.

River continued to frown at the empty space Riddick had occupied; setting the hateful piece of metal back down the minute the door closed behind him. A deep sigh escaped her as she picked up her abandoned sketchpad once more. The soft sound of the pencil moving across the cheap, rough paper soothed her frayed nerves. The events of the morning had her already tenuous grip on her control unraveling at the edges. She fought to focus herself, forcing each inhale and exhale to enter and leave her body in rhythm to the movements of her pencil. The pencil was real, the traces left behind tangible evidence of her place in time and space; the outcome of its path entirely within her control. The small black box on the center of the table containing her medication seemed to mock her; reminding her of her weakness. The urge to shatter each and every one of the vials contained within was nearly overwhelming. She gripped her pencil tighter instead. She would maintain control.

*T*F*C*

"Hey there, Rick." Kaylee chirped from her chair just at the bottom of the airlock ramp. She sat with her eyes partially closed, twirling a tattered paper umbrella; much like she had been when Riddick had first met her on Persephone. "Its Rick, right? Suppose I ain't supposed to be callin' ya Riddick while this partner's around."

"Suppose not." Riddick rumbled as he walked down the ramp, his gaze drifting out across the vast expanse of golden sand before him; broken occasionally by jagged hills and orange rock. The sun reflected off the sands, causing the convict a small degree of discomfort which he ignored.

"What's eatin ya?" She asked, tilting both her umbrella and head slightly to the left.

"Everything about this job." He grunted without looking back down at her.

"Jayne's pretty sure he's gonna get shot." The mechanic shrugged. "But I think ya'll are gettin' riled for no good reason. We ain't even met this girl yet. Maybe she's just like us, an honest criminal."

Riddick didn't verbally reply, he merely cocked an eyebrow as he slowly turned his head to look down at her.

"What?" Kaylee snorted. "People ain't all bad."

"Given our history?"

Kaylee frowned, she couldn't argue the point. "You come out here for any other reason than to spoil my good mood?"

"Nah, girl, just breathing in the air while it's here to breathe in." Which was a sort of half-truth; he was trying to clear River's scent from his nostrils.

"Well, quit blocking my sun." Kaylee retorted good-naturedly as she swatted at the convict's leg.

"Anybody else woulda just lost their fingers." Riddick grunted as he dodged Kaylee's swat easily.

"Ain't scared of you none." The mechanic snorted as she adjusted her umbrella. "You ain't no different than Jayne; all big, bad, and growly on the outside but just big 'ole softies on the inside." She laughed openly at Riddick's disgruntled look. "Don't ya worry, I won't go tellin' no one." Kaylee beamed up at him. "Long as you stay outta my sun." She added with a teasing wink.

Riddick blinked several times behind his goggles, obediently stepping out of the path of the mechanic's sun. He wasn't sure if it was Kaylee's teasing tone or how quickly he'd complied with her request that startled him more.

"You'll catch flies with your trap hangin' open like that and here they's gots those red ants that fly, ain't somethin' ya want ta be chewin' on." Kaylee giggled at the convict's expression. "Don't look so surprised that people actually like ya, Rick. You ain't so bad when you're in a room full of people that ain't lookin' to cash in on your hide or shoot ya." Kaylee frowned at the thought. "Suppose we're all a lot more nice and such when we ain't got people shootin' at us."

"Suppose we are." Riddick answered cautiously. "How come you're not more wound up about this job?" He asked curiously. "You're usually jumping outta your skin when Jayne goes out."

"You really are lookin' to spoil my mood." Kaylee teased.

"Curious." Riddick shrugged; although why he was curious was a question he didn't have an answer to.

"Ain't got a reason to be all wound up. Soon as this partner walks on ship, Riv'll get a Read and we'll go from there. Ain't no point in gettin' all wound up 'bout it now. Riv said she'll protect us-," the mechanic shrugged with a slight smile, "-and she will. She'll sniff out the trap 'fore this girl has a chance to lay down the first wire."

"And if River's not here when this skirt goes all homicidal?" Riddick asked archly.

"Well, then there's you an' Jayne." Kaylee answered easily.

Riddick threw back his head and barked out a deep chuckle. "Is that so?" The chuckle was hollow and forced, but he thought it was passable, River being the only one who could have possibly called him on it. Did she really just say she could depend on him if shit hit the fan? That was something he'd have to think on later.

Kaylee loosened her grip on her umbrella and turned her face up to look at the convict her expression serious, "Gotta have a little faith, Rick. Been through more with our girl than I care to recount and we always come out on top. That ain't nothin' to spit at. _Serenity_'s got somethin' special in her bones, long as we look after her, ain't no real harm will come to none of us."

"Somebody gets shot every week." Riddick retorted.

"I said ain't no _**real**_ harm will come to none of us. Ain't anybody ever been hit worse than could be fixed." She giggled as she propped her umbrella back up. "Hell, we're both prime examples. First week you was on board I took one in the belly, and just a couple of weeks back you were hanging on by a thread, bleedin' out of just 'bout every spot a body can. Now here we are, sittin' in the sun."

"In the middle of a desert, with red ants that fly, and a real possibility our 'partner' will screw us."

"Ya know, you really can just go back the hell inside if you're gonna keep rainin' all over my parade." The mechanic snorted. She lowered her umbrella again to fully glare at the convict. "Ya'll are a right bunch of sour pusses and worry-warts."

Riddick barked out a genuine laugh that time. "Can't all be fucking rays of sunshine."

"Stick around, Rick-," Kaylee leaned back and closed her eyes as she soaked up the sun. "Bound to rub off on ya sooner or later."

"I'll leave Jayne to do your rubbing." He smirked at her.

Kaylee blushed and took another swat at the convict that missed by a mile. "You behave yourself now." She giggled. Her laughter however died as she watched Riddick's expression shift and his head jerk off to the east. "What?" She asked anxiously, all humor gone.

Riddick held up his hand to silence her and took a step towards the sound, closing his eyes to focus his hearing as fine as possible. "That's the mule."

"Ours? How can ya be sure?" Kaylee squinted skeptically at the eastern horizon where she thought she saw a glint of metal.

"Sound carries far in the desert, nothing to stop it. Ours has got a slight stutter to the engine you haven't been able to iron out."

The mechanic snorted as she rose and folded up her chair. "You try workin' with nothin' but _goushi_ (crap) secondhand parts." She turned back to the horizon and, sure enough, the smallest bit of metal could be seen glinting off the morning sun. "Downright creepifying the way you can hear stuff like that." The mechanic mused.

"Hear a whole lot more than that, which is why I don't sit in that alcove in the mess." Riddick's smirk grew in direct correlation with Kaylee's blush.

"Engine room's not really safe either." She replied cheekily, much to Riddick's surprise.

"You know what? You're all right, Sunshine."

"Like I said, ain't too shabby yourself there, Rick." She beamed up at him as they headed up the ramp together.

"Nah, Kaylee you got me all wrong. I'm a murderer, convict."

"Well, least you're on our side." She shrugged.

"Really isn't possible to keep you from being so goddamn optimistic, is it?" He shot her a glance as he rested against the ramp controls, waiting to close the doors behind Mal and the others.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with seein' the good, Rick." She shrugged. "Alls ya ever look at is the hate and the bad, well, you're likely to go all biblity like them Reavers. Ship needs a bit of wholesome."

Riddick snorted. "You forget I can hear you and Jayne at night; there ain't nothin' wholesome about you, girl." He chuckled.

"Don't know what you're talkin' 'bout." Kaylee blushed again despite herself. "I'm so sweet I'll give ya a gorram toothache." She grinned with a slight bob of her head and turned to stow her chair and umbrella.

Riddick snorted a sort of half-chuckle as his gaze drifted back out towards the desert and rapidly approaching mule. He listened to the engine draw closer as he inhaled deeply the layered scents in the bay; under the heavy notes of gun oil and engine grease he could make out each member of the crew's own distinctive scent. They wound themselves together in almost a rhapsody. If he closed his eyes, he could feel River sort through the chaos of twisting sensation; deft fingers dividing and braiding the streams of scent with their appropriate stream of consciousness. His eyes remained closed as he savored the feel of her mind which laced his thoughts. He might have wanted to strangle her just minutes ago, but the complexity of their connection never ceased to fascinate him.

_/You ready for this, girl?/_ He thought-spoke at her.

_/ Are you?/ _ He felt swirl back to him from the most recessed part of his mind.

_/Not the time./_ He heard himself audibly growl. River didn't respond; he didn't need a response to visualize the look he knew would be spread across her features. It was the same look he found utterly amusing when it was directed at anyone other than himself; however, when it was, much as he imagined it would be now, it just pissed him off.

_/She is watching./_ He felt River's irritated reply; more than her words however he felt her set herself inside his mind. Briefly, he saw double; it didn't concern him. It was as though River's vision was settling on top of his, the sensation oddly similar to that of when she stepped inside his mind to sort through the layout of Niska's ship from his memory. _/Told you she could keep up./_ He felt her smug retort as she felt him marvel over her newest trick. He could almost feel the difficultly she had with repressing the remark he somehow knew she wanted to add. _With or without a gun._ Apparently she had decided she had pushed him far enough.

Riddick was fully aware this little dance of theirs couldn't go on forever. He might actually wind up killing her. Now, however was not the time, and he forced himself to focus on the oncoming mule. The roaring of its engine was near deafening as Zoe pulled it into the bay and Riddick flipped the controls to close the door. He turned back to look at their new partner. Somehow, and Riddick would realize later he didn't really want to know how, River recognized the woman before he did. Clarity only surfaced for him after River's barrage of unintelligible Mandarin quieted enough for him to think straight. No sooner than the woman's boots had hit the grating on _Serenity_ did Riddick have his gun raised.

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne, all assuming River had caught something immediately and relayed it to Riddick, followed suit and their newest partner found herself staring down the barrels of several guns before she had time to fully straighten herself.

"Well, well, it is a small 'Verse after all." She said slowly as recognition lit her features and her eyes landed on Riddick.

"Rick, you wanna explain?" Mal asked tersely, unsure as to why his gun was out and more than less willing to use it. A million square was a rutting million square.

"She's a liar and no good will come of her." Riddick fought to conceal his own twitch over his choice of words. Had that been River? A slight affirmation washed through him and he silently swore. It looked like River wasn't the only one who was going to have to work on that.

"Well, don't really make her no different from us then does it?" Kaylee asked carefully, her small voice surprising Mal and Jayne who hadn't even seen her on the other side of the bay. "Mean, we're all nothing but a bunch of thieves and criminals." She shrugged.

"Somebody wanna tell me why I'm pointin' my guns?" Jayne grunted as he looked from Kaylee, who shrugged, to Riddick whose only expression was visible through the steel set of his jaw, and Mal, who looked more confused than he was.

Zoe, however, was not taking the chance. If Riddick drew, it meant River had given him a reason to and it was good enough for her. She cocked her gun and waited for the woman to give her an excuse.

"Her name's not Kessler." Riddick rumbled.

"Ya'll know each other?" Mal asked, lowering his weapon slightly.

"Rick, is it?" Tera arched her brow, her hands still slightly raised. "Thought you were the one that said names didn't matter." She took a step towards him, halting immediately as he raised another gun.

"When you give a fake one to my crew it does." Riddick rumbled.

"Doesn't really matter what my real name is, just like I don't give a shit what yours is, _**Rick. **_I hired a crew to help me run a job; that's all you really need to know." She drawled coyly.

"Again, I say, ya'll know each other?" Mal asked again, a bit more forcefully this time.

"Just a back alley acquaintance on Beylix." Riddick rumbled darkly, his grip on his guns not abating in the slightest despite the absolute violent thundering in his head he felt as River tried to remain in control.

"Careful, baby, you'll hurt my feelings." She feigned a pout.

"Wait a second-," Jayne grumbled lowering his guns slightly, "-that's why you didn't show for Ma's dinner? You were chasin' a skirt?"

"Didn't really have to do much chasing." Riddick smirked cruelly without taking his eyes off of Tera/Orina.

"Ouch." She feigned a hurt look to accompany her pout.

"At a bit of an impasse, sir." Zoe remarked dryly; her eyes nor her gun wavering in the slightest.

"Let me make it easy for you all." Tera ignored the cocking of the guns around her as she reached down and shouldered her duffel. "I got a job, one that pays, if you don't want it all over a trivial thing like a name, then shiny, I'll be on my way."

"Now, wait just a second there-," Mal lowered his gun and hopped down from the mule, "-ain't said nothin' of the sort. Put 'em away." He ordered his crew. Riddick was the last to comply and only did so after a few pointed throat clearings by Mal. "See? Now we can be all reasonable like." He plastered his salesman smile across his face. Before he could get another word out Wash's voice cut in over the ship wide.

_"Ah… okay, so I didn't hear any gunshots but seeming as how the pilot is always the last to know…__**What the hell is going on down there?**__Should I be running? 'Cause, if I'm supposed to be running, I really could use a mechanic in the engine room to fire up those engines."_

Mal shot Zoe a look and she jumped down from the mule next and jogged over to the comm. "We're sanguine, baby."

_"Yeah, uh, not really helpful. We the bloody sanguine or the hopeful sanguine?"_

"Lookin' to be about both, baby." Zoe deadpanned.

_"Okay, so I'll ah… be coming down to the bay then I suppose?"_

"Have him check in with the _**Ambassadors**_ first-," Mal told Zoe, "-then meet us in the mess, right now I'm gonna say we're the hopeful type of sanguine."

Zoe relied the message back to her husband who didn't offer any reply; the use of the word ambassador was enough to get him moving.

"Now, about this job-," Mal turned to Tera and made a wave of his arm gesturing to the stairs, "-let's get those details Mr.U was vague on. Rick, you get this mule secured and join us then." He added pointedly to the convict who nodded slowly in reply. The captain's order was layered and the hint not lost on Riddick.

*T*F*C*

"River, _mei-mei-,_" Inara's voice held a slight twinge of panic as the Reader failed to respond. River was only vaguely aware of the Companion's voice, drowned out by the pounding of her blood inside her head.

_**Reality shifted.**_

_River was no longer contained within her physical self. She stood before a closed door in a dimly lit hallway. A hand rose up in front of her to knock on the door. It wasn't her hand but it was. The skin tone was wrong, the shape and size wrong, but it was her all the same; she was there but she wasn't._

_ The door cracked open, a pair of wary blue eyes appearing through the crack. The wariness dissipated quickly into anger and the door was flung open completely._

_ "What the hell are you doing here, Gina?" The blonde hissed from the doorway. River felt the cage of the physical body she was housed in as she willed herself to reach out and strike at the woman; the body was, however, not hers to control. _

_ "Aren't you going to invite me in?" River's body replied._

_ "Not until you tell me how the hell it is you found me." Saffron snapped._

_ "You're not as good as you think you are." She snorted smugly. "Now you gonna invite me in or am I going to have to put you through the fucking wall?" She asked sweetly._

_ "Still the same bitch as always." Saffron retorted as she stepped away from the door and turned back into the shoddy motel room. "Drink?" She offered with a degree of less-than-genuine sincerity as she grabbed the half-empty bottle from a rickety side table._

_ River's body stepped into the room. Her foot kicked the door closed and her right hand rose with a gun; aimed directly for the center of Saffron's forehead. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end you now, you ungrateful little bitch."_

_ "Really, Gina? Still so very violent? We both know you won't pull the trigger so why don't you just turn down the gorram dramatics?"_

_ "You so sure about that?" River felt her brow arch, a twisted smile pull at her features._

_ "You wouldn't have knocked." Saffron replied, almost bored as she uncapped the lid on the bottle and took a deep swig off of it._

_ River/Gina withdrew her gun and took the offered bottle after Saffron had finished. River felt the burn of the cheap liquor as though she was drinking it herself. "Tell me you enjoy fucking my husband's killer? You're fucking brother's murderer? You have fun setting up house on that floating shit-pile?" The bottle flew out of her hands and smashed against the wall, inches from Saffron's head._

_ "Don't you dare fucking talk to me about Jonas!" Saffron shrieked. "I didn't hear shit from him until the both of you needed me for that fucking con. Six years my brother was gone and then you two show up on fucking Newhall like I owe you something!" She hissed. "Jonas got fucking greedy; that's what got him fucking dead. __**Not me!**_**"** _Her chest was heaving heavily as she paced, each time she looked up River could feel her anger grow at the sight of the perfectly calm and controlled demeanor of her host. "When I found out he was dead, I got the fuck out. I wasn't gonna be the corpse dumped off the side of that shit island next."_

_ "Oh you poor, poor girl." Gina taunted. "Those two years you sat in the lap of fucking luxury must have been so fucking difficult for you."_

_ "Fuck you. You have no fucking idea what that man was like!"_

_ "Such a cruel husband he must have been, all the jewels and the parties, the trips across the 'Verse. You had one fucking job to do and you fucked that up! You could have stopped him! You were right fucking there. Tell me, did my husband even see the bullet coming or did Haymer just drug him in his sleep?"_

_ "Get. Out." Saffron seethed through gritted teeth. _

_ "Oh no, honey, I've spent a great deal of time tracking your ass through the 'Verse and I will get what I came for. We have a job to finish and you will help me finish."_

_ "Well, if you've spent so much time tracking my ass across the 'Verse then you should know I have a good thing going now and I'm not about to walk away from it just to get myself dead."_

_ "You're going to let him get away with your brother's murder?" Her voice was as cold as ice, the edges shrieking as though a piece of glass was being drug against its surface._

_ "Like Jonas ever even gave a shit about me. He dusted out the first fucking chance he got. I don't owe him and I certainly don't owe you shit. I have a good thing going now."_

_ "Oh, this little chop shop operation you got running? What's your cut; twenty percent of each ship? I guess it suits you, whorin' your way into the helpless and lovestruck captain's bed only to murder the crew as he sleeps. Real classy, Sara. Real fucking professional." She snorted contemptuously._

_ "Fuck you."_

_ "That the best you got, mei-mei?" She taunted._

_ "Don't call me that."_

_ "Finish what you fucking started then!" Gina screamed at her as her gun ripped itself from her side holster. "If you're not going to help me then I don't have a fucking use for you anymore. I know you were there, I know you watched Jonas die, you fucking whore!"_

_ River held no influence as the body she inhabited lunged forward; she could only watch as the women struggled. Her entire body ached to end Saffron now but her host was, sadly, wholly inadequate to the task. She felt her body be thrown against a wall, she felt the knuckles break open on her fist as they connected with a jaw, the shrieking of both woman pierced her ears, and yet she could do nothing but watch the scene unfold. _

_ "Fine, I'll do it!" Saffron finally screeched, and River felt the smug pleasure of her host as though it was her own. Saffron kicked herself free and tumbled over the side of the bed, putting distance between herself and Gina. "I have one last contracted job for Piaso. Some elder on Triumph who owes a debt is setting up a crew. We hock the ship on Beylix; meet me there and we'll finish the job." She huffed indignantly as she violently pushed her hair away from her face. "I do this and we're done, you and I. I do this and I don't ever want to see your fucking face again." She sneered._

_ River felt her body smirk. "Deal." A hand reached into their pocket and wrapped itself around a slender tube. Gina tossed it to Saffron. "That's what your brother was working on for Haymer. Coat your lips in wax and then use the lipstick. It's a stronger version of the Goodnight Kiss, works instantly."_

_ "Why are you giving me this?" She asked suspiciously._

_ "Because I don't feel like waiting for you to pull a full-on con. I've waited long enough to get back at Haymer." River/Gina turned away then and headed for the door. "See you on Beylix, mei-mei." She threw over her shoulder with a smirk. _

_The vibration of the door slamming closed seemed to jar River's reality and she felt herself ripped violently from her host._

_**Reality shifted.**_

_/Stay with me./_ She felt Riddick's strength flood into her veins and the world around her began to settle back into a tangible form. The stream of the woman's mind was too familiar, images flashed before her eyes and the whispered memories of back alley deals and splatters of blood etched their way into her consciousness.

"She tasted wrong." To say Inara was confused by River's sudden statement after several minutes of unnerving glassy-eyed silence, would have been an understatement of epic proportions.

"River, I don't understand." The Companion replied patiently. "Please try it again." She urged.

"Reeks like Saffron." She muttered faintly as she felt the world tilt and she pressed her eyes closed to regain balance.

Inara was about to ask her for further clarification when a panicked knock rapped the doorway to the shuttle. She'd barely risen from her seat when Wash came barreling in. The Companion found herself biting back the nearly reflexive retort about privacy in her shuttle; having realized that perhaps, at the moment privacy ,was the very least of her concerns.

"We got a problem, Riv." The pilot rushed out quickly. "Zoe is throwing around words like 'sanguine' and the captain is saying to check on the Ambassadors."

"She reeks of Saffron." River repeated herself.

"_Wo de ma he ta de fengkuang de waisheng dou_ (Holy mother of god and all her wacky nephews)!" Wash groaned. "You've got to be kidding me." He ran his hand through his hair. "We talkin' like literally Saffron or figuratively Saffron?"

"Take your pick." River dismissed him calmly as her world resettled itself nicely. The shock of the woman's mind which felt like twisting snakes through wet grass was beginning to wear off.

Inara furrowed her brow, understanding beginning to set in. "It can't be possible for our luck to be this bad."

"A little rutting warning next time." Riddick's voice rumbled as he stepped into the shuttle. "Lucky their goddamn backs were turned when you decided to hit me with that." He half-growled at River. It had felt like that brief moment on Tyrus in the bar, only magnified by about a thousand, and his head was throbbing in time with his pulse as his mind tried to readjust.

"Sorry." River replied genuinely. "She was not expecting it either. We were too…close?" She furrowed her brow not really understanding how or why Riddick had seen what she saw.

"The vision thing?" Riddick asked.

"Perhaps." River shrugged, frustrated by her inability to understand her own abilities.

"Okay, since Inara and I have no idea what you are talking about-," Wash interrupted, "-what are **they** talking about?" He jerked his head in the vague direction of the mess.

*T*F*C*

"The mark's name is Durran Haymer-," Tera began at the head of the mess table, "-he's Alliance." She noted with a small degree of satisfaction that she suddenly seemed to have the captain's upmost attention.

Zoe, however, was not pleased by the development. She knew, without a doubt, the captain would insist on pulling the job now that he knew he'd get a cheap shot at the Alliance by doing it. The more and more she thought about Mal's idea to make "sanguine" the new ship motto, the more and more it suited.

"He's also a collector of Earth-That-Was antiquities, which he has devoted his career to expanding."

"His career?" Mal jumped right on top of Tera's bait.

"During the War, he'd target neighborhoods with valuables. He'd go in and kill every living soul without harming the goods, then scoop them up before the corpses went cold. More than half of his collection is illegal but, since he's such a decorated war hero, the Alliance turns a blind eye. That's common knowledge." She withdrew a stack of thin discs from one of her cargo pockets. "What isn't is that part of the reason the Alliance turns the other way is because everything he has on display is nothing more than a masterful replica. The real pieces, he keeps in a secured vault that runs the entire lower level of his island complex as well as houses a private study."

"And I'm guessin' the layout of the vault is on one of these discs?" Kaylee asked as she fingered one of the cases.

"Everything we need is on those discs; layouts, key codes, guard posts, surveillance drones, and even patrol scheduling."

"And just how did you get this information?" Zoe asked.

"Former employee." Tera replied shortly.

"I'm guessin' you wasn't no maid." Jayne grunted.

"I played a maid once." She arched a brow. "I can do wholesome real good." She leaned across the table at him slightly as she spoke, her voice dropping into a low seductive whisper that had Jayne stuttering uncomfortably and Kaylee glaring.

"And this gun?" Mal cleared his throat and brought the attention back to the crime at hand.

"The Lassiter was the forerunner of all modern laser pistol tech. It's the crown jewel of his collection. It, like every other piece, is tagged and coded. Any attempt to remove the piece from the vault will set off the alarms and lock the estate down."

"So how the hell are we supposed to get it out?" Jayne grunted.

"Not my problem, that's what I hired a crew for." Tera replied easily as she leaned back in a chair.

"Kaylee?" Mal questioned.

"Hackin' in might get us through the doors-," she mulled as she chewed her bottom lip, "-but I'm willing to bet his vault security runs closed circuit."

"That all comes second to gettin' on the estate first. Ain't no way we can land a shuttle without drawin' a whole lotta attention." Zoe added.

"You worry about getting it out. The in is taken care of." Tera said confidently.

"How's that?" Zoe pressed.

"I set a deal with Haymer. The man himself is on Londinum greasing the palms of the politicians before this season's elections, so he won't be there but his people will. They're expecting an old Earth-That-Was vid camera."

"Which I'm assuming you really don't have?" Mal asked.

"Nope, which means we'll have to get past his guards once we land. It does, however, give us the benefit of no vid surveillance. Haymer's people will shut down the recordings right before we land."

"Suppose he don't want records of his less than legit dealings?" Zoe assumed, to which Tera nodded.

"Gonna have to move right quick on this one, Mal." Jayne spoke up wishing he had some printouts to look over. "In and out. Squeeze it in between patrol circuits."

"Kaylee, you think you can figure a way out once we're in?" The captain asked.

"Sure, Cap." The mechanic shrugged. "Always another way iffin' you know how to look." She swiped up the discs and rose from the table. "I'll find Wash and we'll hunker down on the bridge. Know in a few hours if it's possible or not. 'Course havin' more than a day woulda helped." She frowned in the direction of their newly acquired partner, who didn't dignify it with so much as a snort.

"Jayne, you go find Rick, and get yourselves a set of prints from Kaylee and Wash. If Tera can get us in, and Kaylee and Wash can figure us a way out, you and him find us the path of least resistance."

"Right about that." Zoe mused. "It's gonna have to be quick and smooth."

"Aw hell, something tells me I'm gonna be crawlin' through air vents." The merc groaned but pushed himself away from the table to head after Kaylee.

"In the meantime, Tera, I'll show you to where you'll be bunkin'." Mal suggested. "Bridge and engine room are off-limits for obvious reasons." He remarked pointedly as he lead the way down the foredeck hall.

Zoe watched them from her place at the mess table. She didn't trust that woman any further than Kaylee could throw her, and she didn't need any confirmation from River to decide it. First off, there was that blade she was concealing on the roof of her mouth; people that walked around spitting razors just couldn't be trusted, she had a scar on her neck to prove it. Secondly, the whole former employee thing just didn't sit right with her either. There was only one reason former employees turned on their bosses; especially bosses like Haymer and that reason was bad blood. It was a question she was more than positive River would have the answer to and she didn't have to wait much longer to get it.

"That sanguine just went bloody." Her husband whispered as he slid into the chair next to her at the table.

"Had a feelin' it would." Zoe replied evenly.

"Yeah, but I can guarantee you never saw this one coming."

*T*F*C*

"You'll wear a hole in the grating." Book remarked without looking up from the tattered pages of his bible. Quite frankly, he wasn't sure why he was still trying to read it, since River's corrections had left it nearly illegible.

"How can you be so calm?" Simon huffed as his eyes darted to the doorway leading to the bay and subsequently the mess where he knew the crew was meeting.

"Crime isn't all bullets and bloodshed-," Book replied setting aside his bible, "-more often than not, it is more akin to that of a game of chess. Distract your opponent with a pawn as your bishop moves in to take their queen, set your moves several steps ahead; lose a few to win the whole."

"Would River be our bishop then?" Simon asked.

"No-," Book shook his head, his lips pressing into a thin smile, "-River would be the pawn you never see coming. The one that winds up checkmating the king."

"I suppose you're right." Simon sighed with a severe amount of resignation. "Though comparing my sister to a pawn is-,"

"Disturbingly adequate and yet, at the same time, wildly off the mark?" Book offered.

"Yes." A bitter smile quirked around the doctor's lips.

"The truth often is." The Shepherd replied.

*T*F*C*

"Aw hell, you got to be ruttin' kiddin' me?" Mal groaned in a furious whisper as he paced in front of Riddick in his bunk.

"Gets worse, Mal." Riddick rumbled.

"Don't see how it could." The captain grumbled.

"Haymer's not on Londinium. He's right here on Bellerophon and she's planning on making a little sidetrip during the heist to settle an old score."

"Never goes smooth." He muttered to himself. "Need to just gorram quit askin' why."

"Mal." Riddick said impatiently.

"You tell River and Inara to stay put; we'll need them to get into air space over the ocean. Once we're in, we'll need to stage something, chase 'em off to do their business. We play nice for now, you hear me?"

"I could-,"

"You ain't killin' her, we need her to get on the gorram estate. I ain't walking away from this coin, Riddick." Mal snapped. "Really got to work on your people skills. Can't just go killin' folk for no reason at all."

"Got plenty of reason; this bitch is lookin' to turn on us and cut us out of the deal."

"Then we turn first." Mal said firmly. "'Bout ruttin' time we got the one up on somebody. When we hit ground, whatever the plan is, Riddick, consider yourself her gorram shadow. You don't let her out of your sight for one gorram minute. Somebody's gonna have to take the fall for this job and it ain't gonna be us."

"And if she turns on us once she gets pinched?" Riddick pressed.

"Who's she gonna turn on, Riddick? She ain't seen hide nor hair of the Tams and you're too goddamn scary to turn on, as River pointed out. Quit lookin' for an excuse to kill people."

"It's what I do, Mal."

"Not anymore, Riddick." The captain shook his head. "We do this right and she'll take the fall and we'll be shiny. You really think Haymer's gonna do anything but shoot her anyway once she gets pinched? Let the blood be on his hands. We got enough of it on our own."

"Mal-,"

"Done talking. You don't like my methods ain't nobody keeping you here."

Riddick snorted at the irony of the captain's statement. They both knew damn well what, or more correctly who, was keeping Riddick on _Serenity_, and Mal wasn't above using it to get the convict to see reason. They needed this job and a million square split was quickly shaping up to be a million even; and there wasn't anything that could get him to walk away from that amount of money. Not when yet another giant 'fuck you' to the Alliance opportunity came along with it. That kind of coin could leave a nice chunk of money for a rainy day; the kind of rainy day where the Alliance catches up with you and you have to run fast and hard. That was Plan B money, Plan C money and possibly even Plan D and E money.

"We do the job, we get out, and we get paid. No blood, no muss, no fuss." Mal stated firmly at the convict who was leaning against the wall glaring at him. "We shiny?"

"Shiny, Mal." Riddick growled. "But if it comes down to us or her-," he pushed himself off the wall and turned to put a hand on the hatch ladder, "-you won't be able to stop me."

"Riddick, if it comes down to us or her, I'll pull the trigger myself."


	62. Trash III

Riddick rested on his back in the darkness of his newly acquired bunk. The shiv in his right hand tapping relentlessly against the metal frame of his bed in rhythm with a heartbeat he no longer had to strain to locate or hear. He was hyper-aware of it regardless of River's position on the ship and wondered vaguely if it was because of their connection or because he was obsessed. A steady rumbling growl seemed to pool itself and take up residency inside his chest. One thin metal wall separated him from the woman he wasn't allowed to kill; the proximity was driving him insane. The reason he hadn't gutted her already was driving him insane.

Richard B. Riddick was taking orders. Every instinct he had was telling him to go and gut the bitch before she had the chance to turn on them; but Mal said heel and he'd fucking heeled. He had a flashback to a moment on T2 when Johns had whistled and slapped his thigh, calling him to heel; of course Riddick had only done it because he hadn't been planning on Johns making it off that rock alive. He'd only heeled because he was waiting for the opportune moment to kill the man. Then again, Johns whistled because he didn't see anything more than an animal in Riddick, a monster; and, as Inara and Kaylee had so irritatingly pointed out, the crew of _Serenity_ didn't see Riddick as a monster. He was crew member, part of their little psycho-freak family.

_They give a damn?_ The last thought was more of a question than a statement and only because he didn't want to admit the truth. He liked being on _Serenity._ It felt good to walk her halls and breath her air.

Even more disturbing was the realization that he liked the crew. It wasn't just River tying him to the ship anymore. He wasn't just a piece of shit convict to them; every crewmember on board had their ghosts, except for Kaylee, but Riddick was being to think the girl actually bled sunshine with all the goddamn optimism she had spewing out of her pores. Jayne, the merc; the type of man Riddick would have fucked with just for laughs if they had crossed paths before. If someone would have told him a year ago he'd find a friend and a brother in a former Guild Merc, he would have shived them on principle. As it was, Riddick couldn't think of anyone else besides River he'd rather have on his six.

There was Zo and Wash and, as odd of a pairing as the two made, Riddick could see it now. They fit into each like two halves of a whole. Wash softened her edges and she in turn gave the fleshy pilot a little steel for his backbone. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he actually enjoyed Wash's odd sense of humor and the man appreciated River for who and what she was. He wasn't sure why that made him like him more but it did. Zo, he could count on in a fire fight and she could him; they shared a quiet kinship ever since the night of the train job that had first caused all the trouble with Niska. She looked after her own and hell hath no fury like a pissed off Zoe; he could appreciate that.

Mal was a rare kind of man. The big damn hero type without a doubt. His mind drifted back to the vision of his own parents that Shirah had showed him and he caught himself wondering if the captain was the kind of man his own father would have liked. He didn't know why it mattered, somehow it did. Mal might have been a shit judge of character but he was quick to think on his feet, saw the crack to slip through when no one else did. He was a survivor and that was something Riddick could definitely relate to.

Inara, Riddick wasn't entirely sure whether or not he liked the woman; she was too much like River, too goddamn observant. Her knack for seeing right through a body was rutting annoying. There was a fire that burned just beyond her eyes, as if she hadn't yet truly found herself. What she was doing for River, however, superseded everything else, and, again, he had no reason why it affected his outlook on her.

Book was Book. The convict smirked to himself. In actuality, Book was Commander Derrial Adams and he had once been loyal to him. He found it unsettling how easy it was to trust him again. Riddick pinned it on sharing the same enemies; _the enemy of my enemy is my friend._ He twisted the thought around in his head. It was more than that with Book. Book knew, more than anyone else, what he was capable of. River had, after all, never really seen him at his worst. She had seen plenty from his memories; but memory and reality were very different from each other.

Even the doctor was growing on him; which was quite possibly the most unsettling of all of his newfound relationships. He pinned that one on River. She was their common ground, and the doctor was finally getting it into his thick skull that Riddick wasn't going anywhere; a fact that had exponentially increased their tolerance for one another.

Riddick held no illusions over what he was. He was a bad man. A very bad man. The crew of _Serenity_, while they played at being bad guys, not a single one of them actually was, except Jayne of course, and the merc was less and less of a bad guy every day. He was lying to himself if he thought he could actually have a place among them.

He was Richard B. Riddick, a goddamn Furyan; whatever the hell that actually meant. He was a convict, a murderer, a _hundan_ (bastard) prick. He kept telling himself that; repeating it again and again in his head as a silent mantra. He wasn't sure if he was trying to will himself to remember the fact or convince himself of it. It was a fact nonetheless. The thought of kicking on flitted through his mind again; cutting his losses and running now before he did something he would regret. Regret was not an emotion he handled well. The crew might have been growing on him, but a day didn't pass where he could stop the imagery of slicing one of them from groin to the jugular and watching as they bled out on the floor. He stopped the almost reflexive smirk which usually accompanied such thoughts. He hated himself for thinking it and he hated himself even more for giving a shit that he did.

Riddick was so wrapped up in his own mental tirades that he did not notice the shift in River. He did not feel her as she drew closer, nor did he note the increase in the volume of her heartbeat or her rapidly approaching scent. When the vent grating in his bunk popped open he jerked himself up; slamming his head into the metal grating above his bed.

"Someone is lost." River's soft voice seemed to echo and hold its own physical weight in the air of Riddick's bunk as the convict muttered a tangent of curses which crossed several different languages.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Riddick ignored her remark as he dropped back onto his bed rubbing his forehead.

"Someone is lost." River repeated.

"Doesn't answer my question." He rumbled.

"Doesn't it?" River cocked her head to the left thoughtfully as her fingers reached out to trace the small lump which was forming where Riddick had smacked his head. "I am sorry for frightening you."

Riddick merely snorted, but didn't shy away from her touch, instead he leaned into it. The small amount of contact seemed to wash away his dark musings. "What are you doing to me?" Riddick hadn't realized he was asking the question aloud until the words left his lips.

"Don't leave." It wasn't an answer to his question. River didn't have the answer. It was a plea.

"Not going anywhere." The convict practically purred as her hand shifted from the lump on his forehead to caress his cheek. "Told you that."

"Thoughts think differently. You cannot lie to her." River replied softly as she allowed him to pull her down into his lap. He buried his nose into her hair and inhaled deeply. Her scent settling something inside him he did not have a name for.

"Should know me better than that by now, girl." He rumbled quietly against her neck. "If I did half the shit I thought, everybody on this ship would be dead. Including you." He didn't add the last sentence to be cruel, he didn't think he had it in him to be cruel to her any longer, it was a simple truth.

"Your thoughts are dark-," she pulled away slightly to look up at him, her hands resting over his temples, "-and misguided. We all begin as something else; it is who we are at the end that matters most."

"My thoughts are always dark." He replied, ignoring the second half of her statement. "Told you in the beginning there are places in there even I don't want to be."

River relaxed back against his chest and picked up one of his broad hands; pressing her own much smaller palm into his. "We are not so different, you and I. There are places she wishes to never see, but closing her eyes does not make them go away. Only you make them go away."

"River, I'm not the man you think I am."

"I know you. I _see_ you, Furyan." River replied pointedly. "You cannot hide from me."

"That's the thing, Riv, don't think I want to." He confessed. Riddick was, frankly, quite sick of all the self-reflection he had been doing lately. It was easy to consider leaving, easy until one said woman crawled into his lap reeking of something that for some reason reminded him of a home he couldn't remember except when he closed his eyes. It was easy to think himself a monster; until one said woman placed her much smaller, frailer hand in his and made him feel like something more.

River pulled both of his arms around her, willingly locking herself into the cage that was his body and grip. She didn't press him further and he felt her gently recede to a distant part of his mind, allowing him to have his own thoughts. Idly, he trailed his fingers through her hair; it hung loose and tickled his arms, a fresh wave of her unique scent hitting him every time he twirled a piece between his fingers. It wasn't the softest hair he'd ever felt; in fact, it was coarse and kinked from endless hours of being knotted up in coils and braids, but it was his favorite sensation; next to the heat of her breath against his chest. He wasn't going anywhere. He could do this. He could play gun-hand and shipmate; the reluctant goddamn hero. Shirah had said River was to be his salvation. He wasn't aware he had needed it and he hadn't wanted it; but if salvation was River, her soft skin, the brush of her mind against his, he could be swayed. If salvation was River, maybe God wasn't such a damnable prick after all.

It was the moment right before his lips brushed against hers and he had decided to drown himself in her, consequences be damned, that a harsh kick thudded against his bunk door and Riddick decided that God was indeed a damnable prick; with a real fucked up sense of humor.

"What?" Riddick didn't bother to hide the utter frustration in his tone as he barked out an answer to the rap against his door.

"Cap'n wants us in the mess. Kaylee and Wash got something." Jayne yelled through the locked hatchway.

"Sonofabitch." Riddick swore, burying his face into River's hair.

"I will be listening." She pecked a small kiss on his cheek before untangling herself from his limbs.

"Rick!" Jayne barked again as another kick sounded on the door.

"I'm going to beat him to death with his own goddamn leg." Riddick growled, his scowl fading at the sound of River's soft giggle. "I'm fucking coming!" He barked back at Jayne.

"Help please." She nodded up to the open ceiling vent.

Riddick smirked; his mood somehow lightened considerably. "Got yourself in here."

River rolled her eyes. "And she'll get herself out." She snipped.

Riddick had to admit he was damn impressed as he watched her kick off his bunk and scale the wall, almost vaulting herself neatly back into the ventilation duct. "River." He stopped her though right before she popped the grating back into place, his tone serious. "Don't hesitate to use it."

Riddick didn't have to elaborate, she knew what he was referring to and, for once, didn't try to argue with him. Instead, she offered him a smirk, one he'd sworn he'd seen a million times in the reflection of a mirror. "Nothing in the 'Verse." She had no intention of using the gun for anything more than a prop; Riddick, however, did not have to know such a thing. He was afraid for her, and not just regarding the one who reeked like Saffron; a thousand other possible dangers were circling around his mind, weighed down by the knowledge he would be too far away to help her. Riddick did not appreciate fear, he converted it to anger; much as he had done earlier over the issue of the gun and River had no desire to provoke the reaction from him again.

"You and me, girl." Riddick smirked back at her before she disappeared completely into the shaft. His smirk faded slightly as his brow creased. "Fuck if I know why." He added quietly to himself as he climbed the ladder out of his bunk. It was the absolute truth. Richard B. Riddick no longer had a fucking clue what he was doing; but as he felt River's reassuring caress against the inside of his mind, it ceased to matter.

*T*F*C*

"Now, here we have Bellerophon-," Wash said with a bit of a dramatic flourish as he produced one of the portable handhelds and powered up the screen, revealing a landscape shot of several large floating artificial islands over a pristine ocean, "-home of the rich and paranoid. Gracious living, pristine ocean views, annnnnd-," he drawled, "-state-of-the-art security including local patrols, and multi-code keys needed at all entrances and exits-"

"Which we have already established and are in full possession of." Tera cut him off impatiently. "How 'bout you tell us something we don't know, sweetheart?"

"Maybe you should watch who you call sweetheart." Zoe snapped in retort, her tone was low and dangerous; her outburst was uncharacteristic, but the set of her jaw and the flash in her eyes had the crew shifting nervously.

"So, about gettin' that million cred gun." Mal redirected the conversation quickly. He was more than slightly uncomfortable with the look in his first mate's eye, as well as that of his two other guns; he made a mental note to remind Mr. Universe from this point on they had a strict nonnegotiable 'no partner' policy. The 'Verse was just too gorram small.

"You wanna tell them?" Kaylee gave Wash an unabashed grin, ignoring Tera's remark entirely.

"It was your genius idea." Wash returned her grin.

"You chuck it in the garbage." The mechanic smiled proudly. That particular stroke of genius had occurred when Wash attempted to chuck a protein bar wrapper into the disposal unit and missed by a mile. "Just gotta hit one little button and whoosh-," she cut her arm dramatically through the air, "-the drone carries away our pretty." She leaned over the table and shuffled a few of the larger sheets of digital blueprints they had; pulling an enlarged copy on the vault schematic to the top of the pile. "The vault's a safe room too and he's got it built with all the amenities, including waste disposal."

"Just have to bypass the display security on the Lassiter, which shouldn't be too hard, and then get your _pig gus_ (butts) back out before anybody's the wiser." Wash added.

"_Huihang_ (Brillant)," Tera drawled, the word dripping with sarcasm. "Except for the fact it's idiotic; those drones take the disposal bins straight to reclamation. Thirty seconds after we hit that button the prize will be incinerated."

Jayne made a very Riddick-like growl that rumbled through his chest at the woman's insult and was about to cut in, when Kaylee did his work for him. "Not if I reprogram the bin." The neener-neener tone to her voice could not be missed and more than one member of the crew stifled their chuckles; Riddick and Jayne were, however, not so inclined. "All's I gotta do is override the standard guidance system. Then I can tell the drone to go where ever I want, like the loneliest stretch of desert Bellerophon's got to offer."

"Not bad." Tera conceded with an approving nod, which meant very little to both the mechanic and pilot. "Where's this little lonely stretch of desert?"

"Isis Canyon. Drone dumps the bin, we claim the goods and we're all together again." Wash finished.

"And how do you plan on getting to the bin to reprogram it?" Tera pressed.

"You worry on the gun-," Kaylee dismissed her with an ease that made Jayne quite proud, truth be told, "-leave the bin to us."

"Zo?" Mal turned to his first mate.

"Ground team should be small, sir-," Zoe began turning the whole thing over in her head and trusting River was listening in, "-no need to attract more attention than necessary. And I'm guessin' gettin' to the bin ain't gonna be no cake walk either."

"Well…" Kaylee drawled. "It's gonna be a kind of walk. Wash is gonna hafta get _Serenity_ right up underneath the estate and I'm gonna hafta to switch out the guidance boards manually, means I'll be takin' a walk outside the ship for that."

"Not by yourself you ain't." Jayne shook his head vehemently.

"It ain't hardly nothin', Jayne." Kaylee argued. "I'll be tethered to the ship."

"Don't care." Jayne replied firmly. "You ain't sendin' her out there by herself, Cap."

"Didn't plan on it, Jayne." Mal repressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Riddick, Tera, and me will make up the ground team; Zo, the ship'll be yours and Jayne will make the switch with Kaylee."

"Any chance we'll be able to get to the vault from underneath?" Riddick asked.

"Gotta better shot at keepin' an ice planet frozen in hell." Wash snorted. "The vault is sealed completely from the underside. Reinforced metal, only way to get through is to cut in."

"And we won't have that kind of time." The convict finished for him.

"We have the deal set up, that will get us on the estate." Tera interrupted. "There's no reason to try and find another way in."

"You hoping to see somebody?" Riddick asked, his voice graveled and laced with more than a little bit of suspicion. He wondered vaguely how much rope it would take before she would hang herself.

"It takes out the guards in one swoop, or would you rather try and dodge them as they run their patrols over the grounds?" She countered.

_/She hopes Haymer will make an appearance./_

_/No shit./_ Riddick mentally snorted at her.

"Just seems odd to me that the man himself won't be there to inspect his newest acquisition." Riddick baited her. "Not real fond of surprises."

"He wouldn't lower himself to consort with thieves. It's taken me a month to set up this deal. I had to bribe one of his agents, who vouched for its authenticity." Tera replied easily.

_/She's good./_ Riddick had to admit mentally to River.

_/We are better./_

_/Damn straight./_

"And what are we doing about the indoor vid surveillance?" Mal asked.

"Once you've neutralized the guards, you'll need to remote patch me into the security system." Wash answered.

"There's an electrical panel right near the rear entrance." Jayne cut in. "Rick and I were lookin' at that before. Figured ya'd need to patch in somewhere."

"You'll just need to grab it again before you leave." Wash nodded. "Moving through the estate won't be a problem after that; a few obstacles which mainly involve evading any domestic help which might be in residence but we're going in late enough so the house should be pretty much asleep."

"Alright, so we got-," Mal paused to check his pocket watch, "-twenty-eight hours before this deal goes down. Can we pull this off?"

"It's doable, sir." Zoe nodded. The rest of the crew nodded or mumbled their agreement as well.

"Let's get these details hashed out then." The captain pulled up his sleeves and leaned over the prints.

"Captain." Mal groaned and swore under his breath for added affect as Inara entered the mess.

"Miss Serra, how can I help today?" He asked as he reluctantly swung around to face her. "If you ain't noticed we're havin' a bit of a ship meetin' at the moment."

"Oh yes, petty crime, how very exciting." She replied dryly. "I, however, have a function to attend this evening."

"Ain't forgotten." Mal said tersely. "We'll be on our merry and headed out over the ocean 'fore long, then you go on your way and we'll go on ours."

"How long is before long?" Inara asked.

"After short?" Wash chimed in. "What?" He asked defensively at the resulting groans and eye rolls he received. "It was funny." He huffed, catching himself before the almost reflexive, _River would get it._

"Mal." Inara pressed.

"Since when does a whore dictate to the captain?" Tera snorted impatiently.

_Oh hell._ Mal swore to himself.

Inara's entire body tensed, her eyes flashed with an icy intensity as she regarded the crew's partner. "This _whore_ is the only way you're getting into the estate's airspace without setting off any alarms. You can keep my schedule or I can power up my shuttle and leave you all here in the desert." She turned on the captain next. "We have an agreement, Captain Reynolds, fail to honor your end and I will no longer feel inclined to honor mine."

"Now, Inara, I am well aware of our agreement and your schedule, got ourselves time still and I need to hack out a few details so's we don't wind up pinched by Haymer's boys and you find yourself stuck on this rock for the foreseeable future." Mal replied as diplomatically as he could.

"Haymer?" Inara's eyebrow arched with surprise.

"Let me guess?" Mal half groaned. "A client of yours?"

"The man's insane and so are you if that's who you're planning on stealing from." The Companion replied, crossing her arms across her chest. "No one steals from Haymer and no one crosses him; not without a death wish."

"I survived well enough." Tera smirked. She failed to notice the tensing of half the crew, and failed to realize she had given more away than she thought with that simple statement.

"See there?" Mal said cheekily. "Odds ain't as bad as you think."

"_Nee mun doh shr sagwa_ (phonetically, idiots all of you)." Inara shook her head. "If Haymer is your business, I will be breaking away from _Serenity_ the moment you get the clearance you need. Unlike some of you, I don't have a death wish, nor a desire to rot away in some flea-ridden Slam."

"Your faith in your captain is overwhelming." Mal drawled.

"Some of us aren't delusional." Inara retorted dryly.

"You done?" Tera interrupted, a brow arched. "We have a bit of business to work on here if you're finished with your little tantrum."

"Tammy was it?" Inara turned back to the woman; feigned sweetness dripping of her voice, the sound was more like poison then its usual honey.

"Tera." She replied tersely, her patience running thin.

"Oh, do forgive me." Inara replied with a degree of sarcasm which was not lost on anyone. Inara swept her gaze over the woman, her study critical and more than blatantly obvious. "I am no longer surprised that Rick dropped you in that alley-," Riddick, was perhaps more startled than anybody by her statement, but a smirk pulled at the corners of his lips nonetheless; maybe he did like the woman after all, "-whore I may be-" Inara continued before Tera could snap a retort, "-but cheap I am not." Inara turned immediately. "Have fun with your petty crime, Malcolm. Do wave me when you're finished, that is if you're not all dead or in Slam." She called lightly over her shoulder as she exited with a rather dramatic sweeping of her skirt.

Riddick wasn't able to repress his chuckle, which quickly spread to Jayne; while Mal bit the inside of his cheek to keep from joining in. The look on Tera's face was somewhere between rage and incredulity and Mal wasn't the only one wishing he had a capture handy.

*T*F*C*

Inara fell back against her shuttle door laughing. "What?" She asked River. "That was more fun than I've had since Riddick and I broke Mal and Zoe out of that mess during the train job."

"Subterfuge suits you." River remarked; there was no accusation in her voice. It was a compliment, an odd one, but a compliment nonetheless and the Companion saw it for what it was.

"Are you so terribly surprised?" Inara asked as she raised her sari to cover half her face, "I am a Companion, a woman of mystery and intrigue." She was unable to maintain her charade however and found herself laughing again as she crossed the shuttle to settle on the sofa next to River.

River couldn't help her small giggle either. "She is not surprised."

"I." Inara reminded her casually.

"I am not surprised." River corrected; not offended by the Companion's gentle reminder.

"Is it awful that I am hoping that Mal's plan goes terribly awry and we get to save the day? I think I rather like the idea of a double life. Registered Companion, loyal Alliance servant on one hand-," she said as she lifted one palm up, "-and then uncivilized Rim smuggler on the other." She lifted her other palm up.

"A desire to prove one's worth is understandable. She-," River shook her head to correct herself before Inara had the chance, "-I understand."

"I suppose you do, _mei-mei."_ Inara replied kindly. "You more than anyone, though you have the least to prove."

River ticked her head curiously, not entirely understanding Inara's comment. Didn't she have more than anyone else to prove? She was after all, the only one aboard _Serenity,_ who was trying to prove her sanity.

Inara seemed to sense the younger woman's confusion and her face softened further. "_Mei-mei,_ you are here in my shuttle, listening to me ramble on about my ridiculously grand illusions of becoming some sort of super-spy, while at the same time listening to the rest of the crew plan a heist with a woman they know is set on betraying them all because you are also listening to her." Inara was unsure why she did what she did next and even more surprised that River allowed her to do so as she wrapped one arm around the younger woman and pulled her closer in a comforting embrace. "Do you realize at this very moment you are listening to the inner turnings of ten different minds? On top of all their thoughts you are feeling what they feel, and hearing the echoes of a thousand other sensations. _Xiao yi_ (little one), you are stronger than all of us. Wiser, too. You may not see it yet, River, but you are a gift to a universe which does not deserve you." Inara rested her head against River's as she spoke next. "I, for one, am grateful for your life. You know the best and worst in all of us and yet you love us still, though we mistrusted you, your faith in us is unwavering. Whether you believe it or not, River, it is each one of us, striving to prove ourselves to you."

*T*F*C*

The mess had been deserted for hours, the crew retired to their bunks to try to get in a few extra hours because the night had been a long one, and the one coming would only be longer. Riddick, however, did not sleep. Riddick found himself the sole occupant of the otherwise deserted mess; a bottle of whiskey and a glass his only companions. He would not sleep tonight. He had felt every kilometer as Inara and River had disengaged and flown off somewhere to lay low. Somewhere that could be riddled with Alliance or desert bandits; or any number of other things Riddick had absolutely no control of. At least she had taken the gun. Her presence in his mind had faded into a dim awareness, the echo of a dream he couldn't quite remember but flitted across the edges of his mind. He knew she was alive, but her thoughts and emotions were too distance to be heard or felt. He had been unprepared for the loneliness; the hollow ache in his chest. He audibly growled at himself, just a few hours ago he'd been thinking what a good idea running would have been. The forced separation they were now going through made it abundantly clear how impossible it would have been. He hadn't even fucked her and yet his skin ached for her. He was a fucking pansy.

Riddick's nostrils flared suddenly and he stiffened on reflex before relaxing. "Can't sleep?" He rumbled to the doctor without looking up from is glass.

"No." Simon answered as he went for another glass and sat himself across from the convict.

Riddick really didn't need any further explanation, nor was he looking for further conversation but he didn't object when Simon reached for the bottle and poured himself a glass. They sat in a silence for a while; each inside their own heads, though their thoughts circled around the same woman.

"She'll be fine." Simon was the first to break the silence, and his voice was forced but set with resolve.

"Know she will be, Doc." Riddick grunted by way of reply.

"Then why are we both sitting here drinking?" He mused with a sort of dead humor in his voice.

"Fuck if I know." Riddick shrugged as he drained the contents of his glass and poured himself another.

"You would know if something happened though right? If she was hurt or in danger?" Simon asked.

"Fuck if I know." Riddick shrugged again. "She'd know if I was, but would I know if she was anything other than alive or dead now? She's better at this head stuff then me. I can't talk to anyone else inside my head or hear anybody else but her. Don't really think any kind of telepathy is what let's me do what we do."

"What is it that let's you do it then?" Simon asked idly as he fingered the rim of his glass.

"Fuck if I know." Riddick shrugged again, hoping the doctor would take the hint and they could go back to drinking in silence again. It was only a partial lie because he really only half understood the shit Shirah went on about.

"Riddick-," Simon started again, and it was his tone that caught Riddick's attention and made him look up at doctor for the first time, "-promise me if anything ever happens to me that you will take care of her. I know I have no right to ask-," he added hurriedly, "-and you have every right to refuse, but I need to know, I need to know she won't ever be alone." He threw back the contents of his glass, seeming to need the liquid courage as he waited for Riddick's answer. He knew they'd had this same conversation before, maybe not with the same words, or the same consequences, but Simon needed the answer all the same. He needed to believe it.

The convict turned over the request; unsure why he hesitated to answer at all. Hadn't he already told River he wasn't leaving? For some reason making the promise to her seemed entirely different than making it to her brother. Riddick didn't give his word lightly; the majority of his life his word and his blade were all he had. He may have been a murderer, a thief, and an all around bastard, but a liar he was not. The weight of the request hung in the air as several minutes ticked by and Riddick studied the liquid swirling in his glass. He couldn't figure what the hell was the big deal about making the promise to Simon since he had already made it to River. Perhaps it was because the doctor's loathing for him was no secret to anyone, as well as his rather vocal objections to his relationship with River. He couldn't help but feel as if there was no turning back if his answer was yes; that it would somehow bind him to River and_ Serenity_ for the rest of his life. The rest of his life; he'd never considered the future before. He lived by the second, in the moment and for every breath and heartbeat. He replayed his conversation with River in his bunk, remembering the warm trail her fingers had left behind on his skin, inhaling the traces of her left on his clothing. Why was he debating? He'd made this decision; quite possibly long before he even realized he had.

"You have my word." He answered, finishing off his drink and pushing himself away from the table. Riddick didn't give Simon the chance to speak as he turned and headed for his bunk. He had told Jack, on that busted down skiff they'd escaped hell on that Riddick had died back on the planet; he wondered now if that was the truth or if Riddick had, in fact, just died in that chair back in the mess.

_Fucking women. _

*T*F*C*


	63. Trash IV

"Coming around now, Mal." Riddick called over his shoulder as he flicked several switches above his head.

Mal briefly leaned over Riddick's chair to scope out the darkened island they were circling. "You ready?" He asked Tera as the woman sealed up an empty case.

"Honey, I was born ready." The corners of her lips twitched; her body almost visibly vibrating as anticipation raced through her veins. This night had been years in the making; revenge was indeed a dish best served cold.

"We'll see 'bout that." Mal muttered. "Just remember the rules; we ain't here to kill nobody. Disarm, disable, or just knock 'em ruttin' unconscious. No killing." He wasn't entirely sure if it was more pertinent to remind Riddick or Tera; he gave them each a pointed captain-y look for good measure.

Riddick guided the shuttle easily to land on the port just south of the main house. The grounds were darkened; undoubtedly a purposeful blackout to conceal their dealings. The outboard shuttle lights threw sleek, dancing shadows across the well manicured grounds. The convict savored the familiar feeling of anticipation; using it to push back the tumult of unfamiliar emotion he had been feeling over the last few days. This was his element, for the first time in weeks he felt like Richard B. Riddick.

He powered down the main systems, leaving the auxiliaries running for a fast start up in case a quick exit was needed. He rose from his seat, checked the clip in his back waistband pistol, pushed up his goggles, and gifted his companions with a dark smirk.

Mal adjusted his coat and ran a hand through his hair, returning Riddick's smirk; albeit less darkly and more cheekily as was his trademark. "Let's go be bad guys."

"Oh, let's." Tera grinned.

*T*F*C*

"Jayne, you don't quit your fussin', I'm gonna clock ya one." Kaylee snapped, swatting away Jayne's hands as he checked over her riggings for the fifth time. Any other time his attention might have been endearing, perhaps even adorable, to the mechanic; however, she was anxious enough as it was. Jayne's fretting was only making it worse.

"Ain't fussin'." Jayne snorted; slightly disgruntled and more than a little embarrassed over being caught. "Ain't lookin' for my girl to be fish food is all."

"Well, technically the fall would kill her before whatever is in that water could eat her." Simon pointed out as he checked the power cells on their torches. He didn't notice the dark looks he received in return.

_"Coming around now, time for my little goslings to fly the coop."_ Wash's voice crackled over the comm. unit the Preacher was holding onto.

Kaylee took a stabilizing breath; unable to conceal the slight tremor in her hands. Jayne grabbed them both in one of his. "Look at me, girl." He commanded sternly. Kaylee's head jerked up and she held his gaze in hers. His serious expression breaking unexpectedly into what could only be described as a shit-eating grin. "Ready for some thrillin' heroics?" Something in his grin caused the mechanic to crack one of her own. "That's my girl." The merc chuckled. "Whoo-Hoo! Let's make some money!" He yelled in a believable attempt to mask the fact he was more than a little scared himself.

*T*F*C*

"Evenin' gents!" Mal called out the greeting as they exited the shuttle; he and Riddick taking up flanking positions on Tera who was holding the small metal case.

Less than a handful of meters away stood three guards; a fourth positioned just outside the small guardhouse door, leaning against the frame. Riddick was slightly disappointed to see they were carrying sonic weapons. He honestly hadn't ever seen a point to non-lethal weapons; in his opinion, it was hypocrisy in its severest form, and for some reason he found the concept offensive.

"Evenin'." Replied the guard in the center of the three as he stepped forward, his chin jerked towards the crate. "Mr. Haymer's goods?"

"Depends." Mal shrugged as his chin jerked to the two smaller briefcases; one in each hand of the other guards. "Are those full of our money?" The captain had to admit, as he saw the next course of action play out in his mind, he was disappointed at the lack of challenge posed before them. The two men carrying the money had their sonic rifles slung across their backs, and the one guard leaning against the small shed was actually smoking a cigarette. They were really just asking for what was coming.

"They are." The lead guard jerked his head and the two other men step forward.

The next twenty seconds played out quickly, several things happening at once; as the two men stepped forward Tera threw the case in her hands at the center man. He fumbled, surprised by the action, only to have Tera's foot connect solidly with his jaw. She dropped low and without breaking her spin took out his legs; her final blow, a kick to his head. While Tera was throwing her case Mal went for a much simpler course of action; he drew the gun from his hip, the butt of it connecting solidly to his man's temple. He dropped before Tera had completed her spin. Riddick chose to draw his gun as well, though it was his elbow that took out his man; he leveled the gun on the last man who was currently choking on his cigarette smoke.

"Give me a reason." The convict growled, the sound reverberating and carrying through the darkness in a way which was almost unnatural.

Cigarette smoker was a fan of living and currently scared out of his mind by the silver-eyed man wielding a gun. He dropped his cigarette and his rifle in the same heartbeat.

"Fucking disappointing." Riddick scoffed as he stepped closer; he whipped his gun back, flipping his grip and brought the butt crashing down against the man's temple.

"Get 'em in the guardhouse." Mal ordered as he brushed past Riddick and into the shed-like building himself to disable communications. "And don't forget those gorram cases of money, no point in lettin' good creds go to waste."

Riddick turned back to Tera as he grabbed the wrists of the cigarette smoker and started dragging him in. "Well?" He barked.

"I don't do lifting." She scoffed as she picked up the two smaller cases. "That's what I hired a crew for."

For the briefest of moments, Riddick considered going for his gun and shooting her right there as she studied her nails. The convict had to wonder if being psychic was contagious as a pointed look and throat clearing from Mal said the captain knew exactly what Riddick was thinking and he had better think twice about it.

"Ground team check-in one." Mal said, tapping into his ear piece after ripping the wires from the island's communications system.

_"Roger that, ground team, Papa Goose in position. Next patrol circuit T-minus twenty minutes."_ Wash's voice crackled.

"Twenty minutes, roger that." Mal radioed back. "Alright, people, let's move."

*T*F*C*

Jayne had one arm place protectively across Kaylee's waist and the other hand locked in a death grip around a too small for his liking niche along Serenity's hull. "In position, take us up!" He yelled, hoping Wash could hear him through the comms over the howling wind and roaring engine. They were on their backs, looking up at the underbelly of the island as _Serenity_ trembled violently. "That's it hold 'er there!" Jayne shouted in warning when he could feel the heat of the island's mechanisms against his face despite the wind. He turned his head slightly to Kaylee. "Alright, girl-," he yelled as he slowly and very carefully pushed himself up, "-showtime!"

Kaylee nodded as she pushed herself as well. Opening a small toolkit tethered to her waist, she handed Jayne a power driver and aimed her torch. "Gotta get me the board with the green wires attached!" She yelled up to him.

*T*F*C*

"Easy, baby, easy." Zoe gripped her husband's shoulder as they both stared out the windshield. There, of course, was nothing to be seen from that viewpoint, but it was the only way to avoid looking at the screaming gauges. "Easy."

Wash kept his retort securely inside his head.

*T*F*C*

"Ground team, check-in two." Mal radioed as Tera patched in a small metallic cylinder to the electrical panel outside the rear entrance of the estate. Riddick was holding rearguard with one of the recently liberated sonic weapons. His distaste was evident; however, it made keeping Mal's no killing rule a hell of a lot easier.

_"Roger that, ground team. Check-in two."_ Wash answered back, an unsettling amount of tension in his voice. There was a slight pause on the pilot's end in which the ground team waited through nervously. _"We're in. You are green for phase three."_

Mal nodded to Tera who removed a wired keycard from one of her pockets and slid it through the door lock, keying in a nine-digit code. The door hissed silently open. "We're in." Mal whispered into his comm.

*T*F*C*

As soon as Mal had radioed in the second check-in Zoe had abandoned her husband at the pilot's controls and slid into the co's station; her hands flew across a keyboard as one of the computer screens came to life. Hacking was not in Zoe's skill set, but how to disable a security system was something every resistance soldier worth their salt knew. In less than a minute, via the remote link-in she had disabled the interior vid feeds and motion sensors.

"We're good." She called without looking up.

Wash radioed back the all-clear to the captain before switching channels to Jayne. "Captain's in, give me a status." His voice was uncharacteristically serious, a fine sheen of sweat coating his forehead as he struggled to keep _Serenity_ steady.

*T*F*C*

"Ain't like changing a gorram light bulb!" Kaylee snapped across the comm. when Wash radioed for a status. _"Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi _(explosive diarrhea of an elephant)!" She swore under her breath as Jayne held the torch and she worked to wire her new guidance chip into the mother board. "Burnt my gorram self!"

"Come on girl, focus, keep it together!" Jayne yelled.

"Try holding the gorram light steady!" She snapped.

"Ain't exactly easier on the top of a rutting ship, underneath a goddamn floatin' island!" Jayne yelled back, catching himself as the ship jerked.

"Yeah well, try reprogrammin' a motherboard!"

"I swear to God, girl-"

"What, Jayne? What? !" She snapped.

*T*F*C*

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to send the two of them up there together." Wash attempted to joke as he and Zoe listened to the argument over the comm.

"They'll get it done." Zoe reassured her husband; though a skeptical look passed between them as a garbled tangent of Mandarin came spewing over the speakers followed by a response just as unintelligible but much louder and with more bass than the first.

"Oddly enough, I'm reassured by the amount of profanity." Wash's voice wavered towards the end as his grip tightened on the controls. "We do our best work around here when someone's cussing or dying."

*T*F*C*

Mal ran his hand along the false wall in Haymer's office, looking for the seam as Riddick kept one eye on Tera. She was going to make her move soon, he knew it as instinctively as he knew how to breathe; of course the fact that her gaze kept darting nervously to him and the captain was a blaring indicator. Riddick heard the hiss of air as a control panel slid open; revealed by a pressure plate and turned to look as the captain pulled a smallish and patched together electronic device from the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Rick." Mal looked up from the panel.

"This better work." Riddick turned away from Tera to crack open the panel with the tip of his blade. Both men balking slightly at the mess of wires which seemed to explode from their containment. Mal gave Riddick a sort of half-shrug, as if to say, _"Here goes nothing."_ and plugged it in. The red light on the device turned green and the vault doors slid open seamlessly.

"Looks like somebody was being honest." He grinned at Riddick and they both turned to Tera.

Riddick swore immediately. "Fuck. River's not gonna let me live this one down."

"Find her." Mal growled.

"Ain't got time." Riddick argued.

"Not if you stand here arguing with me!" Mal hissed. "I'll get the gun. You find her and bring her back, rendezvous at the shuttle."

"We should leave her, Mal."

"Find her, Riddick that's an order!" Mal barked; the intensity not lost by the whispered tone of his voice. "She kills him, I guarantee we ain't gettin' out alive!"

A low growl rumbled past Riddick's lips as he held Mal's gaze for a moment longer; a muttered curse following up his growl as he turned and scented the air. His eyes glinted dangerously as his nostrils flared and then he was gone.

"Never does go smooth." Mal muttered to himself as he climbed down the access ladder; a part of him slightly amazed Riddick had actually obeyed the order at all.

*T*F*C*

"Okay, she's all set!" Kaylee yelled to Jayne. "Connect this yellow one here-," she pointed out on the board, "-to the green ones you pulled it out of first!" She instructed as they traded the board for the torchlight. "Careful, it's hot!"

Jayne nodded to her before yelling into his comm. "Bring her up!" Wash didn't answer back but _Serenity_ managed to raise herself a few feet or so more; jerking violently as she did so. Jayne caught himself before he slipped; one hand grabbing a tenuous hold on the island's innards. "Gorram it, Wash! Hold 'er steady!"

*T*F*C*

"Leaf on the wind, leaf on the wind, leaf on the wind." Wash recited to himself repeatedly as his knuckles turned white and yet another set of alarms he couldn't be bothered to look at started screeching. The controls jerked as _Serenity_ got caught up in a gust of air caused by the island's exhaust fans. "Soooo not a leaf on the wind, so not a leave on the wind, something that doesn't blow… I'm…ah…honey…What am I?" He yelled, somewhere beyond a normal human's capacity for panic as another heavy gust of wind jerked his controls.

"A mountain against the waves!" She shouted back over the alarms.

"My God, I love you woman!"

*T*F*C*

"Jayne!" Kaylee warned as she watched him reach for the wrong set of wires. "The dyna-ram's live!" Her warning was lost over the combined roar of wind and engine.

"What?" He scowled down at her, having only heard a garbled portion of what was said.

"Don't touch the-," Kaylee shrieked as a blast of blue light bolted from the machine; Jayne's body flew back; his tether yanking him back down and toward the ship. He hit hard; unconscious from the blast even before his landing. Kaylee scrambled for his sliding body as she screeched for help through the comm.

*T*F*C*

"_Shun sheng duh gao wahn_ (phonetically, Holy testicle Tuesday)." Mal let out a low whistle. "This is a safe room?" He was well aware he was alone and therefore talking to himself.

The opulence of the room just needed to be remarked on; it was easily twice the length of _Serenity's_ bay, plush red carpeting ran from wall-to-wall, while bookshelves covered nearly every available wall surface, and lavish dark wood furniture gave it an oddly lived in feel. A small kitchenette and dining area occupied the southwest corner; which is where Mal hoped Kaylee hadn't been wrong and a disposal unit would be. The length of the room that was not taken up by the ridiculously lavish furnishings was dotted by metal display podiums; the Lassiter in central focus on a grand circular display.

"Well, I'll be damned, still don't see the point." He said aloud as he noticed a small hovering chandelier. "What a fucking pounce." He shook his head in disapproval of rich folk in general and got to work on the display.

There was no glass encasing the top, but Mal knew better than to just reach in and grab it. To confirm his suspicions he popped the lid of a small aerosol canister he'd retrieved from his pants pocket and sprayed. The gas revealed an intricate webbing of bright red lasers protecting the gun.

"Playing hard to get, huh?" Mal questioned the weapon before giving it a cheeky grin. "That's alright-," he continued speaking to it as he knelt down and removed a small hand-sized power driver from another pocket, "-I like a girl that don't give it up easy."

*T*F*C*

"Watch his head!" Kaylee snapped, her own head ducked into the hatchway as she watched Zoe and Book try to gently lower Jayne onto the grating.

"We're watching it!" Zoe snapped right back as the bulk of the merc's weight fell on her, nearly knocking her down from the ladder. "You got 'im Book?"

"I got him. I got hi…whoa-," the preacher stumbled slightly trying to shift Jayne's weight as he lowered him, "-Lord he weighs a ton."

Simon skidded to a halt in front of them, his medkit already half-opened. "Where did he hit?" He demanded up to Kaylee.

"Got zapped, stupid lughead, went down hard on his back!" The mechanic yelled above the roar of the wind coming in through the open hatchway she was dangling from.

Zoe was busy removing Jayne's hat and goggles and yanking them on her own head. "Keep it together, Kaylee, we got a job finish! Move back careful, I'm coming up!" She shouted as she unhooked Jayne's tether from his unconscious body and clipped it on her own. "Preacher, you help the doc get him secured in the infirmary!" She gave her last order over her shoulder and took the ladder rungs three at a time.

*T*F*C*

Tera wasn't difficult to track. Riddick was honestly a bit disappointed he found her so easily; though he did have a bit of an idea where she would head, her scent had not really been needed in tracking her. Riddick had known she'd go after Haymer; he simply went to where he knew Haymer would be. Penthouse suite, top floor master bedroom. Her back was to him as she attempted to bypass the man's password on the door controls.

"You done fucking around?" His graveled whisper caused her to jump; she whirled on him, gun leveled. Riddick was wholly prepared. His blade flew from his fingertips, lodging itself in the muzzle of her gun before her spin had fully completely. Again he found a part of his mind wondering if psychic was contagious, he had thrown too early, the blade shouldn't have made its mark; he realized belatedly, but the action had been entirely instinctual. He chose to not concern himself over it at the moment; there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Got business." She hissed, masking her incredulity at the accuracy of Riddick's throw and suddenly slightly afraid now that his silver eyes where glaring in her direction.

"Only business we have is the vault." He snapped quietly as he took a step closer to her. "Thought Haymer was greasing wheels in Parliament?" He threw her lie in her face.

"My business is my own. What does it matter to you? Just another dead body, another piece of shit Alliance scum."

"Captain says no killing." Riddick used the only valid argument he could come up with. Personally, he wouldn't have cared if killing the man had been on the agenda; it was the fact that she thought she could pull one over on his crew that had him holding his ground.

"Oh, and like a good boy you heel so nicely." She hissed.

Riddick growled at the use of that particular word. "Putting us behind schedule." He warned.

She didn't respond, she turned her back on him as if she was daring him to stop her, and went back to work on the door panel. She had underestimated Haymer's paranoia and hadn't expected to come across this kind of security on the bedroom door in his own house. She should have been finished now as it was.

"Your choice." Riddick shrugged and fired the sonic weapon. Tera's body slammed against the wall from the force of the close-range shot and Riddick swore mentally over the volume of her body colliding with the metal wall. He waited several seconds while the silence resettled to see if the noise had alerted any attention. The hallways remained still and silent; he chalked it up to the fact they were on a massive floating metal island; banging sounds were probably not that unusual; nor soundproofing on something as large as it was. Once he was assured the coast was clear, he causally strolled over to the prone form of Tera and bent down to toss her over his shoulder; feeling oddly good about the whole situation. She wasn't dead and the captain hadn't specified on conscious; either way, Riddick figured he'd followed the order and it hadn't really been so bad.

*T*F*C*

"Easier than taking candy from a baby." Mal grinned to himself as the force field around the Lassiter whined a quick death and he reached into the display and plucked the gun off of its stand. On his way to the disposal unit, he snatched the silk table cloth from the dining table, muttering something about hoping it was expensive and used it to wrap the gun before dumping it into the disposal unit. The captain took a deep breath before he hit the button; hoping like hell Riddick had managed to get to Tera before she could kill an Alliance official. Mal might not have had any love for the purple bellies; in fact he wished an early and unpleasant death on all of them but offing an Alliance official was a hell of a lot more dangerous than just stealing from one. He was a smuggling captain, not a murderer. If it hadn't been for his rash decision to space Saffron, she would be the one here now with that crazed sister-in-law, and they'd be hopefully milking some job far on the other side of the 'Verse. The 'Verse was just too gorram small, and everything in it rippled out ward. He'd had enough of ripples. He just wanted it to go smooth.

_"Ground team, this is Papa Goose, our feathers have been ruffled."_ Mal groaned silently to himself, wondering if he even wanted to know what the hell his pilot was talking about. _"Hold position. Do not, I repeat, do not, drop the package."_

_Sonofabitch!_ Mal screamed in his head. "Papa Goose, this is ground team package has already been dropped." Silence answered him back. "Papa Goose? Wash?" He snapped into his comm.

_"Not now, captain!"_ Came back the panicked reply.

*T*F*C*

Kaylee balanced precariously on her tip toes, straining every muscle in her body to plug in her altered motherboard. Zoe, had one hand gripped around Kaylee's tether, the other ready to yank the mechanic out of harm's way if need be. It should have been her reaching up, hell she was near an entire foot taller than the girl; but after Jayne's mistake Kaylee wasn't taking chances and insisted on inserting the hardware herself.

"Come on, Kaylee!" Zoe yelled above the wind. "Gotta move, girl! We got five minutes 'til the next patrol runs!"

"Almost done! Just hafta plug the interface strike plate-," Her words were cut off by the sudden flashing of a bright orange light and a warning siren.

"That's the pick-up call! They've dropped it!" Zoe shouted.

"I can't reach it!" Kaylee hollered back down.

"Wash, altitude now!" Zoe yelled into the comm.

_"Working on it ,dear."_ Wash replied, his voice eerily calm.

The ship lurched upwards suddenly and jerked to the left, resulting in a tangent of blurred and half-formed cursing to spew from both women's lips.

"Kaylee…" Zoe warned as her eyes caught the garbage drone which was very quickly closing in on them. The mechanic fumbled, not sparing a reply, as she attempted to snap the strike plate back into place; nearly dropping it into the ocean below. "KayleeKayleeKayleeKaylee!" Zoe yelled as the drone backed up into place; the mechanic now in severe danger of being crushed between the dumpster and the collection drone.

"Got it!" The plate snapped into place and Zoe yanked her down hard only a breath before the drone slammed heavily into place; a near deafening boom as the drone locked in.

Inches below said drone; so close Kaylee could make out that it had been manufactured on Beylix, the two women exchanged a look. A look that could only be described as_, holy fucking hell._

Sliding on their backs they carefully dipped into the hatchway; as Kaylee sealed it, Zoe yelled breathlessly into her comm. "We're in, Wash! Go!"

*T*F*C*

Mal made it back to the shuttle only a handful of minutes before Riddick. "About time." The captain snorted over his shoulder as he watched the convict carelessly drop Tera's body onto the grating.

"She ain't dead." Riddick answered the question in Mal's look. "You get the gun?"

"Easy-peasy." Mal muttered as he powered up the shuttle completely and quickly got her into the air. "Wash, you clear?" He flipped on the comm.

_"Papa Goose is flying free."_

Mal breathed a sigh of relief as he guided the shuttle away from the estate. "That seem a bit easy to you?" He asked Riddick as the convict dropped into the spare chair and the estate disappeared into the predawn darkness.

"You mean the four guards who went down without a fight, the fact we didn't come across a single person inside, or the fact that I fired a sonic weapon outside of Haymer's door and nobody so much as stuck a head out?"

"Take your pick." Mal shrugged.

Before Riddick could answer, Wash's voice cut in over the comm. _"Mal, we got a real problem here."_

"Define problem." Mal asked cautiously.

_"We're all about to be arrested."_

"What?" Mal barked.

_"Got clear of the estate but on the way out of airspace we got hailed by private security."_

"And?" Mal asked heatedly when Wash didn't finish.

_"Well, now we're running."_ The pilot replied much too happily for Mal's liking.

"Tell me you got a trick, Wash."

_"Oh, I got plenty."_ The pilot chuckled, his chuckle died and turned into a muffled curse as static cut out the line.

"Wash?" Mal called. "Wash?" He snapped when there was no answer.

_"Under control sir."_

"Zoe goddamn it talk to me!" Mal barked.

_"All do respect sir, now ain't the time." _

"Goddamn it!" Mal yelled.

"Had to say something didn't you, Mal?" Riddick looked almost amused.

*T*F*C*

"_Cao, cao, cao _(fuck, fuck, fuck,)!" Kaylee muttered as a cloud of sparks exploded over her head.

_"Uh, Kaylee-," _Wash's voice piped in through the speaker, " -_no pressure but if you don't get me some more gorram power we'll all be spending the next five to ten years in very small confined spaces! I'm too pretty for Slam!"_

Kaylee swore again as the ship jerked violently to port, catching herself on a length of piping. She lunged for the auxiliary controls praying that the pert-line would hold as she slammed the left most lever down. Personally, she felt she was a mite too pretty for Slam as well and made a promise to _Serenity_ regarding a certain systems flush if she could just give her a little bit more power.

*T*F*C*

"We going after them?" Riddick asked Mal.

Mal seemed to debate the question for a few moments before answering. "No. If anybody can lose a tail it's Wash, even if he has to run into the Black first and sneak back in through atmo. I'll bet those private security boys ain't built for space. We head to the drop point and wait to rendezvous with them there."

"And the Vengeance Queen back there?" He jerked his head.

"Take over-," Mal ordered as he flipped a few switches giving Riddick flight control of the shuttle, "-you got her bound?"

"Not exactly the type that carries around cuffs in my back pocket." Riddick snorted. "She's out cold, even if she wakes up, I hit her so close with the sonic movin' ain't gonna be real easy for her." He smirked slightly. "She's not armed though."

"Good. I'll get her bound and once we get back over desert, we'll land and kick her out."

"Sounds a lot like murder, Mal." Riddick replied sarcastically, wondering why Mal had bothered to have him bring her back at all if his plan was just to dump her in the desert.

"Blood won't be on my hands; if she can't find her way out of a desert, it's her own gorram fault." The captain snorted as he pushed himself out of his chair, ignoring Riddick's dark chuckle. "'Sides, it'll give her a sportsman like chance. Nobody got shot, no blood, no foul." He shrugged as he headed back into the cargo area of the shuttle.

"She did pull a gun on me." Riddick pointed out.

"Don't see you bleedin', quit your bitchin'." Mal retorted as he crossed the small space to Tera's unconscious form. Her back was to him and she was lying on her side where Riddick had dropped her. The captain crouched down to roll her over; what happened next, he was wholly unprepared for.

As Mal rolled her over, Tera sat up abruptly, yanking his face down to hers and kissing him firmly on the lips. "Not agai-," the captain fell over unconscious, the sound of his body muffled as Tera eased him to the ground; nearly biting a hole through her cheek to keep from crying out against the pain in her ribs. Noiselessly, she slid the captain's gun from his holster.

Riddick hadn't heard the captain's body fall over the sounds in the cockpit of the shuttle. He did, however, hear the subtle creek of the grating directly behind him as well as the sound of a gun cocking. Riddick ducked just in time for the bullet to whiz past his ear and puncture the shuttle windshield. The craft jerked violently to the starboard as he swung around; his arm coming up to latch on to her outstretched wrist.

Had they not been fighting in the cockpit of the shuttle, a space of a little more than a handful of feet Riddick would have been able to dodge the blow that came next; as it was, it was either take the punch or slam his head into the overhead controls. He opted to take the punch; the problem he failed to foresee was Tera wasn't trying for a shot to his jaw. She latched onto his ear and yanked his head forward. He was able to stop her from kissing him; the scent of the poison on her lips seared through his nostrils given their proximity. It left his neck exposed and rather than the poison kiss of her lips he felt the kiss of the blade she kept between her teeth. His recoil was instinctive and though his hold on her neck slackened only slightly; it was more than enough. One of Tera's arms latched onto the back on his neck, the other sunk its nails into his shoulder and she yanked him forward again. This time their heads collided viciously as her lips met their mark.

Riddick released a vicious growl as he yanked himself free, slamming them both to the ground. Pain seared through Tera's chest as they hit the grating and her vision blurred as she clawed at his grip on his neck. For the briefest of moments she began to panic. He should have been down. Jonas' formula never failed to drop its mark. She managed to pull her leg between them and attempted to kick her way free but his grip was solid and he carried her with him as he rolled.

Darkness seeped around the edges of Riddick's vision, he could feel the control over his muscles start to give way under the onslaught of the poison and he fought against it. Shirah's words danced on the edges of his mind; and he forced himself to pull the same rage he had felt on Ariel from the darkest recesses of his mind. He could feel his blood heat in his veins, strength rippling back through the muscles in his arms; pushing the lethargy of the poison away. He slammed her head hard against the grating and her struggling lessened. Vaguely, he was aware of a pulsating light just beneath his skin as his body fought back against the poison.

The screaming of the shuttle's alarms brought clarity crashing back down on the convict. He hadn't had the chance to set the auto-pilot. He slammed her against the grating once more hoping it was enough to at least stun her before jerking himself away and lunging for the controls.

"_**Fuck!"**_ He roared as he yanked back as hard as he could, one hand daring to let go to reach above him to try and slow their rate of descent. The moment the nose of the shuttle was level he flipped on the auto-pilot and spun back around in his chair and right into the butt of a gun.

"Sweet dreams, baby." Tera cooed. "By the by-," She grunted as she worked to pull his hulking weight from the pilot's chair, "-you might wanna get that blue shit checked out. Just don't seem healthy."

*T*F*C*

"We still clear?" Zoe asked as her eyes nervously danced along the different scanners.

"Nobody's following." Wash grinned back up at her. "Ain't been since I left them in my dust back over those mountains."

"That was close, baby, real close." Zoe released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding over the last several minutes, before her face hardened again. "Turn her around. Bin'll be dumped by now and since we ain't heard back from Mal I'm gonna assume this plan went to the completely bloody side of sanguine."

"Mal's really serious about making that the ship's motto?" Wash quirked a brow. He wasn't entirely worried over the fate of Mal, who had Riddick; or the Lassiter, which as long as everything went well with Plan B, was already safely in River's possession.

"You think of one better?"

Wash chewed on his bottom lip, thoughtfully cocking his head to the left. "How's about _Serenity- If you ain't dead, it's a win. _?"

Despite herself, and the last few hours, Zoe laughed.

*T*F*C*

The first morning rays of sun had began to break out over the ridge of Isis Canyon. The canyon, which ran for a little more than a few kilometers, was as still as only a desert could be in the early dawn hours; that was until an aggravated yell broke out over the rocky cliff faces.

"_**Fuck**_! Where is it? !" She yelled as she tore through the contents of the container, covering herself in the mess as she tried to locate the pistol before the rest of the crew arrived. She was unaware she was already too late.

"Looking for this?" A light and lyrical voice caused Tera's head to jerk up and her mouth to drop open. There, on a rock above her, was the whore; dressed immaculately while she stared down her nose condescendingly, holding the Lassiter in her hands.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tera demanded as she pulled a rotten piece of fruit from her hair.

"Oh, just my part in this little caper." Inara shrugged lightly. "Lovely morning, isn't it?" A slight smirk crossed the companion's features.

"What do you mean 'your part'?" Tera seethed, the realization that her plan had quite possibly gone completely to hell just beginning to cross her mind.

"Oh, you know the old, _she's-really-apart-of-the-crew-but-she's-going-to-pretend-she's-not_ ploy." She waved her hand in dismissal. "I am a little disappointed in you. I honestly thought, if you were half as good as your insane sister-in-law, that you would have seen right through the crew's performances, they really weren't quite as nuanced as they could have been."

"What do you mean my sister-in-law?" Tera's hand slowly moved toward her gun; what Sara had to do with any of this was beyond her understanding. Anger coursed through her veins as she considered the possibility the little bitch had sold her out. She'd never shown up on Beylix and Tera had assumed she'd just run again. How had these people found out about Sara? If they knew about Sara they kne-

"Everything." A young girl stepped onto the rock the Companion was comfortably situated on, making her presence known for the first time.

"And who the hell are you?" Tera was more than a little pissed over the amount of questions she was being forced to ask as her plan came crashing down around her. First, they had stopped her from killing Haymer and now the possibility of walking away with even her life was looking a bit bleak. She could only hope to distract them long enough to figure a way out of the mess she was in. How much trouble could a whore and a little girl really be?

"Her?" Inara asked, her smile growing. "Why, she's the real reason Rick left you in that alleyway."She answered. "You really don't think we'd show our full hand to a complete stranger, do you? Honestly, I don't know how the man even thought you would do for a substitute." She frowned slightly with distaste. "She was playing you from the beginning. I wouldn't be too put out over it though, she's smarter than most of us."

The cheap shot from the whore was the proverbial straw which broke the camel's back. The Companion had the Lassiter already trained on her, but Tera was willing to bet the piece of shit didn't fire any longer and her hand moved to pull her gun.

"Hers won't but mine will." The color drained from Tera's as the sound of a bullet rang out; it ricocheted off the metal lid of the dumpster. The girl, and Tera still had no idea where the hell she had come from, trained her gun directly on her. "I don't miss." For some reason, Tera believed her.

"Oh, you weren't thinking of shooting at us now, were you?" Inara asked with exaggerated indignation as she set aside the Lassiter and picked up a small black control.

"She was." River informed Inara with a slow shake of her head. "He'll gloat now." River frowned as she regarded the gun in her hand. "I despise being proven wrong."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tera snapped. "Okay, so you got me, it's not like you're just going to kill me. If that was the case, Rick would have done it already!"

"Well, it's only fair you do the honors then." Inara tossed River the small black control, ignoring Tera entirely.

"What are you doing? What is that?" Tera yelled in a panic, the small control resembled a remote detonator. Her question was answered as the lid on the dumpster began to close; for a split second she was relived. However, when the relief of not being blown up passed the realization they were locking her in a dumpster in the middle of a desert hit her. "Wait! You can't do this!" She fired her gun blindly through the rapidly closing space between the lid and the dumpster wall. Her shots landed wildly off mark.

"You're not going to die, you big baby. I'm sure the authorities will find you before you dehydrate." Inara paused, her brow creasing slightly. "Are we sure they'll find her?" It was the last thing Tera heard as the lid sealed shut entirely.

River tilted her head to the left as she considered the matter. "I don't care to expend the energy to calculate; it is more likely his people will find her first. Does it matter?" River wasn't sure it did; however she wasn't sure if it was wrong to not feel any sort of compassion or empathy.

"Not entirely." Inara replied lightly as she stood and dusted off her skirts. "I'm assuming she left Riddick and Mal to rot in the desert somewhere and she did call me a whore."

"Multiple times." River reminded her.

"I rather hope its Haymer." Inara replied.

*T*F*C*

Riddick blinked, immediately regretting the action as the harsh morning light of the desert seared through his eyes; with a muffled curse he blindly groped for where he had stashed his goggles in one of his pockets. The immediate pain gone Riddick took a moment to try and remember why he was laying on his back in the desert to begin with before he decided to try and test his muscles. It took only a few minutes for the somewhat hazy memories to surface.

"Fucking hell." He groaned out loud as he pushed himself up into a seated position. The captain was just a handful of inches to his left; still face down in the dust. The sudden dizziness which overtook him caused a fresh stream of profanity to spew from his mouth as he gripped the sides of his head and forced the thundering ache to subside. He patted down his pockets searching for his flask and hoping to kill the pain a bit; he came up empty."Fucking bitch." He muttered once more out loud and tried to push himself up to his feet; for a moment Riddick thought he was going to go right back down as the world tilted haphazardly off balanced and bounced a few times before settling semi-neatly once more.

Riddick toed the captain with his boot; the man was breathing but didn't otherwise flinch. "Just so you know, captain-," Riddick said as itched at the crusted blood on his neck, "-I'm pinning this one entirely on you."

_River's never gonna let me live it down otherwise._ He added to himself.

*T*F*C*

Jayne cracked one hazy eye open, unsure as to why he could not feel anything below his neck. He felt a moment of slight panic before he felt the now familiar sensation of hair tickling his neck and face. Upon opening his second eye he could make out Kaylee's head resting on the bed just beside him; her body slumped over in the chair. Oddly enough, it was the sound of her quiet sniffling more than his inability to move that worried him more.

"Heeey…heeyy…grrrl, wah guwwunoh?" In Jayne's mind the question came out perfectly coherent.

Kaylee's head snapped up. "Oh, Jayne! Thank God! I was so worried! You stupid, lug-headed merc!" She punched him in his arm and Jayne was silently grateful he couldn't feel anything below his neck, judging by the way she pulled her hand back it had been a hell of a blow.

"Its s'alriight, grrll, ain gohin nowheers." He tried to reassure her although now that she wasn't crying he was more than a little curious as to why he was strapped down in the infirmary.

"Look who's awake." Jayne repressed the urge to groan at the sound of the doctor's voice. His eyes searching for the source when he found he couldn't move his head either."Can you feel your arms or your legs yet?"

"Wah guwwunoh?" Jayne tried to ask.

"You fell, you big dummy!" Kaylee yelled out him. "I told you that gorram wire was live and you big, big-," Kaylee's lips began to tremble and her eyes watered once more, "-I'm so glad you ain't dead!" She threw herself across his chest again.

Under normal circumstances Jayne wouldn't have complained about Kaylee jumping into bed with him, considering the fact he still couldn't move and, beyond what Kaylee said, he had no idea what was going on, his patience was wearing thin. "Dih we gedda payoff? Dih we gedda thhhe guh?"

"Circling around to pick up Mal and Riddick now." Simon answered as he attempted to check Jayne's vitals around a hovering Kaylee.

"Dah nod movin'?" Jayne had meant to ask why he wasn't moving. Kaylee was fine; they got the money, his concern was now centered on why he couldn't move his legs.

"I'm going to assume that was a question about why you can't move." Simon answered him as he picked up his handheld and jotted down a few notes. "I had to give you a neuro-blocker until I was sure you didn't injure your spine, it should wear off in another hour or so." He added checking his watch. "Until then-," Simon picked up a pre-prepped needle and popped the injection into his neck, "-just rest."

Jayne was about to demand what the hell the doctor dosed him with when Kaylee pressed her lips against his, effectively silencing him.

"Don't fight it." She scolded him. "When you wake up, I'm gonna beat the livin' tar outta ya for scarin' me."

Jayne fought the haze of the drugs and mustered up a smirk, "Ain ascarrred of ya non."

"Yeah?" Kaylee quirked an eyebrow. "Wait 'til I wave Ma."

"Ma?" Jayne managed to sputter. "Ain noo wa…cann…-," his voice died as the weight of the drugs crashed down and swept him away.

"Almost being paralyzed doesn't faze him; threatening to call his mother puts the fear of God into his eyes." Simon said with a bit of incredulity. "It's amazing."

*T*F*C*

"_**Cheesy Buddha!**_" Mal yelled as he bolted upright, his hands immediately gripping the sides of his head as a yelp of pain escaped him. When the world settled he landed his eyes on Riddick, who was perched on a rock to his right, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You have some real fucked up dreams, Mal." The convict chuckled. "Cheesy Buddha?"

Mal chose to ignore his remark. "What the hell happened? Where the hell is my shuttle? Why the hell am I in the dirt?"

"Think real hard, Mal." Riddick rumbled.

Mal did and collapsed back against the ground. "_**Sonofabitch!**_"

"Should of let me kill her." The convict shrugged.

"Twice now! That's twice! Does a bullet take me down? No! Does a sword? No! Hell, I get taken out by a goddamn kiss!" Mal yelled to no one in particular. "How the hell did she get you?" He asked suspiciously.

Riddick turned his head to reveal a decent-sized gash that was already looking partially clotted over.

"Oh." Mal winced for the man and finally pushed himself up and out of the dirt, stumbling only slightly. "How long we been out here?"

"Awhile." Riddick replied. "I'm starting to feel Riv again, means they're close."

"She even warned us about the goddamn lipstick." Mal grumbled as he found himself a stone to sit down on; the after effects of the drug still lingering around the edges of his mind.

"You're the one that fell for it, not me."

"You're the one that didn't tie her up!" Mal snapped back.

"And again, you're the one who said I couldn't kill her." Riddick pointed out calmly, still nursing his own headache from the added aftereffects of glowing.

"Ya'll pick a hell of a time to follow orders." Mal grumbled. "Can see the look on her face already." The captain complained.

"That smug, superior _I'm-not-only-a-fucking-genius-but-a-psychic-too-so-why-didn't-you-just-listen-the-first-time_ look?"

"Yup…that would be it." Mal nodded as he patted down his pockets looking for his flask to take the edge off the pain.

"Don't bother." Riddick grunted miserably.

"Oh, you're kidding me?" Mal asked.

Riddick merely shook his head.

"That fucking bitch." The captain swore.

"Yup." Riddick threw a stone.

*T*F*C*

**Endnote: So there it is, Trash. Hindsight being what it is killing Saffron wasn't my most brilliant idea ever but I'm rather pleased with the way it all came together. A thousand apologies for keeping you all waiting and thanks for hanging in there. I am super excited about what's coming up next as I start setting the stage for the movie arc. **

**On a sort of side endnote, I am thoroughly and properly chastised for my own disparaging remarks at the end of the last set off updates. The amount of encouragement and support I have received with The Firefly Chronicles as with all of my other projects has been more than I could have ever imagined. You guys rock seriously, for real-zees. **

**That all being said, much luv & 'Til After Now.**


	64. Interlude 11 Haven 1

A/N:

Amanda, Rachet, celticicegoddess (so good to hear from you again!), GenocideWolf, DarkDreamer1982, bibirijks, lizziebug, forestreject, Elliesmeow, angelwingz21, Alexydra, Dessel Ordo, Ashi-Eiketsu, Heavenly Observer, librarywitch, , sxevlbtch, CeruleanKitten, Mrstrentreznor, NightStar, 28Rianeliza, ZenRyu, & chakra

Thank you so very much for your continued support. The last three updates have rolled out at an agonizingly slow pace and I have no excuses. Sorry guys real life has been annoying. Much love to you all and again, again, a thousand times again, ya'll rock.

(If I forgot you I'm so sorry and you too are appreciated :D I'm just a space cadet.)

Side note: A little bit of detail on how the currency system works.

1 credit = 2.5 platinum = 25 USD.

1 platinum = 25 Cooper (my own guess-timation)

Credits are the Alliance currency (Paper money), and the only form acceptable in the Core. Platinum and Copper pieces are hard coin currency and the preferred method of exchange on the Rim. (I often refer to the hard coin as bits, though I've never specified if a bit is a copper or a platinum.)

(Credit for that goes to http:/ www. / Firefly/FireflyMoney)

It is worthy to note as well that on the Rim food and livestock are used as an almost active currency in and of themselves.

Admittedly my story hasn't been wholly accurate by this currency system thus far, something I am looking to amend.

_**Disclaimer: Sadly I own no**_

_**thing. I make no money. **_

_**Please don't sue.**_

_**I am very poor.**_

And a MAJOR shout out to DARKDREAMER1982 who way back saw this coming in a review. You get a cupcake my dear.

While it doesn't go quite as far as you suggested you were still pretty darn close.

*T*F*C*

Interlude 11

Haven

*T*F*C*

"Kaylee, I ain't hearin' it no more." The Captain of _Serenity_ stated with a finality not to be argued with as he crossed the uppermost catwalk in the bay. Mal had no particular destination or objective in mind; he was merely trying to escape the ire of one smaller than average strawberry-blonde mechanic.

"You promised me, Cap." The mechanic, much like every other member of Mal's crew, ignored the captain-y tone. There was no trace of her usual sunny disposition in her furrowed expression; though her attempt to be intimidating was somewhat diminished by the large daisy patch sewn into the breast of her coveralls. "Now we got our shares from the gun job, but our girl's still waitin' to see the fruits of that labor."

"And just where do you suggest we set down for the better part of a week?" Mal snapped over his shoulder as he descended the stairs down to the bay floor. "She needs the flush, she needs an overhaul, and hell, full tank of fuel would probably be right shiny too. Fact is, Kaylee-girl, it ain't real safe for us to be settin' down for that long _anywhere_. Gotta wait for the dust from this last job to settle."

"And just how long is that gonna take?" Kaylee huffed.

"When I can't feel it burnin' in my eyes; that's when!" Mal threw his hands up in the air with exasperation.

"That don't make any kinda sense at all." Kaylee countered indignantly as they stepped onto the bay floor.

"What in the gorram hell happened to my adorin' mechanic?" Mal asked by way of diversion. "Jayne, this is all your fault." He accused the merc who was hanging from the rigged pull-up grips.

"What the hell did I do?" Jayne asked with a scowl as he dropped down from the grips.

"Don't you dare blame him!" Kaylee interrupted before Mal could answer the merc. "This is 'bout doin' right by our girl and nuthin' else." She jabbed one of her small fingers against Mal's chest as she glared at him.

"Little Kaylee, you are pushin'." Mal warned tersely as he held her gaze; there wasn't any way in the 'Verse he was going to lose a stare-down with his five foot nothing mechanic.

"I miss somethin'?" Jayne asked Riddick, who had sat up on the weight bench to watch the show unfold.

"Same thing I did." He rumbled with a slight shrug.

"You promised me, Cap." Kaylee huffed again, fighting the urge to punctuate the statement with a stomp of her foot. "You didn't listen to nobody 'bout the catalyzer and we almost lost Riv when she pushed me outta the way of that fireball; near all of us suffocated to death and had to set a ambush for the people that was supposed to be saving us 'cause they turned on us!" She rushed out in one shrill accusatory breath. "She's got scorch marks from that gorram island and her name's fadin'! I'm tellin' ya right now, Cap, you either do good by her or…or…" She stammered as the rush of courage and indignation she had been clutching onto fizzled and died just as quickly as it had come. Realistically, Kaylee just didn't have it in her to defy her captain; too much, that was.

"Kaylee, if we had a place I thought we'd be safe enough to lay low 'til all the repairs that were needed would get done, I would." Mal gave up the stare-down at Kaylee's doe-eyed pout and ran a hand irritably through his hair. "Kinda work that needs to be done means puttin' her outta commission for two days at least. What if we got to run? What if some purple-belly or merc gets wind of the Tams, or Riddick, or the Shepherd, and we can't run 'cause half _Serenity's_ guts are spread out 'cross the yard?" What little ire Kaylee had managed to hold onto deflated immediately at mention of her four favorite fugitives. "Now, we're looking to stick in the Rim for a spell; if we can find ourselves a nice, quiet little rock I promise you we'll get the work done. As it is right now, can't give ya anymore'n than that."

"Captain-," Book chose that moment to interrupt, "-I might know such a place and we're not that far away as it is."

"And where's that?" Mal jerked his head around.

"My original destination, Haven." He replied as he wiped the sweat from his brow and set aside the hand weights he had been using.

"You ain't leavin', are ya?" Kaylee interjected before Mal could question Book himself.

Book chuckled slightly, touched by the young woman's concern. "Not at all, though it would do well for me to check in at one of the Brotherhood's abbeys. There's a mining outpost near the abbey there; mainly refugees from the War, former soldiers looking for a quieter life. You'll find no love for the Alliance in those parts and a little of our recently acquired coin would go a long way in buying silence."

"Ain't a half bad idea, Mal." Jayne chose the moment to speak up, he was still trying to make up for his fall with Kaylee; though why he was apologizing for nearly being paralyzed was beyond his comprehension. Having lived with his Ma and his sisters though, he knew better than to point out the fact. "We been runnin' her hard these last couple of jobs and I'd sure as hell like to not drop outta the Black 'cause we ain't lookin' to our own like we should. Gotta take proper care of a thing and she'll take care back." His short but surprisingly eloquent statement earned him a beaming smile from the mechanic and a glare from Mal; the former reaction wholly outweighed the consequences of the latter. Though Jayne turned back to his weights before the captain could add any unpleasant chores to the already long list of unpleasant chores he had on the ship.

"And the mine?" Mal asked. "It ain't Company either is it?" The captain didn't have to elaborate on which company the question pertained to.

"Do you think I would have been traveling there if it was?" Book answered with a question of his own and an arched brow, which had Riddick suppressing his smirk. "The mine is actually maintained by one of the few competitors Blue Sun has, Nova Corp." What the Preacher left out was the proximity of Haven to known Reaver space was, in all actuality, what kept most of the prying eyes away.

"Ain't a bad idea then." Mal replied, thinking it over in his head. "Mining outpost would be equipped to run maintenance on a ship like ours. Only seems right to spend our ill-begotten riches where folks need it the most, even out the karma a bit. Don't get much more Rim than those parts and we can't be more'n than a day or so out." He regarded the hopeful puppy eyes of his mechanic. "I'll have Wash set a course."

"Oh, I love my captain!" Kaylee squealed as she through her arms around Mal's neck and kissed his cheek. Jayne cleared his throat pointedly, a gesture that was duly ignored.

*T*F*C*

River was in the infirmary, keeping her brother company while waiting for Riddick to complete his tiresome exercise program. To pass the time, much to her brother's utter dismay, she had hijacked his supply of tongue depressors and cotton swabs to build a miniature cherry blossom orchard. Simon, however, could not find it in him to be cross with her over the matter. For one, her diorama was, perhaps unsurprisingly, exquisitely worked and, for two, she was happy; or at least the rough equivalent of happiness. Either way, he was secretly enjoying the few precious moments alone with her and would have allowed her to get away with much more if it meant prolonging the experience. Despite the fact that his relationship with Riddick was moving towards a wary camaraderie, he was still slightly bitter over River's preference of the convict's company to his. He supposed he could understand why, given the circumstances. It did not, however, change the fact that he was her _ge-ge_ and, for a very long time, her favored companion. Adjusting to the reality that River was not a child any more was taking time; to his credit, he was trying.

It was the sudden tensing of her body and the cessation of her contented humming which caused the young doctor to look up from his hand-held. "River, what's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked with concern, though he held himself back from rushing over to her.

"Fragments. Bits and pieces." Her voice was far away as her eyes glazed over; the pupils moving rapidly back and forth as though she was reading from some hidden text.

"I don't understand." Simon's frown deepened as he set down his computer.

"Neither does she." River replied distantly. "The River flows. Why and where she doesn't know. Sometimes it washes away what it brings, leaving only fragments in the Current she can no longer interpret." The fingers of her right hand danced in the air as if she was trying to locate a bit of information on a scrolling screen. "Was it a dream? A memory? If it was, was it hers?" Simon was well aware she was no longer really addressing him. "Where has The River carried you away, dear one? Why did you go? She feels your echo, but she cannot find your voice."

"What's wrong?" Riddick's graveled voice came from the door way of the infirmary where he loomed. He had felt the abrupt shift in River; it hadn't been jarring or painful, but rather frustrated and stifled. She was confused, slightly irritated, and unnervingly calm about it all.

"They blossom and die." River answered dreamily. "A vivid spark of clarity, tenuous… yes…her grip is tenuous and her memory is strained."

"I think she's having some kind of precognitive vision." Simon forced the words out, his years of medical training naturally averse to admitting to the metaphysical despite the blatant proof before him.

"Ain't it." Riddick shook his head as he watched her warily. "She's not 'seeing' anything, hasn't since she started the meds." The convict kept his concern carefully controlled and hidden by his dismissive tone. His goggles did their job by concealing the intensity with which he observed River.

"Perhaps she's trying to remember one she's already had then?" Simon suggested as he picked his hand-held up and started furiously scribbling notes. "She mentioned fragments and pieces… fascinating." He added as the doctor in him kicked in. River had yet to speak again and both men were mindful to not speak too loudly or move to quickly; much like a sleepwalker, it was better to allow River's "spells" to pass on their own than force her to surface from them.

"Would use a lot of words, doc; that's not one of them." Riddick rumbled, having difficulty concealing his irritation as they waited for River to come back to them.

"No, you don't understand." Simon shook his head but did not look up as he continued furiously scribbling notes. "River has a photographic memory. Perfect retention. If she can't recall a vision it means that she doesn't actually see when she 'sees'. I believe I've figured out the reason why the medication has stopped the visions but nothing else." He spoke quickly not pausing for a breath in his excitement over solving a small piece of the puzzle. "Memories are facsimiles of experiences, reproductions if you will. She can't remember them because she hasn't experienced them cognitively."

"Losing me, doc." Riddick replied impatiently.

"It was once assumed that human memory loss was much the same as computer memory loss. Our brain, the drive, deleted information when it no longer became necessary or vital to retain it. Further study proved that the human mind actually has an infinite hard drive; memories aren't forgotten or deleted, they are simply misplaced or, if you will to keep up with the metaphor, misfiled under the wrong directory. Remembering something we haven't experienced, something with no tactile or sensory memory to accompany it, such as a story someone else is relating is much easier to misfile because we have no tactile basis in which to categorize it with. Before the information had nowhere to go because her mind didn't know where to file it, which is what I now believe was partly responsible for her breaks with reality as it pertains to her visions."

"And so the medication is what?" Riddick asked, his increasing agitation evident.

"Preventing her from storing or processing anything that has no tactile experience to accompany it."

Riddick quirked an eyebrow.

Simon released a somewhat frustrated sigh. "I think it is safe to assume that the precognitive visions are transferred by the same part of the brain which controls emotion, something River no longer has any control over. The medications work as an artificial emotional filter; her dam." He used River-speak.

"And this is all so ground breaking because...?" Riddick prompted, growing increasingly concerned over River's lack of reaction and the increased pace of her rocking.

"Because we now know why the medication stops the visions but not the telepathy. Her telepathy must work by receiving the cognitive thoughts of those around her; surface thoughts give her no trouble, but when she has to go beneath that, dig into actual stored memory, is when she has difficulty and we 'lose', her so to speak."

"Like what happened with Tera and Saffron?" Riddick asked; remembering just a week or so earlier where River had "fallen" into Tera's mind and he had to pull her back out.

"Correct. Long term memories have some kind of tactile or sensory trigger, which is why she can pull the information. Her mind has a basis for comparison which is why I believe we sometimes 'lose' her. Her mind is trying to claim the memory and experience as her own. To use the computer metaphor again, she is downloading the information."

"But she can't download something without any hard data?" Riddick asked, trying to keep with the computer metaphor.

"Correct. Precognitive visions are events that have not taken place yet and therefore have no stored data; there is no tactile experience to accompany them. They are essentially lucid dreams." Simon's face suddenly lit with understanding and he dropped his hand-held to move to the stationary computer and pull up his files from Ariel. "I can't believe I've missed it before this. It was staring me right in the face the entire time." He muttered more to himself than Riddick. "I couldn't understand why they would remove her amydgala; they wanted to make her feel everything, but why? What good could come from taking any control over her emotions? They didn't want her to have control." By this time Simon was talking entirely to himself. "We're completely susceptible to suggestion in the theta state-," he mused to himself, "-and a constant state of theta would encourage daydreaming, distort her perception of reality…" Simon's words trailed off as he remembered the moments leading up to River's escape, what had the doctor been going on about?

"_Most of our best work is done when they're asleep. We can monitor and direct their subconscious."_

"She couldn't fight if she were constantly sleeping-," Simon looked up at the convict, who's head was ticked slightly to the left, his expression unreadable, "-but they couldn't control her in the same way if she were awake. _Quingwa cao de liumang_ (frog humping son of a bitch)." He swore just under his breath. "Do you know what this means?"

"Not a fucking clue, doc." Riddick rumbled honestly.

"I've figured it out." Simon exhaled; the light of understanding gave way to the darkness of the clarity it brought. "I can't fix her. I can't…" The doctor dropped down onto his stool, the weight of his new found knowledge seemed to be an almost tangible presence on his shoulders as he hunched forward. "No amount of medication, no surgery…" His voice trailed off as he looked up at his sister, her eyes rapidly moving back and forth and he slowly shook his head. "How could I have missed it? Look at her eyes, that's REM, rapid eye movement, it occurs when we dream the most vividly at night. Oh, River." The sadness in his tone was laced with bitter acceptance as his eyes drifted back to his sister. "I can't fix this." The words were little more than a defeated whisper.

Riddick had remained silent through the doctor's epiphany; one eye on him, the other on River. He wasn't entirely sure what half of what the doc said meant and what he did understand just didn't seem possible. "So that's why she can't remember her visions after she's had them or says things she doesn't understand the meaning to?"

"The neuro-chemicals in our brain during our sleeping hours vary greatly from those produced while we are awake; they don't allow for memory consolidation. They didn't want her to remember things. They wanted an instrument. A tool without emotion, memory or control." Simon answered, disgust laced heavily with anger written across his features. "As to not understanding what she says or 'sees', do you ever really understand your dreams?"

Riddick snorted involuntarily at the question. The subject of his dreams was something he wanted to stay very far away from. "So she has no memory at all of visions she has had?" He asked curiously. "Or of what she's heard in people's heads but was too out of it make any sense of?"

Simon frowned slightly. "It is hard to say. Her mind has the information, part of the reason for her psychosis might be her mind suppressing the information to avoid the overload, which is probably why I assumed, in the beginning, she had some sort of Post Traumatic Stress. I would even venture to assume that she can't recall them because she hasn't yet 'woken up'. Simon sighed again. "It's all speculation at this point and I can't be sure; perhaps they are still in queue?"

Riddick exhaled with frustration as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was completely out of his league and he knew it. "Come again, doc."

"When you download multiple files they go into a queue. A computer can only do so many things at once. Perhaps all the things she has seen and heard, both literally and metaphorically, are so numerous she just simply hasn't had the time to process it all." He shrugged again. "Maybe tomorrow she'll realize something she absorbed two years ago, maybe in the next five minutes the smell of the infirmary will trigger something from the Academy. I don't have any answers, only theories at this point, but it's more than I had an hour ago."

"They are viable theories." River suddenly spoke, neither man realizing she had come back.

"Theories do shit for us." Riddick snorted as he finally fully entered the infirmary and approached River; pushing a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "We've been wrong every time before."

"Theory or fact, it still doesn't help us." Simon conceded. "The medication can't do any more than it already is. If I were to try and chemically stimulate your mind, it could be…" His voice drifted off at a loss for a suitable word.

"Catastrophic." River supplied mournfully.

"What's going on in that head, girl?" Riddick asked, ignoring Simon and the conversation on medication and treatment; that was all the doc's department. He focused on River herself.

"She cannot say. Fragmented pieces are dancing before her eyes and when she tries to touch they run away." River answered truthfully. "It hurts." She rubbed her temples as she frowned.

"I could give you something." Simon offered.

"No." She answered with an unintended degree of harshness.

"River, there's nothing wrong with taking something for a headache."

"I don't think she's talking about the pain being physical, doc." Riddick intervened as he pulled River's hands away from her head. "Look at me, girl." He ordered in a low whisper.

River lifted her head to meet his gaze; seeing his eyes without needing the goggles to be removed. On his exhale, she inhaled; slowing her heart to beat in the spaces between his. Slowly, calm settled over her as she laced her rampant thoughts through his steady and controlled ones. She closed her eyes after a few moments; on each breath, she smelt as he did, heard as he did, forcing her mind to identify with her present place in time and space.

Riddick felt her as she fell in alignment with him. He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing or why it was working but it was so he didn't question it overly much. A separate part of his mind wondered if it had to do with the Alpha lines. He was nearly positive his ability to communicate with River was born solely of the fact that he was an Alpha Furyan; whatever it was it truly meant to be one. Did it have something to do with instinct? Shirah had said Furyans were born with something akin to instinct but so much more; was it an empathic communication, as animals incapable of speech spoke to each other through a complicated system of body language and subtle physical clues? He wasn't sure; the truth of it was that the _why_ mattered very little to him, as long as it worked, it worked.

Simon watched, with no little degree of awe and envy, as his sister's body visibly relaxed. The tension drained from her muscles and a serene expression crossed her features. "Incredible." He breathed more to himself than the pair he was observing.

_/You with me?/_ Riddick silently pressed.

_/Always./_ The reply was quiet even inside his mind and he released her wrists, albeit a bit reluctantly.

"How I would love to scan your minds as you communicate like that." Simon stated, his eyes slightly squinted as if he was trying to interpret the invisible brain patterns he would expect to find.

"Not a guinea pig." Riddick rumbled, breaking his eye contact with River. "Been through that."

"It's not like I have the equipment anyway." Simon replied dryly. "River, where are you going?" He frowned again as he watched her slide around Riddick and move towards the door.

"Kaylee is calling." She replied absently.

"Shouldn't you rest, after…well, after…" Simon fumbled for the right word.

"If that was the case, your sister'd never get out of bed."

"She is fine." River dismissed them both and pecked a kiss on her brother's cheek; surprisingly not even sparing a glance for Riddick before heading off to the engine room.

Simon quirked an eyebrow at the convict, not that he wasn't secretly pleased by River's disregard for the other man in the room; he just didn't understand why she would ignore him.

"It is not disregard, she never truly leaves him, therefore has no reason for farewells." River's voice chimed in from outside the doorway.

Riddick gifted the doctor with a smug smirk. "Always in the same room, doc." He chuckled as he tapped his temple in a very River-like fashion and headed back up towards the bay to finish his work out.

"I should just give up trying to understand." Simon mumbled to himself alone in his infirmary once more.

Riddick caught the mumble of the doctor, for some reason his comment on not understanding jarred something in his mind and he turned back to the infirmary.

Simon merely raised an eyebrow in question as the convict returned to loom in the doorway.

"Haven." Riddick informed him.

"Excuse me?" Simon asked setting down his computer.

"The captain just set a course for Haven. It was Book's original drop-off point. Right before Ariel, when your sister had that "spell" over Book's bible, she kept telling him he shouldn't go."

"You think the conversation on Haven triggered something?" Simon asked curiously.

"A theory." Riddick's low voice was full of dark sarcasm.

"I used to live for those." Simon grumbled silently. "River too-," he smiled nostalgically, "-she used to spend hours trying to disprove published theories every time the new science journals came out."

"As fascinating as that is, doc, we got bigger problems if that's what it was." The convict interrupted.

"Right-," Simon physically shook himself free of his revery, "-should we warn the captain?"

"And tell him what?" Riddick cocked a brow.

"Point taken." The doctor conceded.

"What was she doing in here?" Riddick's chin jerked to the small board of miniature trees, "That?"

"We had an orchard outside our summer estate." Simon shrugged. "River's always loved the cherry blossoms. It wasn't just the beauty of the blossoms which she loved. The moment they fully bloom they fall from the branch and die. The old Japanese associated the tree with _Mono no aware_ which literally translates into 'the pathos of things', but also as 'an empathy toward things'. I assume she feels a kind of kinship with the flower, given the empathic symbolism."

Riddick blinked behind his goggles, a lecture on the symbolism of flowers was perhaps the very last thing in the 'Verse the convict felt the need to subject himself to. "Just keep a close watch on her while we're on Haven. There's nothing to tell the captain yet."

"You'll forgive me if I find the conviction you use the word 'yet' with disturbing."

"River doesn't do anything without meaning. Might not even be something that happens this time we land, might be two trips from now if we come back, or five years from now. Either way, I got an itch."

*T*F*C*

"Haven, sir?" Zoe asked, making a valiant effort to conceal her own dislike of the idea.

"I thought we were going somewhere with a beach?" Wash openly gripped.

"Only if you want to spend the next ten years in Slam for harboring fugitives." Mal shook his head as he leaned against the beam. "We got all kinds of folks sniffing at our heels, not even countin' the purple-bellies. Makin' the coin we just did comes at its own price."

"Haven it is." The pilot pronounced with a vaguely tormented sigh as he swiveled his chair towards his nav controls and began plotting the course.

"We lookin' for more work, sir?" Zoe asked.

"Ain't any real rush for it at the moment. The coin from this last one should run awhile and, iffin' I don't stop long enough to make some needed repairs, Kaylee's liable to shiv me in my sleep." Mal grunted with a small amount of sarcasm and humor.

"Might be we come across some legit work while we're there, bein' it's a mining colony, sir." She pointed out. "Might not hurt to run one or two on the up-and-up."

"'Xcept the fact those up-and-up jobs might run us into parts of the 'Verse it ain't real wise for us to be in." Mal dismissed her idea. "Mr. U made it more then clear he's got more jobs than he knows what to do with. We'll make the repairs and spend a few days takin' our ease 'fore we go off again. I could use a week where I ain't gettin' shot, stabbed, or kissed."

"She did warn you, sir." Zoe didn't bother to conceal her smirk.

Mal snorted.

"Um… guys." Wash called their attention nervously. "Been a whole lot of Reaver activity 'round those parts." The pilot informed them as he scrolled through a list of Cortex bulletins. He pulled down a computer screen from above his head and quickly 'rezzed a map. "In fact, the whole area just beyond that is unsurveyed territory, 'course the Alliance postings are calling them slaver and pirate attacks."

"Slavers and pirates we can deal with-," Mal muttered as he leaned in to take a closer look at the map, "-gettin' mighty crowded in my sky." He added, just under his breath as he looked over the chart. "Set the course, Wash. River will feel those _hun dans_ (bastards) coming. You 'member when she went off just before that salvage job?"

"That I do, sir." Zoe nodded. "But can she feel 'em fast enough?" She challenged. "Riddick made a good point the other day, she can only Read what's there to read."

"Don't think Reaver detection has anything to do with thoughts." Wash surprisingly interjected. "Riv spends some nights up here on the bridge with me sometimes and we've talked. It's more than just hearing thoughts; she feels stuff, like emotions and life forces. I think Reavers would register on her radar like some kind of cosmic ripple."

"They ain't men." Mal said resolutely.

"Don't think that's the point, sir." Zoe shook her head, understanding the point her husband was trying to make. "I think it's their wrongness that she would feel, like how she felt you both on Niska's." The mention of the name sent silent shivers down both men's spines though neither remarked on it. "Think it might be time to talk with her on that course."

Wash shook his head. "If she wanted to talk about it, she'd be up here already. I don't think even Riv knows what she's fully capable of or that she even really understands half of what she feels or hears. I mean if she feels and hears everything, it's got to be a lot to process, some 'voices' are louder than others and they tend to drown out everything else." He added, remembering their discussion from weeks prior.

"Don't matter much." Mal said after a few moments of silent contemplation. "Our girl needs a bit of work and Haven is the safest port, so far as I can tell. We got the Reavers on one side, maybe, but we definitely got mercs and the Alliance on the other. I feel better 'bout the maybe than the definite. Just run her slow, Wash, keep her at half speeds so's we don't attract any unwanted attention and reserve the fuel in case we gotta run."

"And nobody tell Jayne." Zoe reminded them both seriously.

"It stays 'tween us here on this bridge." _You hear me, Little Bit,_ Mal added mentally, congratulating himself on adapting to life with a mind-reading psychic, _ain't no reason to go makin' the others jump on the maybe._

*T*F*C*

"Twenty-seven point four, two, nine." River said reflexively, her head tilting to the left.

Kaylee furrowed her brow as she pulled her head out from the turbine unit. "Is that about the pert-line?"

River physically shook herself. "The likelihood of Simon's mustache looking dashing rather than diabolical." The Reader lied easily as she came back to herself.

"Oh." Kaylee giggled. "Hand me than socket driver, would ya?"

***T*F*C***

Mal stood at the head of the mess table, the crew save Wash and Zoe, who were on the bridge, had gathered for the captain's impromptu briefing. "Wash tells me it'll be a three-day ride out to Haven-," he began, assuming word had already spread across the ship about their new destination, "-we'll be settin' down for at least four days, ship work is first priority." He said firmly. "After that, your time is your own, figure ya'll deserve a bit of leave after our last couple of runs." He grinned and was answered by more than a few grunts and snorts of agreement. "But we got some rules." His grin faded into a firm line as his vision settled pointedly on his two "public relations officers". "No fights, no tavern brawls, and no gorram warehouse break-ins. We're lookin' to make friends on this rock but, at the same time, we want these people to know we ain't to be crossed either; so tread a fine line and walk soft."

"Don't know why the hell you're lookin' at us." Jayne grumbled. "Iffin' I recollect, it's been you startin' sword fights and tussles."

Despite herself, Inara very nearly snorted the liquid in her mouth back out through her nose as she fought to repress her laughter.

Mal merely glared at his merc; ignoring the remark entirely as he began to speak again. "Let's not forget; on the ground we got ourselves a doctor Michael Delacory and his sister Anna. Wouldn't hurt, doc, if you volunteered your services at their clinic. The outpost is small and I doubt they got anything that resembles a real doc there. You'll get a pass on ship work if you do."

"I don't mind in the slightest." Simon replied. "It would be nice to do something besides treat bullet wounds." He smiled ruefully.

"It will go a long way with the folks in those parts." Book agreed. "I was able to get in touch with Brother Abraham; he will make the dock yard foreman aware of our arrival and set a cover for us as well. He will be making it known that I am arriving for a routine inspection of the abbey."

"Be a good idea if we use some of this downtime, Mal." Riddick added. "Get some training time in."

"Not a bad idea at all, Riddick." Mal nodded. "I'll leave that to you and Jayne. Figure who needs to learn what and that brings me to what else I wanted to discuss." The captain turned towards Inara, "Like to offer you a crew position, 'Nara."

The Companion started slightly at the unexpected offer. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Mal grinned to mask his own uncomfortableness. "Just need you to do like how we did on Bellerophon. Work the classy lady angle, get us into places we can't and get information from folk that wouldn't usually deal with the likes of us. Like to not get stabbed the next time I try to get a job offa some rich man with a sash." He snorted. "Mr. U's gonna be bringin' us a range of jobs from all sorts of folk we ain't ever had to work with before and bein' what you hafta be is what you've been trained to do, ain't it?"

"It is." She nodded, a slight smile toying at her lips as she exchanged a look with River.

"Now, if you're agreeable, we'll call even on the rent for your shuttle. Cut will be a bit smaller than the others but they only got crew bunks." Mal continued. "So, you in or out?"

"And I can still take clients?" She asked, though her mind was already decided, she didn't want to seem too eager.

Mal shifted uncomfortably for a moment, wanting nothing more than to deny her request; though his refusal to recognize his reasons why kept his mouth closed on the matter. A long suffering sigh from River had him giving a hurried answer. "So long as it don't interfere with our jobs, you got an image to maintain."

"Then you have yourself a deal, Captain Reynolds." She replied, unable to conceal her smile.

"Good, that's settled. Book, you're next-," Mal shifted his focus almost gratefully away from Inara. "-you got military trainin' and know-how, but I got men enough to work on the ground when we run jobs, so ship security is gonna fall to you. If a job goes bad and we get pinched, it'll be on you to run with the ship and come and save our asses." He managed a bit of a smirk as he finished. "You game?"

"I believe I can handle that." The preacher complied, much like Inara, he was more than a little pleased that he was finally going to be of some real use to the ship and the crew.

Mal merely nodded approvingly to move along to his next point. "Riddick and Jayne, as mentioned, crew training's gonna fall on you two. Riddick hand-to-hand, Jayne weapons. Suss out who needs what."

The two gun-hands merely grunted their agreement.

"Kaylee, I want you to make sure every member of this crew can run ignition sequence in the engine room. Might come a time I need you on a job and, in case things go south, everybody's got to know how to get our girl in the air. Wash can only do so much from the bridge."

"Ain't a thing Cap." Kaylee nodded her own approval of the plan.

"Right then." Mal ran a hand through his hair as he exhaled deeply, his gaze finally resting on River. "Little Bit, I'm sure you've already sussed out what I need from you but so we ain't bein' rude and keepin' secrets, you're my official ace in the sleeve. You come on jobs, you stick to the shadows, don't let nobody see or hear you. If we're meetin' a contact in a crowd you're just another face in it. We'll have to work out a system of signals and such as a way to communicate with you. What I'm sayin' is, you're our permanent Plan B." He paused for a moment to lock his gaze with hers. "If I'm askin' too much, tell me now."

"Your request is acceptable." River nodded. "I will not fail you."

"Know you won't, Bit." He assured her. "One of those bad days comes along though, I don't want you pretendin', _dong ma?_ " Again River nodded. "Trustin' you to be honest 'bout it too." He added pointedly. "Don't go pushin' yourself to the point of no return. If somethin's too much, you say so. No puttin' on a brave face." Despite himself his voice changed from the captain-y tone of authority to one of almost paternal concern. "Far as I'm concerned you ain't got nothin' left to prove to us, so don't go tryin'."

"_Xinling shen wu_ (idiom, to understand the meaning behind one's words/ to thank for kindness in understanding a situation)." She replied solemnly.

Mal offered her a fond smile before his features and tone returned to that of ship captain. "Good. Same rules we've been runnin' by still apply. Nobody leaves the ship alone; don't care if it's for a drink or for a piss. Unless a job requires it, we go out in pairs and we stay in pairs; and nobody leaves without a gun and a comm-unit." He relaxed back into his chair as he finished speaking. "Well, ya'll got jobs now, let's git to 'em." He waved his hand in dismissal.

The crew cleared out of the mess in a flurry of scraping chairs and muted conversation. The captain however remained behind; allowing his shoulders to slump with weariness only after he was alone. The road ahead of them was becoming more uncertain with every day that passed; he felt less and less like Captain Reynolds and more and more like Sergeant Reynolds than he thought he had ever wanted to be again. He just didn't see a way around it. He'd bought _Serenity_ to escape the war and his past but it seemed like the harder and further he flew to try to escape it, the closer it got to his heels; Zoe had been right, the only way out was straight through. If he had to be honest with himself, apart of him was grateful for the revelation; by nature, Reynolds wasn't a man built to run, and he couldn't help but realize that was exactly what he and Zoe had been trying to do. The War might have been over but he was also beginning to understand that perhaps it wasn't; maybe it never would be. Somewhere out there, the Browncoats were still alive; hanging by a thread but alive nonetheless.

Mal knew he wasn't a Browncoat any longer; that he couldn't go back and fight the same fight, not by the old rules anyhow. He wasn't the same man anymore. The only side he was interested in fighting for was his crew's. Wearily, he pushed himself away from the table. If the fight came to his doorstep, he wouldn't have the choice but to fight it. Until then, until there was no other way except straight through the heart of the Alliance, he would look after his. Until that day, the rest of the 'Verse could go and fuck itself, he had problems of his own.

*T*F*C*

_Serenity_

_Night cycle_

"Why?" River questioned from her perch on the pilot's console beside Riddick who sat in the chair; his boots lazily propped up as he scrolled through a lowered Cortex screen.

Riddick didn't need any elaboration on her question; he knew exactly what she was talking about though it was the first time in the last hour the two had spoken. "Fuck if I know." He shrugged and then called for the lights to dim so he could remove his goggles. "You're the genius."

River frowned. "Genius yes, omniscient no."

"Pisses you off, does it?" He asked with an amused sort of snort as he regarded her.

"No." She pouted, which only spurred Riddick's amused snort to turn into an outright chuckle.

"Liar."

"You're irritating." She rolled her eyes; there was no malice to her remark; surprisingly, the young woman was fighting back the urge to smile.

"And so are you, princess." He chuckled again as he tugged on her leg, pulling her down onto her his lap. River offered no resistance, melding into the shape of his body as he situated them both to be more comfortable. River was more than content as she rested her head against the echo of his heartbeat and attempted to burrow into his warmth.

Riddick continued to scroll through the Cortex one-handed, as the other found its way into the mass of River's braids, fingers working through the knots and coils to release her hair. The depth of the moment was not lost on the convict though he appeared preoccupied. River was calm, utterly so; if he didn't know for a fact everything that was twisting around her brain, he would almost say she was at peace. The ship was asleep and there was no threat of anyone to witness their actions; it was just the two of them and the endless sea of stars shining in through the ship's windshield.

"Gotta stop thinking about the why's, Riv." His gravelly voice rumbled just beside her ear as his cheek rested against the crow of her head. "Why's not important, it's the what is that counts, the moments that come after the why's."

"But…"

"Got less answers then you do girl." He cut her off. "Sometimes there just isn't." A slight growl rumbled through his chest, the sound nearly inaudible and River was only aware of it due to the steady vibration it created as it rolled through his chest. "For fuck's sake." He glared at the Cortex screen in front of him. "Limitless information at the fingertips my fucking ass." He shoved the screen away disgustedly.

River released a small giggle intermingled with a sigh as she pulled away from Riddick to reach up for his discarded screen. Her fingers danced across it quickly, a self-satisfied smirk twisting at her features as she guided the drop-down screen back in front of Riddick.

Riddick made a sound in the back of his throat, somewhere between annoyance and gratitude. "An hour I've been looking for that info and it takes you less than five gorram minutes." He rumbled.

River shrugged as she resettled against his chest with a contented sigh. "Genius."

Riddick ignored her last remark as he scanned the information River had found for him. "Jack B. Badd." Riddick barked out a chuckle that vibrated his entire body. "You gotta be fucking kidding me." He shook his head slightly. "Can't believe the holy man actually let her use that."

"Are you satisfied?" River asked curiously.

The convict shrugged. "Made him swear to me he'd do right by her; just wanted to make sure he was keeping up his end of the deal."

"And if he hadn't?" River questioned.

"Already know the answer to that, Riv. I'd be making a side trip to New Mecca." Riddick replied, a dark shadow crossing his features. "Might not be able to scare a five foot nothing mechanic with teddy bear patches on her gorram coveralls but I can still make a holy man piss himself."

He felt her answering eye roll without having to see it. "Will you contact her?"

"No." Riddick answered immediately. "Left her with Imam for a reason." The tone of his voice signified he was finished with the conversation. The statement punctuated with a flick of the power switch on the computer screen as he pushed it back away.

"Then why?" Riddick shook his head at River's question; he had known it would all circle back around.

"River." He warned. "And don't go poking around in my head either." He grunted.

"But…"

"God-fucking-damnit, girl." He growled, the noise was halfhearted however, more resignation than anger.

"She had faith in you." River tilted her head to the left as she propped herself up to look into the mercurial gaze of her companion. "She trusted you."

"River." He warned her again, though he knew it was useless.

"You saved her from the blue-eyed devil, didn't tell her you did, only that she shouldn't cry. Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

"Told you to not go poking in my head." Riddick rumbled.

"Why?" She pressed.

"Why does it matter?" He challenged. "She was just a fucking kid." A slight smile quirked at the corner of River's lips. "What?" He demanded. River pressed a chaste kiss against his forehead and resettled against his chest. "What was that for?" The convict asked, more than slightly confused.

"You're not the monster you think you are." She replied serenely.

Riddick laughed as he shook his head; the sound was bitter, caustic almost, in the otherwise silent bridge.

"Lie to yourself, Furyan, but you cannot lie to me."

"You trying to piss me off, River?"

"No, she is simply trying to make you see."

"Let me guess-," he snipped sarcastically, "-_Dao?"_

River ignored what she assumed was a rhetorical question and yawned against his chest. "Tired." She rose from his lap with a stretch.

"Where the hell are you going?" Riddick pulled her back down as she tried to stand.

"You have watch, not her." She replied.

"That's cause you like to play crazy whenever your turn comes up." He snorted as he tucked her back against his chest.

"She has no idea what you are talking about." River replied innocently.

"She's full of shit." Riddick smirked.

River frowned. "You're irritating."

"Used that line already." He chuckled. "Can't lie to me. Ain't it a bitch?"

*T*F*C*

_Six hours from Haven._

River walked through the corridors of the ship; she had no particular destination in mind, nor purpose. She was aimless, it was unsettling. The days between the last job and their arrival on Haven had been too numerous; times of peace were unsettling. She had found a purpose; protect Mother, protect her Family. Drifting through the Black, there was no threat. No immediate action to be taken, her purpose became vague and distorted; she became vague and distorted. It had occurred to her, fleetingly, to wonder if it was in fact partially due to Riddick's own love of violence; but the idea was discarded. She had never been fond of inactivity. The pages in her sketch books had been filled, the selection of books onboard had been perused and found lacking, her interest in conversation had waned; her curiosity briefly sated.

River was bored. A bored genius is despondent; a bored telepathic, empathic, and slightly crazy genius was a potentially dangerous thing. She was entirely aware of this; she held no illusions over her current level of sanity and it was fluctuating, dangerously. Riddick was no relief; he was brooding, it was irritating; even more so because he found it irritating as well. She found her own fluctuating sanity even more irritating then Riddick's brooding. Everything was irritating her today. She longed for the sanctuary of the hidden places beneath Mother's skin, but they were approaching a new world; there was a possibility of violence and the ghosts of men lurked in the blackest part of the sea. She needed to be visible; she needed no doubt of her sanity.

Her hands ached, nearly twitching with the need for activity. Belatedly, she realized she had been rapidly snapping her fingers back and forth; an odd look from the Shepherd had her stilling them behind her as she smiled prettily. She moved on from the common room, there were too many questioning looks for her liking. She hadn't realized she had even paused in the room; that too was unsettling. Her shoulders ached, her neck ached, her whole body thrummed with unreleased tension. She rolled her neck, cracking it in a very Riddick-like fashion. It didn't help. The walls of the ship melted as she moved through them, scenes from her past crackling through the atmosphere; they were of no interest. She was detached. She watched a needle be driven through her forehead without so much as a twitch of her eye; the color of the man's gloves disturbed her. They were Blue. They were always Blue. They were also looking, always reaching; a slight growl rolled up her spine and trembled past her lips. Vaguely, she eyed the crescent shaped breaks in the skin of her palm from her nails; the slight slivers of red were oddly attractive. The Red overpowered the Blue, but somehow it always made Purple. It was strange. She lost interest and lowered her palm; somehow she was in the engine room. She was grateful Kaylee was absent. She wasn't in the mood for sunshine.

River allowed Mother's heartbeat to move through her. It helped in ways River couldn't begin to contemplate even given her depth of understanding. Even she had her limitations. The air in this room was somehow more raw and pure than in other parts of the ship; laced heavily with grease and sweat and devotion. There was a measure of peace here; it was soothing. It irritated River. She didn't want to be soothed. The concept was offensive at the moment. The tension, while unsettling, breathed a new awareness into her body; reality was distorted and yet somehow oddly tangible and defined as well. She was alive and raw and real. It was adrenaline. Her mind knew this, her body drank it in and she felt the need to throw her head back and scream if for no other reason them to disturb the serenity of Mother's heartbeat. She held it in. She felt the noise as it tore at her insides trying to break free, and bit down on her lip in an effort to contain it.

"River." His voice rasped across her skin; her body locked with tension.

"Red and Blue always make Purple." She spoke without thinking, as if cued by his voice. "Colors paint the surface, dress up lies and disguise the monster that lurks beneath. It's all a disguise, a puppet show; the masters are far out of our reach. Don't fret." A giggle burst from her lips, as if it were the scream's last effort to be heard. "Curtain call will reveal the players. There's time still, enjoy the show." She hadn't turned to look at him, his presence weighed down the room. She didn't need to look at him, he thrummed through her veins. "They've rooted already, such a long time ago, harvest time comes, perhaps we'll dance?"

Riddick had listen to her speak without interruption, weighing each one of her words. He'd heard the color ramble before, right before the last set of Blue Hands. The puppet show remark tugged at his memory as well but he couldn't place it at the moment. He was actually a little disappointed there hadn't been more mention of the number eleven; the torn bible page always not far from his mind. He couldn't begin to decipher it all at the moment; he stored it all away for later. River's state of mind was paramount in his concern at the moment. "Know how I feel about dancing."

"Yes." River smirked slightly without turning to face him; and he registered the expression without her having to. "Only with me."

The pronoun went a long way towards reassuring Riddick that River hadn't completely gone off the deep end again; though its appearance was more than a little surprising given their conversation. "What's dancing around in that head of yours?" He asked carefully, not daring to move from the doorway.

"Everything. Nothing. The River." She replied mechanically.

"We're going to be landing in a few hours, anything I should know about?"

"If she knew, I would tell you." She said, turning slowly to face Riddick. Her face was expressionless and blank; she blinked rapidly. "I am well." She spoke on her exhale, and it was the truth. The tension bled from her body as though a boil had been popped and she rolled her neck languidly.

Riddick's eyebrow arched marginally. "The fuck you are."

She waved her hand dismissively. "It ebbs and flows; such is the natural course of the River."

Riddick chuckled darkly; accepting the sudden and intense mood shift in River easily. He had grown used to them and, though the ominous ramblings of the Reader unnerved him, he was prepared to take it in stride and flow seamlessly with her into her next. "You hungry?"

"Starving." She smiled as she breezed past him, ducking under his arm to move through the door.


	65. Interlude 11 Haven 2

A/N: Forgive me if certain members of the crew disappear from time to time to complete various tasks without description or narrative given. Initially the interludes were supposed to be River/Riddick centric, but I have found I kind of need them desperately to move the plot along and fill in some gaps. I do however miss the R/R interaction of the older Interludes, so I guess just fair warning; I might be a bit vague-y with crew activities from time to time in order to devote more time to the R/R dynamic (during Interludes) from this point on. Anything plot relevant will of course be covered but don't be surprised if let's say Kaylee and Wash go to a shipping yard, and it's just mentioned in passing with like a "Well, how did it go?" rather than a line by line dialogue of her haggling prices and getting the work done. But if they're going to meet an important character or have a run in with the Blue Hands or Purple Bellies while at said ship yard, it will be covered fully.

That being said, on with the story!

*T*F*C*

Wash set _Serenity _down just outside of a kilometer from the abbey and less than five from the mining settlement. The captain was of no mind to advertise their presence until he was sure of the welcome they'd receive. He was more than aware his actions could be considered paranoid; he preferred to think of it as cautious. The crew had gathered in the bay; more or less arranged in a somewhat lazy line as Mal repeated his "Walk Soft" speech for the third time in less than four hours.

"-and let's remember, folks, we're here under the guise of the Shepherd's employment." He finished pointedly. "Let's try and be a bit respectable."

"Why's he always lookin' at us when he says stuff like that?" Jayne grumbled to Riddick who was leaning beside him against the crate. "Ain't like we run off and get hitched to the first skirt that gives us a hat made outta a tree."

"Or start sword fights with rich people." The convict smirked.

"Heard that." Mal snapped. "Got one word for you both; Ariel."

"And it's already been established we was doin' that for the good of Riv." Jayne retorted smugly.

"And I suppose those bikes you stole and that warehouse ya blew up was for the good of River too?" Mal cocked his brow. "Which got us called to the attention of a blackmailing hacker."

"Which did bring us a slew of five- and six-figure jobs." Simon countered, a bit surprised he was defending Jayne and Riddick; while he might not have been a fan of their methods, they had kept River safe.

"Anyway-," Mal glared at the doctor, "-keep your gorram noses clean."

"We got it, Captain-," Wash puffed his chest out and stood shoulders back and spine straight, "-upstanding shipping crew." His posture broke with a chuckle. "No criminals here."

Mal didn't bother to respond, he merely rolled his eyes and resigned himself to the fact he'd be buying the crew out of trouble before this stint dirt-side was through. "Kaylee, you and Jayne take the Doc and head into town, find us a yard to get the ship work done and get the Doc settled with introductions at the clinic. Benevolent shipping crew people don't try to haggle none, just pay the price as labeled and throw around some coin."

"Gotcha." Kaylee grinned already envisioning a set of new rotator cufflinks.

"'Nara, you'll fly them in on your shuttle so's Zo and I can take the mule. Smile pretty for folks, help with the introductions at the clinic and work your wiles charmin' townfolk." He gave her a sort of cheeky grin. "Let's get 'em talkin' but not gabbin'."

The Companion nodded as she adjusted the robe of the modest kimono she had selected to wear; slightly nervous over whether or not the fabric was too rich for the environs, she wanted them awed, not stunned.

"Zo and me will head with the Shepherd to the abbey and make our introductions there. I'll talk to the brothers, find out if there's an easy way to go about buyin' some favor in these parts. Riddick, you and River take your bike and run a perimeter around the settlement; find me good spots to hide the ship and map out any likely spots for ambushes or anywhere anybody else could lay low to get the drop on us. Come tonight, we'll all meet up and scope out the rest of the locals together. Suss out any problems 'fore they get a chance to become real issues."

"Plan on setting up house, Mal?" Riddick asked mildly curious, it seemed to him the captain was going through a whole lot of trouble to be doing anything but.

"Somethin' like it." Zoe answered for him. "Haven's close enough to Mr. U but still far enough out to stay off the radar of most that would come lookin'."

"The lack of Blue Sun is incentive enough." Mal added. "Gonna need a fallback point, sooner or later, and this rock's lookin' to be the best case for that scenario. No Alliance, no Blue Sun, and a whole lot of folk who could use extra coin and don't quite care how it comes to be in their pockets."

"It's not safe." River spoke for the first time. Her remark was almost innocent in the delivery, spoken as she idly played with the hem of the bell sleeve of her dress; frowning at a loose thread.

"Not really safe anywhere in the 'Verse these days." Mal replied warily. "You got anything more to give me than that?"

"For them." She added as she pulled at the offending thread, her frown deepening as it only seemed to unravel her sleeve further.

"Anybody?" Mal looked around at his crew for a translation.

"She means-," Kaylee rolled her eyes, "-we're gonna bring the threat anywhere we go and we shouldn't take it for granted that there ain't no Alliance here right now."

"How in the Hell?" Mal ran a hand through his hair in confusion.

"It's easy when you listen." The mechanic shrugged.

"Right…" Mal trailed his word off with a sideways glance at his Reader; thoughts of potential Reaver threats passing briefly through his mind.

"She don't seem all that worried about it, sir." Zoe pointed out, having an inkling of where her captain's thoughts were heading. She visibly flinched when she realized what she'd done. "Sorry, Riv, didn't mean to talk about you like you weren't here."

"I'm used to it." She sighed; once more she didn't bother looking up from the offending thread.

Riddick snatched up River's wrist and yanked the thread completely from the fraying sleeve. "Focus girl." He grunted, his tone somewhere in between annoyance and amusement.

River physically shook herself, looking up at the crew for the first time. "She is not omniscient." She pointed out. "I can only give you what she knows."

"And that would be?" Mal promoted.

"That it's not safe. It is not a precognitive vision, it is not an empathic reaction, it is simple logic." River replied a bit condescendingly. "We are hunted. The predator follows the prey. That is the natural order. There are no safe Havens. To assume a place is safe because there is no present threat is short-sighted and flawed." She picked at a loose bit of string on the knitted tunic which covered her dress. "Fatally." River added, frowning again over the ill-condition of her clothing. If Inara was correct about one's outward appearance, what did the fraying clothing say about her? The possible metaphor for her sanity bothered her to no end and she resolved to remedy the situation using her share from the split of the Lassiter.

"Well, on that optimistic reminder of our impending doom…" Wash groaned.

River cocked her head slightly to the left as she regarded the pilot, momentarily forgetting the condition of her clothing. "She is only being pragmatic."

Wash chuckled humorlessly. "Know that, Riv. It's just a _little_ intense when you word it quite like that."

"She will endeavor to monitor her wording in the future." River conceded with a slight nod of her head and went back to picking at the unraveling threads on her wardrobe.

"All you can do." He chuckled again, though he was a bit unsure as to why; he had an inkling it had something to do with the whole "you had to laugh or you'd run screaming" theory.

The preacher cleared his throat. "I believe Brother Abraham is waiting." He spoke, pointedly redirecting the focus and purpose of the group.

"That he is." Zoe followed his lead as she checked her silver pocket watch. "Best we get this done sir."

"Right then-," Mal straightened the lapels of his coat, "-ship's yours, Wash."

*T*F*C*

"All this terraforming and for what?" Riddick asked as he picked up a rock and chucked it off the side of the ridge he and River had climbed for a better view of the surrounding area. "Dozens of half-cooked rocks you couldn't grow potatoes on." He eyed the surrounding scrub desert distastefully; too much sun, not enough cover, too many rolling hills to rely on line of sight equipment.

"Mining is more profitable than agriculture." River answered the question, though she knew it had been rhetorical.

"Can't eat rock."

"Less agriculture means a more controlled food supply, which in turn can result in a more compliant population when the distance between available food sources and the reliance on government transportation to move goods said distances are factored in."

"People don't get compliant when they're hungry." Riddick replied; Sigma was proof enough.

"I take your Sigma and I raise you Canton." River countered with a slight arch of her brow. "Pre-Jayne." She added as an afterthought. "Control is always a calculated risk."

"What's going on, Riv?" Riddick looked down at her, literally since she had taken to sitting and dangling her legs off the edge of the ridge.

River did not bother to look up. "She has no idea what you mean. You asked, she answered."

Riddick did not bother with a verbal reply. His emotions; skepticism, curiosity, concern, with slivers of impatience and annoyance, were reply enough. River's emotional and mental state had been rapidly traveling across the spectrum for the last few days; something was brewing. The only real question was whether or not River knew it. She wasn't "seeing" and he doubted the little episode earlier was some kind of vision either. River felt when she couldn't see and he was curious as to whether or not she was still "feeling" the future or if she was making calculations based on facts she wasn't even aware she had.

"Fluctuating." She shrugged absently. "Ebbs and flows, we have discussed this and repetition is irksome. Some days are better than others, some days equally divided." She looked up at him. "Control is always a calculated risk."

Riddick didn't think pressing her further was going to get him anywhere and so he resolved to wait, raising a pair of binoculars and focusing on the job at hand. The ridge overlooked the abbey to the south and the settlement to the east; the mines were less than a half of a kilometer from the settlement, hidden slightly by the rough foothills. "These hills will be a bitch for line of sight. Doesn't look like they got any kind of real security around the mines besides the watchtowers, and the guy on the north tower is asleep." He snorted with disgust. "Got a few gunners posted too."

"They must keep away the scavengers." She shrugged unconcerned.

"Most of the equipment looks to be at least five years old, good condition." He added with an almost imperceptible shrug as he surveyed the entirely of the set up. The mines were a collection of quarries with interconnecting underground tunnels, and there was some type of oil rig towards the northern tip. He hadn't a clue what they were actually mining, but by the looks of it, it was whatever they could dig out of the earth; water included.

"Please." River reached up for the binoculars, focusing them on a canyon to the east after raising them to her eyes and gesturing to Riddick. "The quarries have tunnels which empty into it, it is an ideal location to hide Mother and the underground tunnels will provide an alternate escape route."

"And you know the tunnels run how?" Riddick asked, though he had to admit, he believed her without the clarification at this point.

"I feel them; like veins that run underneath the skin, their hollowness echoes and vibrates in her ears." She answered as though it should have been obvious.

"'Cause that makes a shitload of sense." Riddick replied as he helped pull her back up to her feet.

"Doesn't have to. You know she's right." She shrugged as she dusted off her dress and they began the somewhat half-climb, half-skid, down the edge of the ridge.

Riddick didn't bother to reply; instead he raised his comm. to his lips. "Wash, checkin' in." He rumbled.

_"I can't hear you."_ The pilot's voice chimed back.

Riddick released a small growl as he tossed the unit to River. "I'm not fucking saying it." He grunted.

River allowed herself a small giggle at the convict's expense before speaking into the unit herself. "Papa Goose, the jugglers are checking in."

_"Roger that jugglers, check-in recorded at 1425."_

*T*F*C*

Since Ariel, Jayne had grown a severe distaste for anything vaguely resembling a hospital and, since his injury during the Lassiter heist, even the infirmary onboard the ship had begun to give him the willies. So, while the others went inside to kiss ass the locals, Jayne stood just outside the settlement's clinic, unapologetically puffing away on his cigar.

"Wash, this is Jayne, checkin' in." He grumbled into his comm.

"_What was that?"_ Wash's voice crackled back.

The merc released what could be considered a slightly tormented sigh, if sighing could be considered manly. "Papa Goose this is Baby Goose Team Two, feathers remain unruffled."

"_Baby Goose Two check-in recorded at 1430. Papa Goose out."_

Jayne snorted slightly as he tucked the radio back into his cargo's pockets and returned to his previous occupation; monitoring his surroundings. The settlement, which they had learned was actually called Haven as well, a fact Jayne found stupidly redundant even by his standards, was really nothing much more than a glorified shanty town. It was resilient though, by the looks of it, a collection of patched-together metal and dusty adobe which seemed to have weathered and still defiantly remained; he could respect that. The people weren't overly friendly but they weren't suspicious or aggressive either, just a bit wary, and he could respect that as well.

They were suntanned and earth-hardened, but there was a lightness to their gaits which told Jayne they were happy with their lot for the most part. It was the type of town where folk looked out for one another because a good turn was a good turn. He counted weapons here and there but the pieces, much like their owners, were a little worn and well used. The only truly disconcerting thing were the gunners he had seen posted along the borders of the settlement. It wasn't altogether unheard of, especially in parts as far out as these. There wasn't much law to be had so the people were their own type. He imagined that raiders and bandits saw these parts as easy pickings. Though, by the looks of the gunners, this town wasn't as easy to pick as it might have seemed at first glance. Overall, it was the type of town Jayne thought he could settle down in if, if he were the type of man that settled down. The thoughts were quickly pushed away as Kaylee reemerged from the clinic; Riddick had been grumbling about psychic being contagious and he wasn't looking to put any ideas into the girl's head.

"'Nara's gonna stay behind here with Michael-," she chirped, careful to use the doctor's alias just in case, "-they ain't got a real doctor; just one that rotates through the settlements and he wasn't due to swing through these parts for another week or so. They jumped right on our offer to help."

"They tell ya where we can find a good yard?" Jayne asked as he stubbed out his cigar, Kaylee wasn't overly fond of the smoke.

"'Ccordin' to Miss Abigail, she's the nurse, there's two yards here. One's mainly a reclamation center, fair price for the parts but apparently Edgar's a bit of a drunk and she said it's best not to trust his crew with anythin' we want to leave atmo. The other's on the opposite end of town and it's run by a fella named Ivan, who I think Miss Abigail has the sweets for-," Jayne listened to Kaylee ramble with half of his attention as they began to walk; his eyes restlessly scanning the streets for any possible threats. Kaylee was more than aware of his divided attention but was not bothered by it in the slightest. Somehow, he always heard what she was saying or at least the important parts. She had enough brothers to realize you could only expect so much from men when it came to paying attention. "Ivan does good work, but he don't have the parts, so's if we use Ivan we're gonna have to buy the parts from Edgar and then cart 'em 'cross town to Ivan."

"It'll due, easy 'nough with the mule anyhow." The merc grunted. "Captain wants to spread the coin around, it's best if as many get a piece of it as can."

"That's what I was thinking." Kaylee agreed cheerfully. "Not too keen on some kinda drunk fiddling with the bits of our girl anyhow." She frowned for a second, but the expression disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. "Miss Abigail says that there's just about a shop for anything ya might need towards the town center, and there's a few canteens scattered about. Next settlement ain't for 'nother clear five hundred kilometers or so, and they got a few mining outposts scattered about within a fifty kilometer radius of this here settlement. The outposts don't have nearly as much folk as you'll find here but they got a once a month shindig they throw where everybody comes in from the outposts."

"Hell, girl, you got all this from one nurse?" He snorted with amusement. "Just did half of Rick's and Anna's job without so much as a peek around town." He was sure to use both Riddick's and River's aliases.

"Just bein' friendly is all." She gifted him with a beaming smile for the compliment. "Catch more flies with honey than vinegar, my momma says."

"Yeah, well, you just watch where you're spreadin' that honey, 'cause it's mine." He leered at her as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Jayne!" She admonished with a blush and a swat at his arm. The effect of her scolding was somewhat lost by the giggles which followed it.

Jayne's only response was the quick burst of a booming chuckle as he tossed an arm across her shoulders.

*T*F*C*

Captain Malcolm Reynolds had once upon a time been a religious man; but that was once upon a time. As it was now, being within the confines of the adobe walls of the abbey had him itching just beneath the surface of his skin. The brothers were pleasant enough; it was more or less the sight of all the bowed heads and open bibles which bothered him; though, if asked, he'd be hard pressed to answer why. Perhaps it was the reminder that his own devotion and faith had failed him in his darkest hour; or perhaps it was just simple annoyance that so many people could be so blinded. The why wasn't really of any importance.

Brother Abraham had surprised him to say the least. He wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting; an awful cross between Riddick and Jayne had not been it. The man was built like a solid wall and towered over Mal's head by more than a few inches. His eyes, they were soldier's eyes; Mal had looked into enough to see a career military man when he stood right before him. The question was whose side had he been on? Mal slightly regretted not bringing River along to get a clear read on the brothers. They might all be brothers, but the obvious number of former soldiers he had laid eyes upon had him wondering whether or not all of them were still former.

"We all begin as something else, Captain Reynolds." Brother Abraham spoke suddenly and Mal pulled himself from his thoughts to look at the other man. "I've been watching you watch." The man added by way of explanation. "Some habits never die." He added almost regretfully.

"I have no idea what you're goin' on 'bout." Mal lied easily.

"I'm sure you don't." Abraham replied, a somewhat smug smile crossing his features. "To alleviate your nonexistent concerns-," he continued as both men turned their gazes out over the second story balcony, "-you'll find more than a few retired soldiers, most were Browncoats, a few from the other side, and even more than a few wanted men, but they all have one thing in common. A desire for peace, atonement, and perhaps a bit of happiness before they leave this 'Verse."

The fact that his crew consisted of all of the above did not escape, Mal, though Riddick and Book had been Blue Sun, he figured it was all about the same. "Can't blame a man for just wantin' to be free." He replied for lack of a better response.

"I am well aware of Book's history." The older man confessed. "I can assume he isn't the only one aboard your ship who would wish to remain hidden. Haven is more than a name here Captain; Book said you were looking for a place to take sanctuary when need be."

"Don't dance much do you?" Mal asked with a quirk on his eyebrow.

"I was never fond of it." The man replied simply.

"If that be the case, you won't mind tellin' me how to buy the hearts of the people down in that settlement."

"Just precisely that, Captain. The people will be more than grateful for the spare coin and the use of your doctor will go a long way in the eyes of the Elders."

"Thank you kindly." Mal nodded slightly.

"Sergeant Reynolds will always be welcome here."

Mal's eye twitched ever so slightly, though he gave no other indication he heard the man's parting remark as he turned to find Zoe. It really didn't matter how far he ran, the war was just always on his heels, he thought to himself morosely as he raised the comm. to his lips. "Wash, checking in."

The clearing of a throat was the only thing to answer him back.

"For the love of-," Mal groaned. "Papa Goose this is Baby Goose One, feathers are unruffled and the roost is secured."

_"Nest, captain. Ducks don't roost, that's chickens."_

"Wash, I swear to god-"

"_Check-in recorded at 1435, Papa Goose out."_ Wash quickly replied.

*T*F*C*

The crew rallied back together just outside of The Sandstone on the western edge of the town. Riddick and Jayne were causally leaned up against the convict's bike as River listened to Kaylee chatter away about Ivan and his son Jackson from the repair yard. The captain arrived along with Zoe and the Shepherd not long after, having stopped along the way to check-in with the town Elders and offer the ship's services to transport ground goods after the repairs had been made. The captain had been more than pleased to learn Inara and the doctor had already spoken to them at the clinic and had painted a sainted picture of the crew of _Serenity._ They were being hailed as godsends as it was since a recent outbreak of whooping cough had hit the children hard and antibiotics were in short supply. The Companion and the doctor were the last to rejoin the crew, both looking a little worse for wear, but talking animatedly together as they approached.

After a small debate, it was decided that River and Riddick would head back to the ship to relieve an extremely bored and irritatingly vocal Wash. It took a few moments longer to decide to take the shuttle back so Wash could fly out and a threat against Jayne's life over the care of Riddick's cycle before the pair was on the move back towards the ship. Riddick wasn't bothered by the order to relieve Wash; in truth he was grateful for it. He had had River to himself most of the day and he was rather keen to continue on that way. They had scouted the entire surrounding area and River had even managed to link into a satellite dish and download the schematics to the mining facilities, get the location of outposts, as well as patch into the security channel which was, unsurprisingly, no longer functional.

The focus of the job at hand had left little room for the usual tension which hovered between the pair; tension born from their obvious avoidance of all things regarding their ill-defined relationship. He hadn't quite thought of that as they walked onto the shuttle. However, the absence of anything job related weighed the otherwise pleasant silence down heavily. Riddick knew what he wanted; he wanted River. The problem being his long absent conscience had decided to make an unwelcome reappearance in all matters relating to River. The age difference didn't overly bother him as it did Simon. It was more to the fact he couldn't be entirely sure River was, in fact, River at all times; and his unwelcome conscience was more than vocal on that point. What bothered him even more was that he couldn't be thoroughly sure when and if River was actually listening in inside his head. He always felt her there, but by her own words it took an effort to monitor him as she did the other crew. She had told him previously during one of their late night conversations while she was always aware of him it was easier to allow him his own thoughts while she was inside his mind so they didn't confuse with hers.

Riddick was beginning to get the feeling he'd never understand her. She had demanded after all that he not keep her locked out of places inside his mind, but given full access she rarely ventured there. Perhaps it was just the freedom she required and not the actual information; perhaps it was, as she said, the need for complete trust between them. He wasn't sure he entirely cared or that it really mattered. Shirah had once again gone missing since their last confrontation, one he had still yet to share with River, though he had a sinking feeling she had already accessed that information somehow. It ran right alongside the feeling that the wall he kept his private thoughts behind wasn't as strong as he believed. The day they had fought over the walls he had felt them begin to crumble under her onslaught and he wondered now if she had actually gotten past them and had really only been humoring him with her "struggle". He wondered if she had been there, if she even knew she had.

River, despite Riddick's own mental concerns, was actually as detached from Riddick's mind as she could bear to be. The parameters of their ill-defined relationship were the subject of her own musing and she had no desire to confuse his emotions and thoughts with those of her own. She knew where his concerns lay and she would have been lying to herself if she said they were not justifiable. She questioned her own sanity on a nearly hourly basis. The problem was that she had no idea as to how to alleviate his concerns, nor even if she ever could. Their dance was becoming frustrating; she no longer enjoyed it.

The observation of her fraying wardrobe had been a significant setback, how could she convince others she was not fraying at the edges if she couldn't even convince her clothing to not? The thought startled her; it didn't seem rational, the more she thought about it, which concerned her even more. Did sane people convince their clothing to hold together? She wanted to ask Riddick, but frankly, she was afraid, if they didn't, it would be only another strike against her. Inara, and perhaps Kaylee, would understand but she would have to hold the question until then. She regulated the inquiry to a further part of her mind as to not be bothered by it until it could be resolved. She simply had too many other things to concern herself with at the moment to worry over the possible consciousness of her clothing.

Idly she began to hum as her mind circled and her fingers moved to her braids to begin the process of setting her tresses free as she thought over Riddick. The silence had become a bit too oppressive for her tastes and the sound of her voice worked to drown out the incessant whispering which was tickling the inside of her skull. The whispers were troublesome, even more so than the screaming. The screaming was just sound, but the whispers were trying to tell her secrets; secrets she didn't want to hear because the burden wasn't hers to carry. They were unintelligible for the most part, bits of words and fragments of images scattered across the surface of the River, trying in vain to keep their heads above the water long enough to be heard.

She wished they would just learn she didn't want to hear them; she wished they would try to speak to someone else. The thoughts of the nine other members of her Family were loud enough and she had been surrounded by them long enough for her to never truly lose them. Though distance did tend to make them fainter and sleep more tolerable. She frowned, her fingers pausing in her hair over her sudden and unwanted train of thought. Thinking about the whispers made them real. She didn't want them to be real. She wanted them to be imaginings in the back of her mind. She wished she was crazy; the truth of the matter, though, was she was _aware._ She firmly shifted the focus of her thoughts, regulating the whispers even further back than the musing on her clothing, and once more attempted to turn her mind to the subject of Riddick.

It was unfortunately just as unsuccessful as her previous attempts and all the shifting and regulating of random stray thoughts began to catch up with her as she felt the first twinges of a headache creep in around the edges of her vision. It was tiresome to be what she was, whatever that may have in fact been. A distant part of her mind mourned the timing of her rescue; had Simon been just a few months earlier, things wouldn't have been so bad. She felt guilty and ashamed of such thoughts which only caused to worsen her headache. She should not think such things; they led to the dark places, and she had only just begun to find her way out of them.

"You with me?" Riddick rumbled as he guided the shuttle into its docking station on _Serenity._ He didn't bother to power it down, since Wash would just be taking it back out.

"Always." River answered with an unconvincing sigh where she had meant to smile reassuringly. Mentally, she made a note to practice her facial expressions.

"Can't lie to me." Riddick spoke the phrase which had seemed to somehow become an irritating mantra between them.

"I have no desire to." River forced the pronoun out, though it took an obscene amount of effort to do so.

The effort was not lost on Riddick. "Don't have to pretend around me, River, thought you understood that by now." He replied with an uncharacteristic amount of gentleness.

"Wasn't lying." River chose to omit the pronoun all together that time. It simply wasn't worth the effort, not with the headache she had brewing. "You asked the wrong question." She informed him as she rose from her chair and made her way towards the shuttle hatch.

"Doesn't matter how I worded it if you understand the intention." The convict replied, the left corner of his lips twitching slightly downward as he followed her out of the hatch. They were bypassed by an overeager Wash, who didn't pause long enough for a greeting as he slipped into the shuttle; desperate to look at anything that weren't the bulkheads of _Serenity._

River went directly to the bridge, where she and Riddick would post their watch until the rest of the crew returned. She was silent, but so was Riddick; both circling inside their own respective minds though their thoughts traveled down two very different paths.

River, was once more consumed by the thoughts of her fraying wardrobe and, as a consequence, her fraying sanity as well. On their initial meeting, she had been desperate to make Riddick see; as it was, now she was back to wishing he were blind. She could fool the others, but she couldn't lie to him. She wasn't altogether sure she wanted to either, nor was she sure anything positive could be gained by the truth. The truth was, whether she or Riddick wanted to verbalize it, she was broken beyond repair. There was no "fixing" her, only the possibility to learn how to function as she was. She needed to adapt, to evolve to function in a world where the rules did not apply to her. One would think it would liberating to exist in such a place; it was the furthest thing from it. It was confusing, chaotic, and utterly foreign. She sighed deeply as she sank into the copilot's chair and Riddick took the main flight chair.

Being alone with Riddick was both a blessing and a curse. Her mind was relatively free from the immediate intrusive thoughts of others and she could experience the full range of her own emotion uninterrupted. She briefly gave into the fantasy of being alone forever with Riddick; of what it would be like to have no concern other than herself. She walked a tenuous line between having the crew's trust and having them fear her. Yes, they accepted her now and yes, they were grateful for her aid on Niska's complex but what if they were to find out about the night in the infirmary where she had attacked Riddick and her brother? What if they were to find out a simple set of words could destroy every bit of control she had worked for months to achieve? She was a danger, a threat to them all and yet they trusted her with their safety. It was disturbing and an entirely different burden she didn't feel she had the strength to carry on with. Insanity had been easier, the lines of reality blurring into the surreal had made everything simpler because she was unaware of what it all meant. Now that the medication was lifting the fog, it was also stealing away any delusions she might have had of one day being just a girl again. It was impossible to remove the parts they had replaced or regain the ones that had been removed entirely. There was no sanity; there was no peace, only acceptance.

Riddick had given up trying to get through to River for the day. There wasn't any use trying to get answers when she was in the mood to be cryptic and vague; he'd just wind up pissing both of them off and, quite frankly, he already had a bit of a headache from all the sun he'd been exposed to during the day. Goggles or not, the desert was still a bitch for his eyes. He was perfectly content to let the silence stretch between them. River was there in the room with him; she wasn't screaming or twitching and, at the moment, that was more than enough for him. He was half-tempted to fall back into his recently acquired habit of brooding, but he purposefully redirected his thoughts. He was not the doctor, nor was he Book; he was done spending endless hours contemplating and questioning. He gave up trying to figure out what was between himself and River and had decided he would sit back and watch it unfold at her speed. That had been the original plan all along, to make her come to him, and somewhere along the line, he'd started chasing her; obviously it wasn't working, and he was sick of the game or the dance or whatever it was they were doing.

_Fuck it._ He thought strictly to himself, though River's slight twitch had him once more wondering exactly how effective his walls were. He didn't bother asking her though; asking River anything never got him anywhere. He'd begun to realize she told him much more when he just sat there, silent and unobtrusive. _Great, you're a fucking wall fixture now._ He half-growled at himself before realizing he was starting to brood again. The realization filled him with self-disgust. _A fucking pansy too._

"If she wanted to run, would he run with her?"

River's quiet question threw him entirely, his head jerking up visibly with surprise as he narrowed his eyes behind his goggles. He didn't reply to her question, he allowed his emotion to speak for him; curiosity was foremost, followed by surprise, affirmation, and perhaps even a trace of elation.

"Even if she will never be sane?"

"That's perspective, some would say you're just as crazy as me. Told you before I liked your kind of crazy." He actually smiled at the end of his statement, though it was dark, almost devious in its own way. The expression faded as quickly as it had come. "Hypothetical?"

"Yes." River admitted with yet another deep sigh. "She cannot leave, she cannot runaway and hide-," her gaze moved wistfully towards the windshield and out into the stars, "-they would seek out Mother regardless now of her presence within her arms. She has condemned them all; before she was not aware, and now she is. The future is written in stone, you know." Her last sentence was spoken in an entirely different tone than the beginning of her statement; it was almost whimsical in its delivery.

Riddick remained silent, waiting for her to continue and she did not disappoint.

"She has been listening to you all day, and you wonder and muse and contemplate a great many things, you look for answers you already have." Though she continued, Riddick was slightly confused as to the direction she was heading. "Yes, she is crazy; no, she cannot be fixed; yes, she can evolve; no, she will never truly enjoy the hunt, but satisfaction of survival? Perhaps." River continued to ramble, addressing everything and nothing at the same time. "Can she be happy and content as the Girl, the Killer, and the Reader all in one? Can three make peace and meld into one? Whispers and screams and fragmented memories, they weren't finished. Can Subject E-7 ever be a girl again?" She shook her head. "She asks questions you don't have answers for either. Perhaps there never will be answers. Don't think at her like that." River frowned as waves of Riddick's confusion rolled through her mind. "She isn't crazy but she is. It's not insanity that makes her crazy. It's knowledge, awareness, _Dao._"

"Go back." Riddick interrupted her before her tangent could continue. "You said the future is written in stone?" Riddick questioned, that statement by far confused him more than anything else, as it was a direct contradiction to everything she and her brother had said.

"Shirah knows." River replied cryptically.

"Don't want to talk about what Shirah knows; I want to talk about what you know."

River laughed. The sound burst from her lips and left a chill in the air. "If she knew, I would tell you."

Riddick repressed the urge to growl, biting back the sound and recycling it through his chest; using it to burn out the anger from his words before he spoke next. "You got a point, River?" Admittedly, Riddick had had enough. He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about or the point she was trying to make. One moment, she was getting his hopes up by willingly suggesting they leave and the next she was ranting about how crazy she was and how it was impossible to hope for anything more.

"Of course she knows something." River answered; her voice was small and distant, so quiet Riddick might have missed it had it not been for his specialized hearing. "London Bridge will fall, but this time because it is rotted through at its base. She knows secrets and they're all drenched in blood and beginning to take shape; only she can't see the shape they form, she can only feel the weight as it adds to the burden." She inhaled deeply and, on the exhale, she admitted. "Today was a bad day. She lied; deceived Daddy. They are all bad days." The confession cost her to make it, a fresh wound reopening and she fought the urge to cry; not in front of Riddick. "She won't ever be sane."

Riddick was at a loss for words after her confession. It took several moments for him to form a reply. "Crazy people don't know they're crazy." It was weak and he knew it, but he didn't have anything else to offer her.

River merely snorted.

"I'm not asking you to be sane, River-," Riddick spoke again after several minutes passed in silence, "I kinda like crazy-River-," he chuckled slightly.

"You're just looking for River." She finished for him. "She's trying." She sighed and looked up to catch his goggled stare.

The convict shrugged in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. "We'll find her."

"We'll?" She questioned.

"Starting to think you're lying about being a genius." Riddick grunted. "Repetition is irksome, girl, already told you I'm not going anywhere." He allowed himself a small smirk. "Been thinking the next time we run across a set of Blue Hands maybe we'll ask questions before we blow them up."

Whatever reaction Riddick had been expecting the one he got, much like everything else River had just said, threw him completely. "But we _will_ blow them up?" She asked, with what Riddick could only identify as anticipation, as a dark smile curled around the corners of her lips; something beautiful flashed behind her eyes and it was violent and bloodthirsty.

His only answer was a mirrored quirking of his lips, as he allowed his pleasure at her question to roll through him and into her. "Love it when you talk murder."

"Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes avenged*." She replied, the lethal edge in her eyes flowed into her tone; her physical presence changing entirely. The moment, however, was brief and fleeting; in the next, she exhaled, closed her eyes and, as she reopened them, the brutality was gone completely.

"Either way-," Riddick spoke slowly, his voice graveled and rough as sandpaper as he regarded the girl/enigma before him, "-we'll bleed them all." The dark smile returned to his face once again, a throaty chuckle escaping.

"Or they will bleed us." She whispered, looking back to the windshield.

"Better than cowering in a fucking corner plucking your gorram eyelashes out." Riddick snapped, angry over her reply.

"Perhaps." She whispered.

*T*F*C*

Endnote *Samuel Johnson quote (Been dying to use it in one of my stories)


	66. Interlude 11 Haven 3

"Recycled air, regulated levels, artificial gravity, it's made you all weak." Riddick's dark voice rumbled ominously over the crew. Jayne's accompanying smirk as he stood alongside the con was as equally unnerving as the statement.

Wash didn't bother to repress an eye roll as he leaned up against the side of the shuttle. _Serenity _was safely berthed in Ivan's yard just on the edge of the colony. He had been hoping for some downtime that involved a bed, his wife, and any food not freeze dried. Instead, he was woken up just an hour after dawn and drug outside in the still chilly small hours of the morning to be told just how fleshy he really was. He would have admitted that from the comfort of his bed; happily.

"Got Jayne's weights right on board and I've never seen so much as one of you besides Book lift a hand-weight." Riddick continued to lecture.

"Is that how he got out of this?" Simon grumbled.

"Man's keeping our cover." Jayne grunted as he shifted through one of two duffels at his and Riddick's feet.

"I should be at the clinic then." Simon pointed out; infinitely preferring a day spent surrounded by whooping cough than whatever the two ape-men could have conjured up to torture him with.

"Book can also hit something when he shoots." Jayne snorted.

Simon went to snap a retort, but a slight shake of his sister's head had him holding his tongue. It was quite obvious escape wouldn't be so simple. "It has actually been proven artificial gravity _prevents_ muscle loss." He tried a different tactic unwilling to give in just yet.

"River, what's the standard terraforming gravitational constant?" Riddick asked.

"Nine point eight-one meters per second." River replied without hesitation. "As was the constant on Earth-that-was."

"Now what's the actual average gravitational constant?" The convict prompted.

River's head cocked slightly to the left; her eyes glazing as her brain accessed the information she knew was stored somewhere. "The acceptable gravitational constant for a world to be considered habitable ranges from seven point nine one to twelve point five."

"And _Serenity's_ maintained gravitational constant?" He asked, the beginnings of a smirk twitching at the corners of his lips.

"Eight point two, to conserve fuel, and maximize power output." River answered reluctantly. She had read quite clearly from the two men's minds what the itinerary for the day would be and she was no more pleased by the prospect than the rest of the crew would be.

"Your bodies are used to operating at less than the average gravity of most terraformed worlds." The convict informed anyone who had yet to form the conclusion for themselves.

"Which means we run-," Jayne grinned around the stub of a cigar hanging from his lips. "-with weights." The grin turned a bit malicious as he over turned one of the duffels; several sandbags, as well as Kaylee's tool belt and one of the doctor's portable kits, spilled out.

"He's rutting joking, right?" Mal raised a skeptical brow at his first mate.

"Um-," Wash cleared his throat and raised his hand slightly, "-why does the pilot have to run? My job pretty much consists of sitting in the big chair behind the wheel."

"And I don't do nuthin' besides walk the engine room." Kaylee added.

"Everybody runs." Jayne stated firmly, redirecting his eyes from Kaylee's sudden pout.

"Everybody." Riddick repeated, his gaze pointedly directed at his Reader, whom merely snorted as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Permission to shoot them, sir." Zoe asked her captain without looking away from the two men; her expression was unreadable and Mal wasn't entirely sure she was joking.

He eyed the sandbags again. "Permission granted." Mal nodded.

"Very good, sir." She smirked as she moved for her holster.

Riddick beat her to the draw, chuckling slightly at her semi-shocked expression as he lowered his gun. "Need training-," he chuckled darkly,"-getting slow in your retirement, Zo. think all these cushy smuggling jobs have made you soft."

"He has been flying with Mal right?" Simon quietly asked Wash. "He does realize there has never been anything remotely cushy about any one of our jobs, right?"

Zoe glared at Riddick, more than a little pissed he had beaten her to the draw, as she grudgingly holstered her sidearm. She had been trying to make a point, unfortunately she had only proved Riddick's. If she was going to be honest, she had to admit there was some truth to what he said. She _was_ out of shape; she _was_ getting a bit slower and the fact that it had just been blatantly pointed out pissed her off further. "Let's do this." She bit off, her face hardening as she snatched the weights Jayne held out for her.

Riddick gave her a slight nod; he knew Zoe would be one of the easiest to convince. She hadn't been a military volunteer; she'd been career, born and raised on a starship of independent mercs. The fight was in her blood and she could be made to see reason. One look at the skeptical faces of the rest of the crew said they weren't going to be so easy.

"Kaylee-," Jayne called her over and, rather than a sandbag, he pulled out her fully loaded tool belt, "-you'll run with this. Since you usually got it on you, best you get used to carrying your workload weight."

Kaylee didn't bother to protest as she stepped forward; not verbally anyhow. Instead, she chose to look up at Jayne, employing her doe-eyed pout with a slight tremor of her lower lip. The merc quickly averted his eyes.

"Don't even think about it." Riddick rumbled with more than a little amusement. "He might cave, I won't. Doc, you get your med-kit too, since most like you won't ever be haulin' goods."

"_Xie'e hundan _(evil bastard)." Kaylee muttered, snatching up her tool belt and gifting her merc with a glare which told him he'd be paying for this later.

"Riv." Riddick gestured with his hand for her to step over.

"She is not pleased." River frowned.

"I don't give a fuck." Riddick grunted as he tied the make shift belt around her.

"Where are his weights?" She asked.

"Jayne and I work out twice a day every day; we don't have to run with weights." Riddick dismissed her complaint, "We're gonna haul the duffels."

"You know, I should refuse this on principle." Inara stared at the weighted bags distastefully. "The next time you tell me to wear pants and boots, I'm going to show up in silk slippers and a sari." She huffed as Jayne secured the makeshift belt around her waist.

"And you'll be running in slippers and a sari. Your choice." Riddick shrugged.

"I'm a Companion, not a soldier." She argued.

"You're crew." Jayne corrected. "And you'll get shot at like the rest of us now." The merc chuckled; the sound of his laughter over the matter disturbed Inara more than the actual possibility of being shot.

"Captain don't need to run with weights-," Mal pointed out as Jayne dropped a weighted belt at his feet. "I got crew to do the luggin'." He said smugly as he rocked back on his heels.

Riddick repressed the rumbling he felt building up in his chest. "Tell you what, Mal-," Riddick said slowly, attempting to bait the captain, "-I'll carry your weights and mine on the run out. I beat you to the mark; you carry double on the run back."

Mal debated the challenge, ignoring River's slight shake of the head entirely. A cocky smile tugged at his features as he eyed the weighted belt at his feet and then the duffel Riddick would be lugging as well. He knew Riddick was strong, but there was no way the convict could outrun him lugging that much weight. The captain bent down and picked up the weights; holding them out for Riddick to claim. "This'll be pie. Easy-peasy. You enjoy them weights." He grinned broadly.

"A platinum piece on Riddick." Zoe was a bit surprised when the bet came from Inara.

"I'll take it." The corners of the first mate's lips twitched. "You forget I served with Mal. We did a whole lot of running in the war." She repressed the almost reflexive bitter chuckle, surprised by its appearance all-together.

"Six years." River replied to the hushed bet in an almost reproachful mutter. Riddick was the only one to catch what she was referring to and his responding chuckle had Mal rethinking his masterful plan even though he wasn't entirely sure why the convict was chuckling.

"Everybody done their bitching?" Jayne grunted as he stubbed out his cigar and shouldered his own burden.

"Oh, I got a whole lot more planned for the rest of the day." Wash groaned.

"Well, save the air, you'll need it." Riddick smirked. "The canyon empties out into an abandoned quarry that's been turned into a reservoir. It's a little under four kilometers; rocky terrain and scrub bush. You make it there, you get water." He added, his voice losing its amused quality and taking on a tone that could only be considered all business. As much as he tried to repress the memory, the canyon on T2 kept flitting across his mind. They had started that run with eight and only four of them had made it to skiff city; only three had left the planet alive. This was more than just a training exercise to Riddick; a fact River was well aware of it, even if the convict was incapable of making the direct connection himself. It was the sole reason her vocal protests had been kept to a minimum. She kept his secrets and he kept hers.

*T*F*C*

"Come on, Sunshine, know you got more grit than this." Jayne teased the smaller mechanic who, alongside Simon, was bringing up the rear. Her only reply was a broken muttering of Mandarin as she tried to adjust her tool belt while she ran. "You can fly with a bullet in your gut but you can't run a mile? Gonna let the sissy Core-boy outrun you?"

"Hey!" Simon managed to protest as he adjusted the med-kit he'd been burdened with.

"Got no room to talk, Doc-," The merc chuckled as he kept an easy pace with the two, "-your sister's leavin' you in the dust."

"My sisssters….had muscle enhance…enhancement." He panted as he clutched his right side.

"And she's carryin' three times the weight of your med kit. Suck it up." Jayne barked.

"Wife!" Wash pleaded. "Wife, please… help!"

Zoe managed a chuckle through her own labored breathing, "Come on baby you can do this, after Niska it should be a breeze, just keep pushin' baby."

"Stop breathing through your mouth; it feels like your drawing more air but you're not. Inhale through your nose, you'll draw more oxygen that way." Inara instructed from over her shoulder easily. She was a bit surprised that the run wasn't proving to be more difficult for her; in fact, if it hadn't of been for the cluttered terrain and the weight she had been forced to carry, she might have very well been in the lead alongside River.

The terrain provided little difficulty for River as she moved between and over obstacles seamlessly; carving her path as her namesake did. Her long braids trailed out behind her as she launched herself off a large boulder, landing cleanly and moving back into a run without a second's hesitation. She had forgotten how liberating running could be. The burst of physical exertion giving her a clarity that would have been otherwise unobtainable. Despite her burden, River was overjoyed to be running as she was. It was her good mood, among other things, which kept her from moving to her full capability. She had no desire to catch up to the two preening men in front of her. Wash's grumbling and Kaylee's swearing was more than enough amusement, without the aggravation. More to the point, she had no desire to showcase her full capabilities until it was absolutely necessary. The trust she had been granted was built around an honest respect and appreciation for her abilities; she was more than aware how fragile it was and how quickly appreciation could turn to fear.

Riddick was merely toying with the captain as he kept the easy pace Mal had begun to struggle with. Mal hadn't taken into account the sun as they had started running and had made the mistake of trying to run full speed from the very beginning. The canyon mouth opened to the south, which was the direction the sun rose from on this rock and was now unapologetically beating down their backs. He was panting and doing a poor job of trying to conceal it. The more he tried to hide it, the worse his breathing became as he prevented himself from getting a full lungful of air.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Riddick asked and didn't try to conceal the amusement in his tone.

"Don't…know…wh..what you're talkin' 'bout." Mal panted as he narrowly avoided tripping over a small pile of rubble.

"That burn in your lungs."

"Don't…know…" Mal attempted to snort, but gave up entirely, preferring to conserve what little air he managed to breath in.

Riddick threw back his head and barked out a chuckle which ricocheted violently off the walls of the canyon. He didn't bother to shoot another insult; the convict merely picked up his pace, leaving the captain behind in his dust.

"Sonofabitch." Mal halted in his run to try and get a full breath of air; bending over to rest his hands on his knees he watched the convict disappear around the bend in the canyon. He was still gasping for air when River passed by him; so close he caught a slight breeze from her hair as she whipped past him.

"She warned you." River threw smugly over her shoulder; her footfalls landing in perfect precision to those of Riddick's though the convict left little by the way of physical clues where he passed. She didn't require them.

The captain had the energy to scowl, but just barely, and the exertion was wasted considering his Reader never once turned back to look at him. He caught himself before the very Riddick-like growl nearly escaped from his chest; with another muttered swear word he pushed himself forward. Riddick and River might have beat him to the finish but there was no way in Hell he was going to let any of the other crew do so as well.

*T*F*C*

Mal collapsed alongside a larger boulder, believing it was as good as any grave marker a man could get out in the desert. Unfortunately, the boulder he chose to collapse upon was also the choice seating of one particular Reader. Mal opened his eyes as he felt a cool shadow overtake him.

"She warned him." River said, though Mal couldn't rightly decide if it was a smug statement or one laced with pity. "You have poor form." She added. "You would be wise to adjust your center of gravity and not lean forward so much." She said simply. "Regulating your breathing and monitoring your pace would not hurt either."

"River?"

"Yes, Captain Daddy?" She answered innocently.

"Shut the rutting hell up." He groaned.

From a few meters away Riddick barked out a laugh that once more bounced its way through the canyon. River scowled down at her captain; she refrained from making yet another remark, however, as she was unsure whether or not it was a request or an actual order. She only further confused herself on the matter when she began to factor in how often the rest of the crew actually followed orders and the usual results when they did.

While River internally debated whether or not her captain's words were an order or sarcasm, Riddick had begun setting up a makeshift shooting range; plastering paper targets along the far canyon wall and on intermittent boulders. He was half way through his project when Inara, followed shortly thereafter by Wash and Zoe made their way towards the edge of the reservoir. Wash didn't bother with pleasantries as he threw himself down on the ground and began taking great big gulps of the warmed and slightly questionable water.

"You'll make yourself sick." River chimed, without looking up from the pattern of small pebbles she was arranging.

Wash duly ignored her, taking a break from drinking only long enough to glare at Riddick and bite off a remark to his captain. "This is all your fault."

"Huh?" Mal pushed himself up and wearily trudged over towards the edge of the water. "This safe?" He asked River perhaps a bit belatedly.

River looked up from her pebbles. "You requested her silence." There was no malice or bitterness to her statement, just a simple reminder of the fact.

"You could just have ordered them to stop. I could be sleeping, or eating, or anything else right now." Wash complained bitterly.

"Aw hell, Bit." Mal groaned, ignoring his pilot entirely. "Ain't got to take everything so literally."

"It's safe." River replied to his first question. "Enough." She added with a slight shrug and went back to her pebble arrangement.

"Enough?" Wash backed away from the water mistrustfully.

"Contaminates are below acceptable levels." River replied.

"How in the hell do you know that?" Zoe asked, looking from the water and back to River.

River shot her the _L__ook._

"Right." Zoe said slowly.

"She's full of shit." Riddick interrupted. "She hacked into the planet's satellites on the recon yesterday. The water quality reports were online."

"You're irritating." River shot the convict a glare.

"Keep singing that one; never does get old." Riddick replied dismissively as he crouched down beside her, cocking his head to the left and trying to track the footsteps of the last three remaining crew still out running.

"So what other gruesome levels of Hell will we be travelling to next?" Wash asked halfheartedly as he sprawled himself out in the dust.

"You, Kaylee, Simon, and Inara will be shooting; won't need you out on jobs regular but, when we do, you'll need to be able to hit something." Riddick grunted as he pinpointed Jayne and the others.

"There's nothing wrong with my aim." Inara protested indignantly. "I took the house tournament every year."

"With a crossbow." Riddick pointed out.

"With a what?" Mal asked. "Great. She sword fights and now she's a marksmen." He muttered the second half of his statement just under his breath.

"Logistics." River pointed out.

"Are everything." Riddick smirked at her. "How many shots does your bow fire before you have to reload?"

"Eight." Inara answered.

"And how long does it take you to reset your rounds?" He asked.

Inara rolled her eyes. "Point taken."

Riddick reached down into the duffel he had carried and pulled out a modified semi-automatic pistol, "This piece here-," he informed her as he stepped next to her so she could examine it, "-holds twelve rounds, reload takes less than less than five seconds if you have a spare mag handy, and if you can handle a crossbow, the kickback shouldn't be a problem."

Inara eyed the metal mistrustfully.

"She sympathizes." River said after determining the source of the woman's reluctance. "It is, however, a necessary evil. Everything has a price." She shrugged and went back to her pebbles.

Riddick ignored the commentary. "Take it." He grunted to the Companion, "Get used to the weight of it before you start shooting."

Reluctantly, Inara accepted the weapon, which was much heavier than she had assumed it would be. Pointing the Lassiter at Tera had been one thing; this particular piece of metal somehow seemed more threatening, more real than the antique. It wasn't the first time she'd held a gun, nor would it be the first she time she had fired one. There was a new kind of finality which overtook her as she accepted it; as though by doing so she was also accepting that her old life was over. It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. If her hand shook slightly when she reached for the gun, no one mentioned it.

"Startin' the party without us?" Jayne grunted as he rounded the bend, several meters behind him Kaylee and Simon were stumbling over the last obstacle of rocks.

"Got the targets set up." Riddick rumbled. He eyed the doctor, who was doubled over and panting; then the mechanic, who looked to be standing on pure irritation and annoyance alone. "Good luck with that." He jerked his head over to a clearing just outside of the shooting range. "Mal, Zo, Riv."

*T*F*C*

"Somewhat demoralizing to be taken down by a pint-sized bit." Mal grumbled as he picked himself up off the ground and dusted off his sweat-soaked clothing after having been dropped by River.

"You relaxed your grip when you thought she was down." Riddick pointed out. "Oldest trick in the book. Disappointing, Mal." The convict shook his head slightly.

"You assumed she was weaker because she was smaller." River added smugly.

"You done beratin' your captain?" Mal replied archly.

"It was a nice move." Zoe complimented, genuinely impressed. "Run through it again slower so I can see it better."

"She would be delighted." River beamed at the older woman.

"Hell no!" Mal yelped. He adjusted the tone of his voice before continuing. "You wanna get dropped, Zo, she can show you firsthand." He snorted.

"Scared of a little girl, Mal?" Riddick chortled.

"Ruttin' terrified." He admitted though, to be honest, there was a hint of pride in his voice as his eyes rested on River.

*T*F*C*

"Safety, Doc." Jayne grumbled just across the way. "Shoots a whole lot better if you remember to flick it off."

"I knew that." Simon snorted as he looked blankly at the piece of metal in his hand. "Where's the safety?"

"You want to let go of the trigger before I show you?" Jayne asked, employing an uncharacteristic amount of patience with the younger man. "And maybe not look down the barrel of it while you're lookin' for the safety."

"Oh, right." Simon chuckled nervously, not noticing when Inara and Kaylee took several steps back and away from him.

"Maybe live rounds weren't the best idea." The mechanic whispered to the Companion, who nodded her head warily in agreement, taking just another step behind the doctor.

"If the doctor shoots himself, who fixes him?" Wash asked curiously.

"River." The answer came in unison from the two women.

"Anything that girl can't do?" Wash chuckled.

The sound of a gunshot, followed by a very unmanly yelp from the doctor, had the three of them jerking their heads back around.

"Goddamn it, Doc!" Jayne roared picking himself up from the dirt. "Told you not to point that goddamn thing at me!"

"Oh, Buddha! Jayne, um…" Simon stuttered carefully placing the metal down on a rock and backing away. "It just grazed you." He tried to diffuse the murderously look on the merc's face.

"Get your ruttin' kit." Jayne growled as examined the fresh wound in his right arm.

"Yeah, live rounds, not such a good idea." Kaylee frowned. "Baby, you okay?"

Wash was holding his sides and attempting to stay upright as he laughed. "Okay, the run, so worth that!"

*T*F*C*

_An hour later…_

"Don't think my leg works like that." Mal cocked his head to the left as he and Riddick stood back and watched Zoe and River move through a sequence at half-speed.

"Nobody's leg works like that." Riddick grunted with veiled appreciation for the smooth exposed skin in question. He physically shook himself. Now was not the time to be distracted by a set of legs. The left corner of his lips quirked as he spun without warning and swung at the captain.

Mal, was a man however who was used to being sucker punched and he dodged the blow with little thought the moment Riddick's arm came into his peripheral. Riddick didn't give the captain an opportunity to ask what the hell it was for, as he followed his first swing quickly with a left hook that landed solidly, though at half strength, on Mal's ribs. The captain recovered quickly and sidestepped as he went in for a quick jab and soon the two men were dancing around the space surrounding the two women; Riddick barking out insults as he dodged each swing, with only one out of every four or so of the captain's landing.

"You get angry too quick in a fight, Mal! Stop fucking swinging wild." He growled; though he grunted in appreciation of a nice spin/sidestep that Mal made to dodge a blow that would have landed him on his ass.

"Not much for conversation in a fight." Mal retorted taking a softened blow to step inside Riddick's reach and land an uppercut against his jaw.

The convict spun to recover from the uppercut and dropped low as he came back around, sweeping out Mal's feet as he did so. The captain snatched a handful of dirt before pushing himself back to his feet, tossing it into Riddick's face.

Riddick merely laughed. "Dirty fighter, I like it. Except I'm wearing goggles you gorram idiot." He smirked as Mal was forced to drop low to avoid a jab.

"Reflex." Mal shrugged and threw his weight at the convict to force the fight to the ground.

Zoe and River were having much more success with their own spar then the two men. Zoe having quickly learned the new moves and kicks River had showed her, while River tried to focus on reading the woman's body language rather than her mind in the fight.

"Shoulder tick." Zoe pointed out as River spun clear of her blow at the last second. "You're tryin' to read my head, but what I'm thinkin' ain't how I'm movin'. Anybody that knows your tricks is gonna try to confuse you, Riv." The first mate was a little proud of herself at being able to outsmart the genius. However, it was the very last time in their spar that she got away with such a trick; and very nearly regretted it altogether. Apparently, River did not take kindly to being fooled.

*T*F*C*

"Try hitting the target, Doc." Jayne groaned, wiping a hand across his face in frustration. His arm was freshly bandaged and a cigar hung from the left corner of his mouth.

"This really isn't my forte." Simon said defensively. "I'm a doctor. I save lives."

"And when you learn how to shoot proper, you'll be able to save your own." Jayne pointed out. "And maybe not accidentally kill your crew." He added with a snort.

"Oh, come on! It was an accident." Simon groaned.

"You shot me!" Jayne snapped.

"By accident." Simon pointed out again. "I've pulled more bullets out of you then I've put in."

"He's got a point." Wash chimed in as he paused in his own firing to reload.

"Ain't talkin' to you, Flyboy." Jayne grunted, looking over the doctor's head at the pilot. "And why don't you try one of the targets farther back. Stop taking the easy shots." He growled.

Wash merely rolled his eyes. Despite Jayne and Riddick's opinion, he was actually a fairly good shot. He couldn't be married to Zoe and not be.

"Just keep shooting." He grunted at the doctor, squinting past the smoke from his cigar as he took a long draw off of it. One eye cast a longing glance at the four sparing across the way before looking to the women. "Inara, turn that right foot in, you ain't firin' a bow, you're firin' a gun. That's it-," he added when she complied, "-step back a bit on the right leg too, there ya go." He pushed her foot a little with the tip of his own boot, before stepping back and nodding. "Kaylee, what did I tell you 'bout shootin' with one eye closed?" He let out a tormented sigh as he tossed down his cigar and crushed it beneath his boot.

"See better with two?" She answered sheepishly. "Just feels like I see better with one." She shrugged.

"Head trick is all, just like folk think squintin' helps. Ain't a faster way to screw up a shot then tryin' to squint when you're takin' aim. If you can't see it proper, don't shoot at it. You waste ammo and alert everybody to the fact somebody with shit aim is firin'." His stern expression relaxed somewhat at Kaylee's forlorn one. "Aim's better than the Doc's." He tried to be positive.

"Ain't as big of a compliment as you think it is." She giggled somewhat reluctantly.

"Hey!" Simon protested swinging around with his gun in his hand. The reflexive dive everybody took to the ground was nearly comical. He rolled his eyes. "I'm not that terrible."

"You. Shot. Me." Jayne repeated in case the doctor had forgotten as he picked himself back up off the ground. Jayne stomped over to him and yanked the gun from his hand. "Sit." He barked. "Don't give a shit what Riddick and Mal say, you're more dangerous with a ruttin' gun. Stick to fixin' people, doc."

"If I'd'a known shootin' Jayne was all it would have taken to get out of this I would have done it when he came banging on my door this morning." Wash griped to Inara, who giggled in response.

"Can we not talk 'bout shootin' Jayne?" Kaylee frowned, glaring at the pair of them. "He coulda been kilt."

"Sorry, _mei-mei._" Inara attempted to school her features.

"He threatens to kill me every day." Wash merely shrugged as he went back to firing at the targets, not even slightly apologetic.

The merc stepped away from his shooters and pulled out his flask, more than grateful for the smooth burn of the whiskey as his arm was still burning from the kiss of the bullet. "Riddick, call it a halt for a bit?" He yelled to the convict across the way. If he didn't take get a few moments to cool down, he just might have started picking off the crew himself.

Riddick bobbed back up after ducking a blow from the captain. He spun, sidestepped, and hit the captain hard with an elbow to his back sending him to his knees. "Sounds good to me." He rumbled back.

"Jesus Christ." Mal groaned picking himself up from the dirt. He was slightly bruised but not entirely worse for wear as Riddick had thankfully softened most of his blows; he'd done more damaged to himself than the convict had actually inflicted. "Tell me we ain't runnin' back to the shuttles?" He half-pleaded as he accepted Riddick's hand up; realizing belatedly that he was in fact still the captain and fully capable of ordering it not to be so.

"Faster than walking." Was the only vague reply Riddick offered as he bypassed Mal and crouched beside the duffels, pulling out a stack of protein bars and tossing them out to the members of the crew. He crouched down next to River after passing out the bars and forced her chin up so he could inspect the small nick along her jaw. The cut was minuscule, and hardly worthy of notice, the scent of her blood however, screamed inside his head even in the open air. "You were holding back." He rumbled quietly to her as he turned her chin to the other side for a more thorough inspection.

"She would scare them." River replied just as quietly.

"Didn't bother to on Niska's."

"She had no choice."

"Back to she again?"

River ignored the questioned, allowing Riddick to feel her aggravation and annoyance over it.

Riddick released her chin and settled himself, leaning his back comfortably against the same chunk of rock River was using. "Gotta show them sometime or the other River." He pressed.

"They saw on the complex." She used his argument against him.

"They got a taste on the complex." Riddick argued further. The honest truth of it was, and it was a truth River was fully aware of; he wanted to spar with her.

River was unsure how she felt about that. She knew how Riddick fought, she had learned his every move through his mind, but she also knew he was an opportunist and therefore his staple catalog of moves could not be trusted, nor could she rely wholly on his mind which ran heavily off of instinct. They had fought in the infirmary and, if it hadn't been for Simon's interruption, she would have killed him; she held no doubts or delusions on the matter. She was vaguely aware of her own survival programming and she did not trust the Killer. What if she "broke" during their spar? What if a blow landed that jarred her awareness and she slipped from reality? Sparring with the first mate was one thing; Zoe had landed one or two blows, but she was a non-threat; River knew, beyond a doubt, she was never in any danger of losing. Riddick was another matter entirely. The thing that crawled beneath his skin was salivating over the possibility of a challenge; there was as much a danger of Riddick losing control as there was for her.

"It's not safe." She whispered; lowering her eyes as she picked at her protein bar, no longer hungry.

"For who?" Riddick asked, understanding what she was saying without needing the clarification.

"Neither of us." She admitted, and the confession surprised Riddick; he had been sure she was going to say for him, which would have done nothing but make him want to provoke her into a fight. The fact that River had said it wasn't safe for her changed the situation entirely.

The only reply he offered was a slight nod of his head, though his disappointment was almost tangible.

"Things will be different soon." River used the very same words he had used to comfort her right before Ariel, though she wasn't altogether sure that comfort was appropriate for the situation. Regardless of their intent, they were true. Control, stability, they were now viable possibilities, and just within her grasp.

Again Riddick only gave a slight nod of his head by way of acknowledgement, but something in him eased as well and River was satisfied that she had made her point. "Finish your bar." He grunted as he pushed himself up. "Back to work in five." He announced to the group, who responded with a chorus of groans and a few particular amusing remarks regarding his and Jayne's resemblances to bastard beasts of burden.

*T*F*C*

"River make them stop." Wash pleaded with the Reader.

The girl in question merely arched her brow in response.

"Shoot them, blow up their brains or just plain old kick them in their heads but make it stop." Wash begged. The last four hours straight, the two gunhands had run them mercilessly through a seemingly never ending tangent of what the pilot felt was just wildly unnecessary training exercises. "I'm a pilot, a leaf on the wind, a mountain against the waves; a somewhat fleshy freight dog, I can't even feel my switch flipper finger anymore." He whined as he held up his right index finger and attempted to flex it.

River couldn't help herself, a rush of giggles poured out of her mouth that had her gripping her sides to contain herself.

Wash frowned. "Mock my pain."

"Husband." Zoe deadpanned, though a slight smirk gave away her own amusement.

"If you get them to call it, I'll give you Lucy." He ignored his wife and attempted to buy River off; his head jerking around to make sure Riddick and Jayne weren't paying attention.

"What makes you think they'll listen to her?" Zoe asked skeptically unwilling to admit how much in agreement she actually was with her husband. "Kaylee's been doin' the puppy-eyed pout for the last hour; they just stopped looking at her."

"She can just play crazy." Wash shrugged.

It was Zoe's turn to arch a brow. "You ain't really gonna encourage that are you?"

"She does it all the time." Wash accused.

River frowned. "She doesn't play crazy."

"Liar." Wash shot back. "Don't think I haven't noticed every time a shift comes up for you on cortex watch you're conveniently locked in your bunk or muttering to yourself in the cargo bay. Last time you were dancing on railing beams singing Twinkle, Twinkle in Mandarin."

Zoe eyed the Reader, who was suspiciously looking everywhere but up at her. She couldn't help the quiet chuckle. "Girl, you really are a genius."

"She admits to nothing." River continued to protest her innocence.

Wash rolled his eyes. "Come on, Riv. Have a fit and I'll let you pilot next time nobody's lookin'." He offered.

River immediately looked up; her brow arching in contemplation. "If she concedes, it is not an admission or indicator of prior actions."

It was now Wash's turn to raise an eyebrow as he looked at his wife for translation.

"Means, we can't sell her out later."

"Oh." Wash nodded quickly. "Hand to God." He promised.

"I heard every gorram word you all just said." Riddick called out without bothering to turn around to look back at the small group.

"For the love of goose feathers." Wash whined out.

*T*F*C*

The run back to the shuttle was more of a begrudging trudge than an actual run, and Jayne and Riddick gave up trying to spur the pace around the time Kaylee began making obscene hand gestures in lieu of yelling at them. Mal had kept up his end of the bargain to the point of carrying the double weight, but if Riddick thought the captain was running as well; the convict seriously had another thing coming.

"Where do you think you're going?" Riddick asked River as she moved to enter the shuttle which was parked just outside the mouth of the canyon.

River's only response was a low rumbling growl. The convict merely chuckled as he bypassed her and retrieved his cycle from inside the shuttle.

"River." Simon called, "Ride back with Inara and I will you?"

"She's not riding anywhere, doc." Riddick answered for her.

"You're not seriously going to continue to train?" The doctor looked up at the rapidly darkening skies. "Dark can't be more than a half hour away."

Riddick gave the doctor a pointed look, one which he received the full effect of as the convict had already removed his goggles. Simon fought the urge to shudder under the weighted mercurial gaze; it was more unnerving than he ever wanted to admit.

"Right, you see in the dark." Simon answered himself when it was obvious Riddick wasn't going to do more than glare at him. "But River doesn't and she's exhausted." He gestured towards his sister, who was indeed leaning against the shuttle rather than bothering to support her own weight.

"Riv, your brother's telling me you can't keep up. That true?" He asked, his voice held an amused hardness to it, laced with a challenge.

River straightened immediately, eyes narrowing. "It is you who cannot keep up." She retorted as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"See that, Doc? Your sister's fine." Riddick chuckled.

"Captain!" Simon turned and yelled looking for support.

"What?" Mal popped his head out of the shuttle.

"Tell him it's enough." Simon was well aware of the fact he sounded like a petulant child. It didn't bother him in the slightest. Regardless of whether or not River agreed to the extra training, he felt it was wholly unnecessary; especially given her recent bouts with instability.

"What?" Mal asked again stepping out of the shuttle.

"He wants to keep training with River. She's been at it all day; she can't possible keep his pace." He started slightly and let out a rather unmanly yelp as his sister viciously pinched him.

"She is quite capable, Simon." She glared at her brother, offended by his assertions.

"Well, there's your answer." Mal grunted, unsure as to exactly why he was being dragged into the matter at all. "Sister's a grown woman, Doc, and she told me she'd be honest if she couldn't handle somethin'."

No one noticed River's near imperceptible flinch.

"But…" Simon tried to argue.

"Done talkin', Simon." Mal cut him off. "Now your captain is tired, hungry, and all sorts of sore and, if I don't get a shot of whiskey in me soon, I'm liable to startin' shootin' people myself; so shut your gorram hole and get the hell aboard the shuttle or be left behind."

Simon dropped his head in defeat. "River, be careful." He sighed and dropped a kiss on the top of her head before boarding the shuttle.

"Riddick-," Mal called before boarding himself.

"Yeah, Mal?" The convict looked up from his bike.

"Keep her safe." He called over his shoulder, not bothering to wait for the man's response.

"You are irritating." River spoke without looking at him, breaking the immediate silence following the departure of the shuttle.

"All got to be something." Riddick rumbled as he stowed his bike behind a cluster of rocks to hide it from sight.

"She has already established her ability to layer her vision." She did realize her protest was somewhat belated given the fact the shuttle had already departed and if, she did not want to walk back to _Serenity,_ she would have to comply. The thought of stealing his bike and making him walk back to the ship crossed her mind fleetingly. While the prank would have indeed been amusing, she did not think facing Riddick's ire would be.

"In full daylight on the ship." Riddick argued. "You've been holding yourself back all day, thought you'd be itching to work some of that off." He rumbled over his shoulder.

River cocked an eyebrow. "He wishes to play." It wasn't entirely a statement, though it wasn't a question at all.

"According to Mal I'm not allowed to play my favorite one anymore." Riddick rumbled.

"Who's the Better Killer?" She supplied for him. "Not allowed to kill, not anymore." She seemed to explain to herself more than him. "Why?"

"Ask Mal." He snorted, almost comically.

River shook her head. "Not why can't you play, why do you listen?"

The question caused Riddick to pause mid-step; it was a good fucking question. "You." He answered.

For all of her telepathic capability, she had not been expecting that answer. The truth of it could not be denied.

"Not looking for redemption, River." He rumbled when she didn't reply. "Not looking to turn over a new leaf or be a hero. Need _Serenity_ to keep you away from those rutting Blue Hands and everybody else that's got an itch over you; too many looking to take on our own. If it means I got to play by Mal's rules, I will." He smirked; the expression was more smug than usual. "While he's looking anyway."

"But we _will_ kill the Blue Hands?" Even in the rapidly encroaching darkness, that brief flash of beauty he had seen the previous night edged across her eyes once more; her posture tensing, almost as though she was fighting the reflex to drop into a fighting stance.

"Bloodthirsty." He accused her, chuckling darkly; though, by his tone, it was more of a compliment. "Every last one, girl." He assured her when she tensed further.

River nodded. The tension draining from her body; the cold lethality of her eyes remained behind. "She is ready to play then."

"Good." Riddick smirked as he tossed her a pocket-sized torch. "Clip it to your dress. We're heading into those mining tunnels. I don't need more than what that speck of light will provide. Just keep it away from my eyes and on my back." He removed a blindfold from one of his pockets and stepped around River to tie it around her eyes. "Let's see how good you really are." As he knotted the small length of fabric, he felt River settle across his plain of vision. The sensation was less disturbing than the first time since he had been expecting it.

River was startled slightly by the intensity of his night vision. It was vaguely familiar since she had examined nearly all of his memories; the difference between real-time and memory was significant, more so than she thought it would be and it took her a moment to adjust as her mind worked through the best ways to analyze and process the secondhand information.

"Ready?"

River shook her head in the negative as it tilted to the left holding up her right index finger to indicate she was thinking. "We must establish a precedent for distance we will maintain so she can compensate."

Riddick quirked an eyebrow despite the fact River couldn't see the expression.

"If he is standing one meter ahead of her she must take into account what he sees is one meter ahead of her as well; otherwise she will attempt to step over a stone that is not directly in front of her but in front of him."

"Will you be able to maintain a constant?" He asked and was answered with the _Lo__ok,_ though it was partially concealed by the blindfold. Riddick snorted. "Keep it at a meter than. How's that work anyway?"

"She can feel your presence, it will serve as her marker, as to how she can maintain the distance-," she shrugged, "-she just can." She frowned slightly.

"What?"

"I have mud on my dress, it is distracting."

Riddick barked out a laugh. "I won't look at you then. Come on, we're wasting dark."

*T*F*C*

"So you shot, Jayne." Mal chuckled as he sat down besides Simon. The crew had returned to Ivan's yard to be welcomed to a roaring bonfire and a small group of men. A few of the men had had children sick with whooping cough and had come by to thank the doctor and the crew for donating services and antibiotics. Said men had not been allowed to leave their houses without gifts of pie and sweet breads from their wives and it had turned into an impromptu shindig when Ivan rolled out a barrel of his own inter-engine moonshine. It wasn't quite as clean as the New Caanan Whiskey the crew was in possession of but it did go a long way in significantly increasing the captain's mood.

"I grazed him." Simon snorted as his eyes darted to the direction they had left River and Riddick in.

"Relax, 'tween the two of them, I think they could handle any whatever could come at them out there."

The root of Simon's nervousness lay in the incident in the infirmary right before Ariel. However, Mal was still not aware of it, and the doctor preferred to keep it that way. He merely shrugged and pulled his eyes away and back to the bonfire.

"How'd that feel by the way?" Mal asked thoughtfully.

"How did what feel?"

"Shooting Jayne. Felt like it myself a time or two." The captain laughed.

"It was an accident." He couldn't conceal his grin. "Satisfying." He added. "Even if it was only a graze."

*T*F*C*

The sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon as River exited the mining tunnel via an air shaft Riddick had decided to use rather than the exit tunnel which had been conveniently located just beside the air shaft. She sputtered out a small bit of rock and dirt which had gotten in her mouth and swore a tangent of epic proportions as she ripped the blindfold from her eyes.

Riddick threw back his head and roared a booming chuckle at his Reader's disgruntled state.

"I no longer wish to play with you." She glared at him as she tried vainly to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress. "Logic dictates the path of less resistance is the wisest when traveling underground, instead he must choose the most difficult. He is sadistic and derives pleasure and amusement from her pain and annoyance."

Riddick didn't try to argue with her; he merely continued to smirk at her dirt and soot-caked face. "You're good." He admitted with more than a little bit of pride which went a long way in placating the irate River. She hadn't faltered once; there had been times where he hadn't even been able to hear her footsteps behind him.

"She could have told you as much." She snorted.

"We know we have six tunnels that empty into the canyon, two air shafts we can breach the surface through and two ambush sites if we're followed into the tunnels. Dragged you through all that for a reason, quit bitching."

"She could have told you as much." She repeated indignantly.

"Where's the fun in that?" He chuckled.

"He lives to make her miserable." River growled out at him.

"Been thinking-," he started ignoring her remark and not bothering to look back to see if she was following him down the ridge to where his bike was stashed, "-this little trick might come in handy if we have to scout an area and can't risk comm communication. I take Jayne ahead to stake a place out and set up a sniper position. Then, I can relay everything back to you, if you can tap into my vision and my head you'll be able to work out the best way to surround the area and move in with Mal."

"Valid." River snapped, still too annoyed to give him more than a one word answer. The outing, on one hand, had been liberating and she was pleasantly exhausted from having to use the full range of her capabilities for the first time in a very long time. On the other, she was filthy, exhausted, hungry, and stunk like rotten eggs and bleach. On this issue, the Girl and the Killer were very much at odds.

"Still have to test distances though." Riddick muttered more to himself than River.

River agreed, but didn't dare to offer a reply out of fear he would want to do so immediately. The Riddick in the mines had been a very different Riddick then the Riddick who walked the surface. His mind had shifted into something much more raw and feral than what she had been accustomed to. The Killer had reveled in it. The literal darkness had brought out the figurative darkness in the both of them.

He hadn't spoken inside the mines, nor had she; it was a fact that she had not been aware of until the sun had hit her skin. They had stuck to telepathic communication when conversation was necessary; though the silence had been deafening at points. On more than one occasion they had come across pockets of miners working the night-shift in the tunnels; strengthening them for the day crews. When it had happened, Riddick had invented a new game, pushing River to walk out ahead of him rather than behind; testing how close she could get to them without alerting them to her presence. Riddick had been more than a little impressed that she had not once been discovered, getting close enough to toe the line between the light of the men's torches and the darkness that separated them from. They even had a bit of fun moving around tools and equipment, slipping through the groups of men without receiving so much as a glance in the direction they moved. It had been a bit cruel and slightly comical, especially when one of the men began ranting about ghosts in the tunnels; but River couldn't bring herself to care. Despite the filth and the stink, she had to admit, it was the most fun she'd been allowed to have in years.

"What are the odds of them noticing if we rigged a few blow points?" Riddick asked suddenly, pulling River out of her own head.

"Reavers." River shuddered when she deciphered the reason behind the convict's question. The captain had told her there wasn't a point to riling up the crew; she, however, did not feel it was necessary to withhold the information from Riddick.

"They don't ever stop." There wasn't much in the 'Verse which was capable of unsettling the convict; Reavers were one of them. The first contact he'd ever had with one had been on the ship after they had been caught salvaging the derelict, and that one hadn't even been a real one, but a second generation Reaver so to speak. The grotesqueness of that meeting would be forever etched into his consciousness. He'd lived through it, easily, with just a slash to his arm, but that didn't mean he was looking to fight his way through a horde of them. As much as he detested the idea of running from any fight, he wasn't stupid. "Be easier to lose them through the tunnels and blow a few key points behind us. Canyon's wide enough to keep _Serenity _stashed in from here on out; Wash could fly low through the length of it, come out over the quarry and blow atmo at a full burn."

"Because he successfully left atmosphere at a full burn once before does not mean he is capable or should do it every time. The possibility of an engine backfire is too great."

Riddick shrugged carelessly as he climbed onto his bike. "Better to go out fiery than to go out as lunch."

"Conceded." River agreed climbing on behind him.

"We can plan all we want for the Alliance and Blue Sun, just some things they won't do, some lines they won't cross. Mercs-," he gave a disgusted snort, "-can smell them from a rock away. They'll try more than the government boys, but the higher price for us alive works to our advantage there. The creed is the greed." The disgust in his voice became more apparent as he revved the engine. "Reavers, they're the variable this far out. That makes me itch."

"Don't speak of such things." River said hastily. "They never lie down and they come when you call." Her head snapped around quickly to survey their surroundings as if she could feel their rabid breath on her neck.

Riddick released a frustrated huff of air. "And back to crazy. There some kind of switch I keep hitting that I don't know about." The, _they come when you call,_ remark he chose to ignore entirely only because he had not the slightest fucking clue what she could have possibly meant.

"Control is a calculated risk." River replied cryptically.

Riddick immediately powered down his bike. Her statement had caught his attention and he climbed back off the bike to look at her fully. "River, do you know where the Reavers came from?" The intensity of his question was illustrated by his iron grip around her wrists as his head followed her own dodging one to keep her looking into his eyes. "Answer me, River." He growled, his fury at the implications of her cryptic remark nearly blacking out his vision. He was not an idiot. The Alliance and Blue Sun had done this to her and, at the Academy, she had been exposed to the minds of the top brass on both sides of the line. Could she have absorbed the secret of the Reavers? Could that possibly be what was driving her insane? He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of nightmares that story would give even a completely sane person; even a man like himself.

"Let. Her. Go." River's eyes flashed and Riddick took the warning for what it was and released her, quickly stepping backwards out of her immediate space.

River slowly raised her head; the lethality he found so beautiful was shining through her eyes; the threat enough to cause the convict's hackles to rise and he found himself answering her glare with a reflexive growl; the sound rumbling and building in his chest.

"Don't be greedy." The tone she spoke in was somehow more crisp and cold than her usual. If Riddick didn't know better he would have assumed the voice belonged to a different person entirely. "She told you, the players would be announced when the curtain is called." River cackled, it was the only word Riddick could find which could accurately describe the sound.

_**/River./**_ Riddick didn't bother to indulge her. His call roared through her mind and the girl sitting on his bike physically flinched; but there was no alteration in her manner.

River smiled maliciously when she looked back up. "They'll come screaming from the stars when they come. Merchants of death, be wary Furyan. Eleven words sealed your fate. Shirah knows. Who's keeping secrets now?" She giggled, the sound wasn't as harsh as the cackle; it was the sound of blood bubbling from lips laced with the chiming of bells.

Despite himself, and the obvious danger of the situation he was in, Riddick couldn't help but think it was one of the most beautiful sounds he'd ever heard. It stirred something in him; the thing that crawled beneath his skin seemed more close to the surface at that sound.

_**/River./**_ He tried again, more forcefully.

"And I thought you liked blood and secrets, Furyan." The Killer pouted, her lower lip becoming Rididck's sole focus.

"Know I do." He licked his dry lips.

"I have thousands." She tempted. "She will be your salvation." She whispered; repeating Shirah's words back to him, words Riddick had yet to share with River, or so he had thought. "When you dream, you're vulnerable, that's how she knows, that's when she slips inside and learns all the things you don't tell her." The Killer answered his thoughts, giggling again at the look of confusion mingled with anger that wove through his features. "Bad Big Bad, trying to keep secrets."

_**/River./**_Riddick snarled into her mind; he felt something snap, and the girl flinched again.

He found the muzzle of his own gun pressed against his chin before he realized his call had had no effect.

"Just a pull of the trigger." River whispered. "You told her that. Convinced her to let me out to play. Can't take your words back."

"Do it." Riddick actually smirked. "Ghost me, bitch." He challenged, seeing something else flash behind her eyes and knowing she wouldn't.

"Who else could keep up?" She returned his smirk and then, surprisingly, lowered the gun to press a chaste kiss just beneath his chin where the muzzle had rested. "Keep her secrets Furyan and she'll keep yours."

Riddick felt the gun being jammed back into his holster, but he spared no attention for it. _**/RIVER./ **_He locked his gaze with hers, and forced the call through there link with a ferocious intensity.

River's eyes closed and her shoulders slumped nearly imperceptibly; when she opened them again, there was nothing but confusion in their depths.

Riddick half-growled, stepping back away from her again after establishing it was actually her. "You nearly blew my fucking head off."

"She didn't and she wouldn't." River dismissed him with a surprising amount of calm given the situation. "You were a non-threat."

Riddick seemed more offended by being called a non-threat then he did over having his own gun pressed against his chin.

"What were we talking about?" River blinked, confused by the fact that she could not remember.

"Nothing." Riddick rumbled, unwilling to bring up the Reavers again. "Stay the fuck out of my head over it too, River." He added more harshly then he intended as he climbed back onto the bike. "Let's just get back to the ship, before your brother sends out a search party." He added brusquely, unsure if he was more pissed over the episode, the gun, or the remark about him being a non-threat.

"She's ruined everything, hasn't she?" River asked quietly.

"No." Riddick grunted. "Just confused the fuck out of it all." He didn't bother to bring up the confession over River slipping into his dreams. He doubted there was anything she could do to control it even if she tried; he was even less sure if it was River slipping into his head or the Killer and whether or not it even mattered. The shift in River had been too close to the girl that tried to kill him in the infirmary, just perhaps more controlled, definitely more calculated and intelligent. If he could take anything positive away from the situation that would it. It had to mean something that she spoke this time, instead of just going for the kill. She had at least warned him away from broaching the subject; though the warning only served to further convince him that whatever was eating up River's brain had something to do with them. Whether or not it was the cause of them, the memory of exposure to them, or even just military intelligence on them; River knew something, or rather the Killer did, and he was real keen to speak with her some more, if he could do it without getting himself killed by her.

*T*F*C*

Endnote: For those of you who are wondering about the end scene and River's drastic and sudden shift, her mind is protecting itself by refusing to acknowledge certain information, much as in same way we normally repress traumatic memories and so when Riddick directly questioned her on the Reavers she reacted violently as a way to protect herself from acknowledging what she knows. Simon was correct in assuming that trying to chemically stimulate River's mind would be catastrophic to her mental state. The "Killer" is not only the programmed weapon the Alliance created, but also a manifestation of River's own defense mechanisms. It is often found that the multiple personalities of those who suffer from the disorder work to protect the actual person from having their delusions destroyed and that is precisely what the "Killer" is doing. Since she and River had made a sort of deal on the complex her personality will begin to become more prevalent.


	67. Interlude 11 Haven 4

Riddick inhaled deeply; the scent of the jungle around him was bittersweet, harsh and delicate, delicious within its own caustic brutality. He was somewhat taken aback when he opened his eyes to find himself someplace other than the mountain plateau. He stood at the gates of a ruined city. The smoke had long since dissipated but the soot and stink of it remained. The tiny hairs on the back of his neck rose to attention. His entire body vibrated with a barely controlled anger he did not understand; something in this place called to him. Something was an understatement; he felt the pull on his mind come from a hundred different directions. Voices, indistinct and faded, screamed at him and yet somehow there was no source. There was nothing, save stillness and silence, and yet he heard these voices and felt their presence. It was unnerving. His entire life, he had relied heavily on his senses; they didn't lie. Lips could lie, people could hide, but scent, tone of voice, heart rate and breathing patterns never did. He was alone, yet every one of his senses was screaming the contradiction. He could _smell_ the bodies; he could _hear_ their voices; he _felt _them standing beside him but he _saw_ nothing.

He remained standing where he was, the space between two broken metallic gates, and crumbling walls connected to them rose more than twenty meters above him. The city itself was massive; awe-inspiring if Riddick had ever beheld a sight that could be called so. Its southern border was not walled as the other three sides were. The remaining wall was natural, the face of a massive mountainside, and the city did not end at its base. Rather, it climbed regally up the face of it. Buildings built of rock and metal, blending together so seamlessly it was hard to tell in some places where the rock ended and the metal began.

He did not realize he had moved beyond the gates until they had nearly disappeared from his view. Where he walked, he had no conscious knowledge of. Only the direction and speed felt right and so he continued. Instinctively he knew he was being watched, by whom or how many he couldn't even begin to fathom a guess. This was Shirah's realm and logic told him this had to be all of her creation, though Riddick was unwilling to assume anything in this place. He wasn't as unnerved by the knowledge of being watched as he should have been. There was no threat in the air. The familiar scent of adrenaline and anticipation were absent; instead he felt calm. unnaturally comfortable in this strange and desolate city.

The path of his feet brought him before two massive stone doors at the base of the mountain; intricately carved and masterfully worked steel and iron twisted organically among the natural rock of the doors. His gaze drifted upward to the massive spires and outcroppings above his head that jutted from the mountain. To his left was a stairwell built into the rock face. Briefly the urge to climb it hit him but it passed quickly. He was supposed to go through the doors. He didn't know how he knew but the pull of this place originated from somewhere behind those doors and Riddick was unwilling to abandon this dream. Was it even a dream? Had he been awake before this place had claimed him? He tried to remember the moments prior to finding himself in front of the gates and found he could not. The memories of River and the crew were there but the knowledge of the moments leading up to this point weren't; not a trace of them anywhere in his mind. River's presence was still there, numbed and distance but he could still feel her drifting inside.

Riddick closed his eyes and pushed his hearing as far as it would allow; searching for a sound beyond the door. The metal and stone were thick, however, too thick to allow any sound to escape beyond them. Steeling himself, he pushed against the doors, prepared to meet resistance and surprised when he found none. The doors opened seamlessly; not even a squeak of metal or a grinding of stone against the floor.

The halls were smooth; ornate only due to the intricate carvings. There were no inlays of jewels or vain displays of wealth; only knot-work. This place was beautiful to him in all of its simplistic and raw glory. He felt strong here. The echoes of his boots seemed to join with a nonexistent melody of hundreds of others. Every surface vibrated with the echoes of the voices. He couldn't make out the words. They spilled over each other like water over rapids, garbled and dangerous, yet soothing and lyrical all the same.

He'd never been to this place. The halls and tunnels branched off into a labyrinthine complex. The lighting was dim, streams of sunlight broke through the rock from what appeared to be purposeful cracks, guided by mirrors to illuminate the corridors with dusty reflected light. He found it to be ideal for his vision as though it was designed with the Shined eyes in mind. It was a temple, to who or what he couldn't fathom a guess, but somehow he knew all the same. Just as he knew which branches of tunnel to walk, whether to turn left or right or continue forward.

He was moving upwards. The incline of the hall and the clarity in the air told him this; after walking for what seemed like hours, but passed in a mere handful of seconds, Riddick emerged from the depths of the mountain to its apex. It was the crown to the city he would have expected. The rock had been smoothed and polished. For the first time, Riddick caught the glimmer of jewels embedded in the massive columns and archways which ran along the circumference of the summit. There was no altar in its center; this was not a place of God and religion, for which he was thankful.

_**What use are Gods? **_

Riddick's head jerked sharply to his left and then he was inexplicably in the center of the summit, Shirah standing just to his left; her gaze focused on the rising sun as it appeared over the horizon. Almost on reflex, Riddick moved to lower his goggles. They were absent and wholly unnecessary. The constant cloud cover filtered the sunlight and, while it was somewhat abrasive when looked directly upon, it was in no way unbearable.

_So you're a mind-reader now, too?_

Riddick slowly turned his gaze to the familiar voice, a voice that both enraged him and soothed him like no other, including River.

_About time you made your appearance._

_**I am never far from your mind.**_

_Feeling a bit crowded in my own head._

_**We all carry burdens.**_

She answered and Riddick saw what appeared to be traces of Shirah's amusement.

He grunted by way of sarcastic agreement; noticing River's sleeping form off to the right of the summit resting suspended in air as if her bed was only imaginary instead of nonexistent. Her hair was splayed out loosely, masking her face, her body still and serene in her slumber.

_**She is unharmed.**_

_Can see that. Why's she here?_ He asked impatiently.

The woman offered him a smile; one that was both amused and annoyed.

_**She has become increasingly difficult to circumvent.**_

Riddick couldn't repress his booming chuckle.

_**You are both sleeping, she is consumed by her own dreams and has nothing to spare for yours.**_

_So this is a dream?_

_**Not entirely.**_

Riddick didn't press her further. Much like River, the less you asked Shirah, the more she was willing to give. He waited patiently for her to continue.

_**It is a stream of consciousness somewhere between memory and dream. You are right to assume your ability to communicate is more than simple telepathy. I told you once, instinct is an inferior word; awareness is better and still inaccurate. We have no word for what it is simply because it was understood without definition. To define it, would be to belittle it. **_

A deep rumble built in Riddick's chest; his frustration evident.

_Where are we?_

He tried for a simpler question.

_**This was the hall of your fathers and mothers before you. It was forgotten long ago. **_

There was an almost mourning to her tone that Riddick felt in the core of his being as though it was his own.

_**They abandoned our mother world long before you were even thought of, sought refuge in other places. Had they remained, this and all it entailed would have been yours.**_

_Last time we spoke, you kicked my ass._

There was no real emotion to Riddick's voice. The statement was made by default, as his mind tried to wrap itself around the new information.

_**The last time, your blood was tainted. The last time, your anger overrode your wisdom. The last time, you called a challenge you had no right to call.**_

_That tainted blood saved my life._

Riddick couldn't repress his growl though with an extreme amount of effort he managed to contain its volume.

_**You would have healed. Had you been one of them, you would have died long before she reached you.**_

Riddick wasn't entirely sure how to process that and so he chose not to.

_Why am I here now? Why did you call me?_

_**You always assume I am the one that does the calling. We're not solitary creatures, Riddick. Look at the city before you.**_

She made a sweeping gesture with her arm.

_**I have been with you always. For such a long time, you were beyond my reach because you did not want to know the truth. You did not want to hear the call of your blood. You gloried in death and the hunt and the kill and everything that made us dark.**_

_**She changed everything.**_

Shirah looked down at River almost fondly.

_**There is light in us too, Riddick. **_

She whispered quietly.

_**We are brutal people, our Mother-world was brutal, our very natures bestial and raw, but even the fiercest of creatures calls a place home, calls those that belong to him family. **_

_You got a point somewhere in all of this?_

She laughed.

The sound carried itself across the summit and spilled down into the city below it.

_River said you're keeping secrets._

_**And they are mind to keep.**_

She answered, all amusement gone from her tone.

_**Choose your words wisely.**_

_Tell me about Reavers._

Shirah smiled; it was not a good smile. It was dark, malicious and absolutely bloodthirsty. Riddick watched in awe as the spiderweb network of veins beneath her skin began to pulsate; her eyes hummed with color and energy. Her presence grew beyond that of a simple woman. He could feel her vibrate in his bones and his own veins began to pulsate in response to her call.

_**Follow the trail that lies broken across the stars.**_

_**Eleven is an important number.**_

_GODDAMNIT!_

Riddick roared, forgetting himself and stepping directly into Shirah's space.

_One straight answer, one goddamn fucking straight answer! Why is that so fucking hard? What the fuck is it with you women?_

His body was trembling with the effort of containing himself. He remembered what happened, all too well, the last time he had tried to attack Shirah. He growled dangerously, nearly drunk on the sensations of power running through his veins. He felt strong, perhaps recklessly so. His vision sharpened, hearing became acute, every smell for miles tickled his nostrils; hundreds of them and he could identify each and every one.

_**A warning Furyan. You cannot fathom yet your destiny, nor hers. It is so very strange.**_

The light from her eyes and veins did not abate in the slightest as she brushed her fingertips against River's cheek.__

_**Your destinies were separate in the beginning. Your meeting blended them until they became the same thread; and here you are, reshaping the Universe as you will it. You weren't supposed to know her but know her you do and it has changed everything.**_

She laughed bitterly but, despite the underlying emotion, the sound was beautiful nonetheless.

_**It proves that nothing is preordained. It proves there is a chance you will fail.**_

_Again with the cryptic bullshit. River says that the future is written in stone._

_**Events will unfold, the victor cannot be named.**_

_A Furyan shall be born and he will be your downfall._

He quoted back her own words.

_Thought it had been decided._

_**And so did I.**_

_She answered vaguely._

_**It is why I do not interfere, my secrets are my own. **_

_**Nothing ever happens as it did. The Universe is a living thing, always changing; always there is death and rebirth. Perhaps this time we fall.**_

_You're toying with me._

Riddick growled.

_**No, Furyan. I am not.**_

There was no anger to her denial.

_Why the fuck am I even here? You don't tell me shit._

_**Perhaps you don't listen.**_

_Fuck you._

_**I grow weary of your insolence.**_

_What? You just going to poof away now? Kick my ass again? Tell me I've overstepped my bounds? Fuck you._

Riddick spat out bitterly.

_Tell me about the Reavers. Tell me what the __fuck__ fried her brain._

He demanded.

_Goddamnit, tell me something!_

Riddick had been intentionally trying to bait her, hoping in her anger something would slip. She seemed almost indifferent to his demands however; distracted by her own private musing.

_Why bring me here? Why not the plateau?_

He continued to press her with questions. The lines of light beneath his skin began to pulsate rapidly; he could hear the beat of the wings of the insects which buzzed in the air, and the slow drip of dew of the massive pillars; his every sense was alive and it felt as though his blood had turned to liquid fire.

_TELL ME GODDAMNIT!_

Riddick roared and was almost surprised to find himself standing directly in front of her, holding in arms in a grip which would have bruised a normal person. To say he was surprised that he had even managed to grab a hold of her would have been an understatement.

Shirah looked at him. Her full lips quirked upward in an almost prideful smile; their silver eyes locking together and, for a moment, the world around them blurred. The distinct and tangible lines of the things around them fading into one another until there was no separation. He was the stone and the jungle. He was Shirah and River. Energy swirling together in a mass interwoven and intangible.

_**Furyan.**_

She spoke with a reverence that confused him. Wasn't he supposed to be kneeling before her?

_**Know yourself.**_

Her words drifted without sound, but Riddick knew them, heard them.

_What the fuck does that mean? _

He wanted to growl the question out, snarl it, roar it at the top of his lungs, but, despite his anger and confusion, the words left his nonexistent lips without sound or emotion. There was no reply, no answer; the world settled and solidified. Once more he was on the summit, once more matter settled into a physical form. He was alone.

*T*F*C*

Awareness came to Riddick very slowly. A rare occurrence for the convict who never quite let himself fall fully asleep to begin with. The very first thing to reach his senses through the haze of semi-consciousness was the soft tickle of River's hair against his bare chest and arms, followed by the soft sounds of her breathing, and her smell. The distinctly River smell; burnt sage and insanity, with tantalizing undertones of blood and something he could not name. It was something that was so distinctly River he didn't think it had another name. He took a few moments to savor it; to let the smell of her roll through his nostrils. He filled his chest with it as he inhaled, almost consuming her.

What the hell was he doing? Less than ten hours ago, the girl had almost blown his rutting head off and here he was, fucking cuddling. Reavers, mercs, Alliance, Blue Sun and here he was cuddling in his bunk with a half-crazy girl he hadn't even fucked. Somewhere, God was laughing at his ass. The irony of the situation was that he really didn't give a shit. Strangely enough, there wasn't another place in the 'Verse he wanted to be right now, even if the girl had almost blown his brains out this morning. That just made it all the more interesting.

He replayed the dream of Shirah over and over again in his mind; even if he were to leave, he'd still be stuck with _one_ crazy ass cryptic bitch. At least he liked the one he was holding onto at the moment. He let his gaze wander over River's features as he carefully brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face. He tried to hold onto some of the anger of his dream but found he could not. At the moment, waking up as he had with River in his arms, he really couldn't be brought to give a shit over what Shirah had to say or, more correctly, what she wouldn't say. River shifted slightly, burrowing herself, or at least attempting to burrow, herself into his skin. A low growl rolled through his chest; the sound was really more of a purr but Riddick refused to acknowledge that fact. Richard B. Riddick did not purr.

What puzzled Riddick more than Shirah's evasive remarks was that she had sounded and looked almost pleased in the last few moments when Riddick had lunged without thinking and actually grabbed a hold of her. Hell, it had shocked the shit out of him; by the time his mind had fully caught up with his body, he had been expecting to be thrown from the mountaintop. Which raised the question: if you died in your dreams did you die in reality? It may not have been true for the normal person but Riddick was far from normal and so were his dreams. The low not-purr that had been rolling through his chest died off into an actual near growl at the thought of him finally biting it via the dream world.

_Worse than dying on the can._ The convict snorted mentally.

Riddick tried to recall everything about Furyans he had learned from River and Shirah. The fragments of information circled around his head; most of them had to do with emotion. Had she been baiting him? Twice, he had lit up like a Christmas tree in the real world and twice in the dream world. All four occasions he had been pissed and/or about to die. Adrenaline and anger. No, he mentally corrected himself, adrenaline and Fury. Could he learn to call it at will? Could he learn to regulate it when it came? Maintain control so he didn't feel like he'd been hit by a train afterwards?

_River could._ He thought mentally, wondering if maybe she could find the door in his head all that Furyan crap was locked behind and open it up. If she could, could she also close it from inside as well? A part of him didn't even want to suggest it while another part burned with blatant curiosity. He had felt strong on that summit, stronger then he had ever felt before. Despite the thousands of sensations that had assaulted his senses, he had been in control of them all. He felt as though he could have moved the very mountain he had stood upon. Was that what it felt like to be a Furyan? Was that the power they had felt all the time? How in the fuck could a civilization that strong fall?

_Technology_. The answer came to him in the next second. Shirah always carried a sword. He'd never seen her with a gun and River had said somewhere along the lines when they first met that Furyans did not like guns. Recalling the city he had been in, Riddick could not remember seeing any sort of real machinery at all. The city had been constructed of a blending of metal and rock but there had been no weapon mounts on the city gates nor along the summit. The city had stood rather defiantly against rock and jungle and the weather of years but surely he should have seen some kind of machinery somewhere? Had they been that fucking cocky? In the age of space travel, they had refused guns? Again, Riddick mentally snorted, the very same could be said about him on most occasions; maybe it wasn't as unbelievable as he was making it out to be.

*T*F*C*

Two days later…

"Ivan." Riddick greeted as he looked up from Mal, who he was spotting on the weight bench. After the disaster that had been their training session, the crew had to agreed to engage in some form of exercise at least once a day, everyday, in lieu of ever being forced to run again. In all honesty, it had been exactly the goal that Riddick and Jayne had been going for. The captain rested the weights on the bar gratefully while Jayne dropped down from the pull-up grips and Wash set down the hand weights he had only really been pretending to use.

"Hey ya'll." The wiry dark-skinned man greeted, the combat helmet on his head tilting haphazardly as he rocked back on his heels. "Got some good news. Your girl will be ready to fly by this afternoon. Just coming now to do the final tweak on the new regulators, run an emergency aux test and yer free to fly." He saluted them with the tool box gripped in his hand.

"Best news I've had in days." The captain replied as he extended his hand to shake Ivan's. "Want to thank you; Kaylee's usually a mite particular over who fusses with _Serenity's_ guts."

Ivan shook Mal's hand, his grip a bit harder than Mal had been prepared for though the captain, to his credit, didn't let it show. "Shoot, that girl of yours put the fear of God into my boys." Ivan chuckled. "Got them all callin' her Miss Kaylee. I got a welder, been doin' it for damn near twenty years, and he had her checkin' every bit of scrap his torch touched! His wife wants to know iffin' she'll move in."

"Nah-," Jayne chuckled as he walked over to join the captain and Ivan, "-she's mine but if his Miss wants to trade a couple of them pies she sent over that night, be willin' to loan her out a few hours." He chuckled as he patted down his pockets for the cigar stub from earlier.

"Hell, I'll trade ya'll a barrel of my moonshine if she'll tell me how she got my boy Jackson to clean his fingernails."

"Don't think it'll rightly work for ya." Jayne chuckled again. "That boy of yer's is lucky. He done sweet talked her into givin' him a kiss."

Ivan nearly roared with laughter. "That's my boy." He wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye as he composed himself. "Where are the fine-lookin' ladies you got 'board this ship?" He asked as he glanced around the bay.

"Out shoppin' or some such nonsense." Mal shrugged with a grin.

"Well, I'll be gettin' into the engine room then-," he lifted the tool box in his hand slightly disappointed, "-should see Alex wanderin' up soon to help me run the aux test. Oh and 'fore I forget, Book sent word, he's helpin' out the Doc over at the clinic; he hitched a ride with Keller back from the abbey so there ain't no need to send a body out for him."

"I'm sure Kaylee will want ya around when she gets back and does her final inspection." Mal nodded as Ivan moved to head towards the engine room.

"Wasn't expectin' anythin' less." Ivan chuckled. "She ever wants to settle down, she's got a spot in my yard; hell pretty thing like her, I'll drive that drunk 'cross town right outta business."

"Hey now!" Jayne barked. "Don't you go puttin' any ideas in her gorram head!" He shouted, all trace of amusement gone from his voice. "Ain't the settlin' type of folk!"

Ivan's only answer was another booming chuckle as he disappeared through the hallway hatch.

*T*F*C*

River frowned deeply at the selection of clothing available; most of it was secondhand, though it was well cared for, its life expectancy was still questionable. She released a somewhat tormented sigh.

"It's definitely not the Triplex." Inara mimicked her sigh. The Companion was not in need of new clothing. However, everything she did own reeked of money and the Core. She did not like some of the looks she had received from the local women and, if she was truly going to be _Serenity's_ Ambassador, she was going to need to be able to blend in on the worlds they visited.

"Might be better off just shoppin' on the Cortex." Kaylee suggested with a shrug. "What about this, Riv?" She asked, holding up a pale pink sundress; the color was slightly faded from sun and years of caked on dust that would never leave the fibers despite the hundreds of washings the garment had endured.

River shook her head as she fingered the fabric. "She owns nothing but dresses."

"Got a point." Zoe looked up from a box of gloves she was sorting through. "Bit hard to look threatin' and intimidatin' in pink dresses. Need somethin' you can wear on jobs. Somethin' that don't make you stick out."

"Well, Wash's shirts sure don't help with blendin' in." Kaylee giggled as she jerked her chin towards the bright purple and orange shirt River had worn as a jacket, tying the ends in a knot at her waist.

River looked down at her wardrobe, her frown deepening. She wore Wash's shirt over top of her brother's undershirt, a pair of Kaylee's rolled-up cargos and Riddick's socks. Unconsciously, she figured the laces Zoe had tied around her neck and she had yet to take off; Inara's ribbons were in her hair and she was wearing a pair of the captain's suspenders. Where was River? The other women were laughing and chatting, oblivious to her confusion and anxiety. Was it enough her own skin lay beneath the feathers of others? Or was she in fact hiding behind the others? If she was still hiding, how would she ever find River? Briefly, she closed her eyes and forced herself to inhale and exhale; on the exhale she reached out to feel for Riddick. He was vague and yet tangible; it was reassuring and when she opened her eyes she was able to calm the chaos of her thoughts before they overwhelmed her. She _was_ real. River did _exist._

She fell quiet behind the others, following them, seeing and touching things without actually processing what she was holding. They just needed to believe she was sane. She didn't have to be, they just had to believe it. She kept a thoughtful but light expression on her features; she had been taking the time to practice in a mirror.

_I am real. I exist. I is a singular. A singular composed of parts, parts form a singular, harmonious function of the parts is what makes the whole. I am functional. _River repeated her mantra over and over again inside her head. It wasn't helping; somehow, even the secondhand clothing was trying to whisper to her. Now it knew, now it knew she couldn't not listen and all of the universe began to chime in with it. The world around her vibrated with intensity; the energy in the air crackled against her skin like electricity. _How can they not hear it?_ She screamed the question inside her mind. Outwardly, she remained the picture of calm composure; no one seemed to notice she'd been staring at the same blouse for ten minutes. Inwardly, she felt herself cracking to pieces. Something was wrong with this place. Everything was wrong with this place. Why could should not stop the screaming here? _Qing Shangidi rang wode shitou_ (please god make me stone)._ Make it stop. Just make it stop._

_"Suppose to check in ten minutes ago."_

River's head jerked up immediately at the sound of Riddick's voice as it crackled over the comm.

"Oh, for the love of-," Inara rolled her eyes.

Zoe frowned as she checked her pocket watch. _"Still have ten minutes, Rick."_ The first mate answered back. Her eyes landed on the back of River's head, which was tilted just slightly the left. Zoe frowned, noticing for the first time River seemed to be slightly shaking; her grip on the blouse white knuckled. Could Riddick really know something was going on with her from all the way back at the ship even when she had missed it standing right next to the girl?

_"Got an itch."_ The convict replied.

_"Got it covered, Rick."_ Zoe informed him, her own head tilting to the left as she slipped the walkie back into her pocket. "Kaylee, you got a spare comm?"

The mechanic snorted, "Jayne half collared me with one."

"Good, let's split up, I think the menfolk are gettin' antsy." She smirked easily. "You and Inara head on over to place the order for the sundries; get 'em to deliver it by the end of the day. Riv and I are gonna head over to the gun-shop down the way; replace all that ammo Jayne wasted on that shootin' range." She snorted with feigned amusement as she kept one wary eye on River, who still had yet to put down the blouse. She stepped to the side of River, blocking her from the view of Kaylee and Inara as the two women agreed. She tried to discreetly remove the blouse from the girl's hands; at first, River made no response but, after a moment, the blouse fell from her fingers and Zoe took a gentle hold of her elbow.

"We'll meet back at the ship." Zoe threw over her shoulder though she didn't wait for a response as she steered River out of the shop. The first mate did not head down to the weapons dealer's, instead she detoured into the first alleyway she found and pulled River into the shadows with her. The glazed and distant look in the girl's eyes set the hairs on the back of Zoe's neck to standing. "River." She tried gently at first and then more harshly when she made no response.

River's eyes cleared immediately at the sudden rush of fear and anxiety from the usually fearless warrior she had come to admire. Zoe was not supposed to feel fear. Zoe was strong and unwavering. She was defiant and proud; unapologetic and hardy. The fear which radiated from her every pore broke the spell of River's trance. The pieces of her which had been drifting slammed back into place which such force she felt her legs buckle for a moment.

"I am sorry." River said, clarity shining from her eyes. "I got lost."

Zoe visibly relaxed, releasing the breath she didn't know she had been holding. "It's all right, girl. Don't expect you to be working right every night." The first mate wasn't particularly pleased with her choice of words but she hesitated against using words like sane and crazy in River's presence at the moment. "Gave me a hell of a scare. I thought Reavers were about to come dropping out of the sky."

"I am better now." River tried to reassure her. "Thank you." She added shyly, "For not alerting the others to her distress."

"Riv, I seen worse from some that came out of the war."

"I don't like this place." She admitted. "It hurts."

"Lotta pain here, Riv." Zoe replied knowingly as she looked out to the crowd of people moving past the alleyway. "Seen so many former soldiers and refugees. A lot of people tryin' to forget. All that bad's gotta go somewhere."

River didn't really think that was the case but she was willing to accept it as a theory for the moment since she had none of her own. "You won't tell Daddy?" She asked.

"There somethin' I need to tell him?" Zoe arched her brow. "Just had a bad minute, came out of it soon enough." Her voice hardened and River caught a glimpse of the solider she had been when the older woman spoke next. "Not gonna sugarcoat it and dress it up nice for you, girl. Blood don't wash off, you just learn to live with the color of it; scars don't fade but you learn to wear 'em too. Universe is hard, you gotta be harder. That stuff, all that _gou shi_ (crap) eatin' up your brain, it'll eat you whole if you let it, Riv." There was no sympathy in her voice, nothing but honest truth. Zoe didn't see the point in anything else.

"She is trying." River sighed.

"I know you are." Zoe relented and ticked her head toward the mouth of the alley. "Let's grab the ammo and get back to the ship. Know what always helps me figure things out?"

"Cleaning her weapons." River answered absently.

"Cheater." Zoe smirked down at the girl. "Doubt they got any kind of gun worth spendin' coin on here. You need a proper one for your first and, since we got a bit of coin, there's no point in settling for crap. But we'll give it a look, maybe we might find something worth having. Captain's been sayin' for weeks we needed to get you outfitted proper."

"Thank you." River repeated again as they exited the alley though she could not bring herself to look in the first mate's eyes.

"For what?" Zoe asked.

"She is River to you, not the poor crazy girl, and you treat her as such. Never have I felt pity from you."

"Don't have time for pity, Riv, and neither do you. A shit-storm is following us and, I won't lie, it's comin' 'cause of you." Once more, Zoe was brutally honest. "Don't matter much now, 'cause if I know the Alliance, they'll want us _all_ dead for just knowing you."

"I am sorry."

Zoe's head snapped around. "Did I ask you for an apology?" She arched her brow harshly. "Don't you ever apologize for what they did to you, River, _dong ma?"_

River nodded slowly.

"I got a point, Riv, let me get there." Zoe told her. "I don't talk about God much, been livin' with Mal so long I know when to keep my gorram mouth shut on certain things; some things are best left dead. I think though, we got you for a reason. All those ships berthed on Persephone that day, and we got you and Riddick."

"You would have killed us." There was no accusation in River's words.

"If the Captain had ordered it? Without a second thought." Zoe didn't bother to deny it. "Told your brother as much."

"I know."

"'Course ya do." Zoe nodded. "But that was then. Point I was trying to make though, Riv, is that we need you just as much as you needed us then. Six years since the War and we'd been flyin' without purpose or direction. Movin' from one crap job to the next; prayin' our fuel would last. I never meant to leave the military after the War. It was my life before and I always thought it would be in one sense or the other. After what I saw, and all I did, I just couldn't." She shook her head slightly. "Didn't think I minded being a criminal so much, I started to think differently after our first run in with Niska, when the trouble started, and we found we were stealin' from sick folk. We're not really criminals, criminals don't balk on a job 'cause some sick kid was crying."

"Big damn heroes." River smiled brightly at the first mate for the first time since leaving the clothing shop.

Zoe chuckled a little. "Maybe we are or maybe we're just folk tryin' to be free. You got a saying, everything has a price. Maybe that's the price we're payin'."

"Is she worth it?" River asked quietly, the smile disappearing entirely.

"Don't let anybody tell you you ain't." Zoe reassured her firmly. "Keeping you safe, keeping you free while you work through all that crap they put you through, ain't a price for me, Riv. It's what's right and what's right's gotta be done no matter the cost."

"And when she has?" River asked.

Zoe's face hardened as she paused before entering the ammo depo. "Then I'm looking forward to puttin' a bullet 'tween the eyes of every _chùsheng xai-jiao de xiang huo _(animal fucking bastard) that ever touched you with a needle."

"Why?" River asked, puzzled by the surge of anger that overtook the older woman and unsure if she was the cause.

"Can't you Read me?" Zoe asked.

"I would like to hear it." River answered, unwilling to admit she could not properly read the woman.

"Then maybe you should listen better 'cause I already told you. You're one of mine. You belong to us and to _Serenity._ You should know that by now."

*T*F*C*

_"Mal, got a wave coming in."_ Riddick's voice rang out in Mal's bunk.

The captain let out a small groan as he peeled himself off of his bed and hit the ship-wide. "Bounce it down, Riddick." He rumbled as he rubbed his hands roughly across his face, trying to chase away the last vestiges of his unintentional nap.

The computer screen fizzled momentarily before crackling to life; the man on the other end was squat and pale-faced, wearing a Yakama and a grin. "Mal! Been a while, _youren_ (friend)."

"Amnon-," Mal returned the man's grin with a genuine one of his own, "-it's been too long. How's life on the station?"

"Eh-," he made a dismissive wave with his hand, "-recycled air, riff-raff trader trash, but business is good and we just opened up another franchise out on the Kalidasa System station."

"Good to hear. Now, what can I do for you?" Mal nodded as he picked up his coffee, which had gone completely cold, and took a swallow.

"Well, it's more of what I can do for you. I got a big old package here for you on the Red Sun station and thought I'd give ya a heads up. Didn't know when you'd be back around these parts. Usually, I see on you on the regular, but it's been a good few months now."

"Well, that's life in the Black." Mal shrugged. "A package, huh? Can't rightly remember orderin' anything." He rubbed the back of his neck. "'Course, some days, I have trouble rememberin' my own name."

Amnon chuckled; it was a deep throated belly laugh that turned his cheeks red. "Don't we all? Can I expect you here or should I forward it to a different station?"

"Let me wave you back on that one, Amnon. Runnin' under a contract these days and I need to find out if I got another job first. We're way out in Blue Sun at the moment."

"Malcolm Reynolds working under contract?" He asked with obvious disbelief and humor.

"Can't argue with coin." _Or blackmail,_ he added to himself.

"That you can't." Amnon agreed. "Right then, I'll hold it 'til I hear back from you."

"Within the hour, _youren_." Mal nodded and flicked off the Cortex and flicked on the ship-wide. "Riddick, you still up there?"

_"Yeah, Mal."_

"Dial up Mr. U's frequency and bounce it down to me."

_"We getting ready to fly?"_

"Ship's ready to fly. We'll be in the Black first thing in the morning whether we got work or not. Startin' to itch, we've been dirt side so long." Mal answered.

Riddick's only reply was the sudden powering up of the Cortex screen in front of Mal. The captain waited somewhat patiently for the answer on the other end.

"If it isn't my favorite rag-tag ship captain." Mr. Universe greeted Mal with a slight and somewhat distracted grin as he fiddled with something out of view of the screen.

"I prefer 'ruggedly handsome' for future reference."

"Noted, but not likely." Mr. U answered, partially turning from the monitor to raise up another holographic keyboard. "I do hope you are ready to work, Captain Reynolds."

"Depends on what you got."

"I have quick and dirty, involved and dirty, boring and clean, or dirty and simple." "Anything in Red Sun?" Mal asked, hoping to knock off two birds with one stone since he really didn't want to waste the coin on extra shipping fees to transfer their post.

"That would be the involved and dirty." Mr. U replied as he quickly scanned through a bit of information.

"Well, lay it on me." Mal made the mistake of sipping off his cold coffee and grimaced slightly.

"Greenleaf."

"Those jungles are patrolled by Alliance." Mal remarked. "Last job I ran there went to shit and that was on one of the resorts."

"Gotta work for the coin, Malcolm." Mr. Universe chided. "The pharmaceutical companies own those rainforests, which produce some of the strongest natural components in modern medicine. The Alliance has sealed off the borders of the Arethian rainforest south of the Tibertian Mountains; citing some kind of toxic leak in an old terraforming station."

"There ain't a leak is there? I mean, I thought all the terraforming generators were emptied of catalysts after the terraforming teams were through."

"You are a smart one, Reynolds." Mr. Universe chuckled, almost giddy over discovering yet another conspiracy. "According to my satellite imagery, as well as the intel I retrieved from the terraforming satellites, there's not a trace of environmental abnormalities anywhere."

"So what's really going on?" Mal asked suspiciously.

"Sadly, it's none of our business." Mr. U looked for a moment like a child denied a treat. "What is our business is a sealed vault beneath a research facility formerly belonging to New Dawn. The vault is actually a top secret lab and houses a mainframe which needs to be destroyed least someone discovers it and steals the research. The job is to breach the secured vault, recover samples marked K-46, retrieve the mainframe's motherboards and destroy the facility."

"Why didn't the New Dawn boys clear it out when they had the chance?"

"They didn't. The rainforest was evacuated completely by the Alliance. The research teams were ordered out at gunpoint."

"Was New Dawn being directly targeted, do ya think?" Mal asked thoughtfully. He was not willing to go toe-to-toe with the Alliance if he didn't have to.

"As far as I can tell no, three other companies had research outposts as well in that jungle."

"You got any theories?"

"Mal, I have thousands." The curly haired man was back to grinning. "Ones that relate to this particular event? Not many. The top being the Alliance found something they wanted for themselves in that jungle and didn't want private competition. The way it went down just shrieks military research."

"You got us a cover?" Mal asked.

"Nope." Mr. Universe popped the 'P'. "Your best chance is to berth at one of the resorts under the guise of vacationing. New Dawn is footing the bill for all expenses. Save your receipts and live the good life for a bit. There's a private resort on one of the islands just off the coast of the jungle. All about privacy and discretion."

"'Least Zo will get that gorram beach she's been goin' on 'bout." Mal grumbled. "And Jayne'll get to blow somethin' up."

"You know, Malcolm, keeping your crew happy keeps you from getting shot."

"Thanks for pointin' that out." The captain snorted.

"Yes or no, Mal?" Mr. Universe rolled his eyes.

"Job reeks of Alliance." He grumbled. "You know what the hell lives in those jungles?"

"If that's a 'no', we're wasting my precious time, I was sort of in the middle of a few several dozen things."

"I didn't say no-," Mal said hurriedly, "-I'm waitin' to here the money side of things."

"Ah, yes-," Mr. Universe finally focused all of his attention on the captain, "-New Dawn wants that sample back desperately; there's no guarantee the Alliance will ever allow them back in. One million credits or four hundred thousand in untraceable platinum. Your choice minus my cut of course."

It took Mal a minute to pick his jaw up off the floor and regain the ability of speech. "And you were offerin' other jobs besides this one?"

Mr. Universe shrugged. "I told you, Mal, having Riddick on your crew put your ship into an entirely different league. Granted New Dawn would only pay so much for Riddick. He's done work for them before."

"What kind of work?" Mal asked cautiously.

"Do you really want to know, Mal?" The man smiled darkly. "I have video of some of his better work if you'd like a peek?"

Mal cleared his throat uncomfortably, unsure if he was more disturbed over Mr. U's smile or the fact that the weird little man had video too, "Second thought, never mind." He shook his head firmly. "That kind of money for a single man is retirement money; don't see why he ever even took up a spot on my ship."

"You aren't the only one who's curious." Mr. Universe snorted.

For some reason, Mal was a bit insulted by the younger man's tone, though he knew better than to show it. "We'll take it. Send me the details."

"Transferring now." Mr. U smiled. "Have a pleasant day, Mal." The image died before the file had finished downloading and Mal could only feel relieved that the conversation was over. He dropped back down onto his bunk, attempting to process all the information he had just absorbed. First and foremost, he was a bit curious as to why Riddick had ever boarded his ship at all. The computer binged signaling the download was complete and Mal popped in a data chip and transferred the intel before deleting the information from the ship's hard drive; pocketing the chip, he went in search of the one person he knew he could get answers from.

*T*F*C*

"River?" Mal called into the second shuttle. "What are ya doin' in here?" He asked as he noticed her in front of the computer screens rapidly scrolling.

"Shopping." River answered without looking up from the screen.

"Oh." Mal looked confused. "Didn't ya spend all day doin' that?"

"Everything here is secondhand and drenched in memories."

"Okay." Mal replied slowly. "Sure, why not?" He added with a shrug. "So's I got a question…"

"She keeps his secrets." River answered, still without so much as a glance in the captain's direction. "Your attempt at bribery with only a single bar of chocolate is insulting."

"How's about 'I'm the Captain and I have a right to know'?" Mal switched into his captain-y tone and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Then she would reply, 'ask him'."

Mal turned with a scowl before freezing and turning back around to ask curiously, "So's if I came with say like a dozen bars?"

"Anyone but Riddick." River replied, still not interested enough in the conversation to look up from her shopping. "You're more alike than you think." River called to his retreating form and though he pretended to not hear, he did.

*T*F*C*

"Riddick." Mal called as he took the bridge steps two at a time.

"I was going to disappear." The convict answered without turning in the pilot's chair to face the captain. "Didn't need the coin where I was headed."

"That little rat." Mal mumbled.

Riddick barked out a bitter sort of chuckle. "Shit happened, Mal. Somebody in the 'Verse needed it more than me. I was supposed to be dead anyway." He spun around in the chair to look at Mal. "Why'd I take up with you? Like I said, Riddick was supposed to be dead."

"And now that you ain't?" Mal asked curiously.

"You always throw a hell of a party." Riddick gave the captain an almost imperceptible shrug. "And all my shit's here anyway."

"Fair 'nough." Mal nodded, reading more into what the man was saying than perhaps even Riddick intended. "Now-," he added as he dropped into the empty chair and propped up his boots on the console, "-what can you tell me 'bout New Dawn?"

*T*F*C*

_Somewhere outside of Georgia System_

"Been weeks, Cap, and we ain't seen a hair of this pair." Pitor complained as he rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

"Knew this wouldn't be a quick job." Captain Walker grunted without looking up from his own digital maps.

"Ones that pay never are but you think we woulda caught a whiff somewhere."

"Universe is a big place."

"Not this ruttin' big. Scanner somewhere shoulda gotta a ping offa her."

"She's gotta be holing up somewhere in the Rim; one of the dust rocks."

"Either that or she ain't steppin' off ship anywhere, or her brother. Means they got help." Pitor straightened and tried to refocus on the research at hand. "What's the deal with their folks?"

"Regan and Gabriel Tam-," Walker cited from memory, "- got money comin' out of their _pig gu's._ I'm thinkin' its time we pay 'em a visit. Gonna have to be discreet; Tams aren't friendless despite the pariahs their kids turned 'em into. Send in Mark and Paris, some bullshit cover of technicians or something and wire the house. I want banking records too. Find out if there's any kind of communication. Anything remotely suspicious that could be code. These little fucks are smart as hell. You see these fucking test scores?"

"It's that bint's weapons training that makes me wanna piss myself. Who the fuck are these kids?"

"Don't know, don't care-," Walker shrugged, tossing down a handheld, "-a tranq dart from a hundred meters is the way I wanna take these two down."

"Still feel better if we had more than a five-man team for this." Pitor said, sipping off his coffee. "Cobb musta gone soft iffin' he passed this up."

"Cobb ain't got a soft bone in his body." Walker snorted.

"You don't think he's going to go after them himself do you?"

"Crossed my mind." Walker replied vaguely. "Cobb'd turn on himself if the price was right."

"What do you want to do about it, Boss?" Pitor asked seriously. He'd actually liked Cobb and he'd hate to be the one to have to kill him or, even better, hand him over on Higgin's Moon where the magister was offering a pretty bit of coin for the man.

"Find out what _Serenity's_ up to. Who she's running jobs for and what kind of work they been doin'. Captain of that ship is an old Browncoat by the name of Reynolds. Don't think he's the bounty type but he'd have the skill to pull off a takedown like this one' 'specially if he's got Jayne on his crew."

"It'll take a bit, but I'll find out."

"Good. Go tell Rachel to set the course for Osiris. Full burn."


	68. The Message I

A/N:

**StlAjax, ****Tavarus Magnus****, SlashnYaoi, Rachet, bibirijks, , Mretrentreznor, Alexydra, librarywitch, chacra, celticicegoddess, Amethyst246, Dessel Ordo, ArtLightLove, Ashi-Eiketsu, Elliesmeow, Hidden Relevance, Bone White Butterfly, Xanthors, Kaedy, NightStar28, Morbious20, & ZenRyu**

I think I've run out of ways to thank you guys, some of your names have become so familiar even my boyfriend knows them. I am so grateful ya'll chose to come along on this insane ride of mine. YA'LL ROCK :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

**Thug-4-Less-** This story would never have made it as far as it has without you :D The shiniest Beta there ever was :D Seriously.

**ArtLightLove**- Here it goes. (lol)

The Tracey storyline has had some very distinct liberties taken with it and the time line from that episode is a bit juggled together and disordered, but artistic liberty right?That being said, I hope you do enjoy.

_***The crew of the Serenity and Riddick are unfortunately not mine. Had they been, I would have crossed them from the beginning. I'm making no money, and admittedly Whedon, Twohy, and the Wheat brothers are greater minds than me. However at the moment, their imaginary friends are much cooler than mine and have agreed to come to tea. ***_

*T*F*C*

**The Message**

To Wash, the Red Sun station looked like several dozen mismatched puzzle pieces jammed together forcibly out of frustration. It wasn't the shape of the station which bothered him. It was the sickly neon hue produced by the many large vid-screens plastered obscenely across her hull. The nauseating color could be seen from several thousand kilometers out as if it were some man-made atrocity pretending to be a glorious stellar anomaly. He frowned at the display through _Serenity's_ windshield and just barely repressed the urge to shake his fist. The entire reason he had ever become a pilot was to see for himself if the rumors about stars in the sky were even true. His home world had been so polluted that nothing but the barest traces of sunlight had ever made it through the smog. It was the irony of terraforming, how it only seemed to justify the "suck a place dry" style of living. Why care when you can trash a rock and, in eighty years, have a brand new one terraformed while leaving the old to rot away drifting through the Black.

"It is a travesty."

"_Gao yang zhong de guying! _ (motherless goats of all motherless goats)" Wash yelped, clutching his chest. "Riv, make a noise before you comment on a man's thoughts, will you?" He chuckled off his shock and relaxed back into his chair.

River gave him a slight nod of her head, somewhat distracted as she leaned across him to check their heading and speed. For a moment, the pilot was taken by how deceptively innocent she looked wearing what appeared to be one of Inara's hand-me downs. A peach silk sheath-dress with vibrant ribbons braided playfully through an exotic mass of braids. It was hard, sometimes, to remember her as she had been on Niska's complex. Especially now as she scrunched up her face adorably in displeasure over what she was looking at.

"It'll be another few hours. We'll hafta wait it out for an open docking port." The pilot explained, guessing what she was looking for. River's frown only deepened at his response. "Excited to be on a space station?" He asked curiously.

"No." She replied, casting a longing glance out the windshield.

"Care to explain why you look like you'd get out there and push if you thought it would help?" He asked with a bit of a laugh in his voice.

"I have post." She informed him rather proudly.

"Ah, I see." Wash grinned. "The joys of spending your ill-gotten gains; you're a bonafide thief now! Welcome to the ranks." He said grandly making a silly little nod/bow from his seated position.

"The Lassiter was stolen to begin with." River dismissed his remark as she settled herself neatly into the second station and prepared to wait out the remainder of the journey with her destination plainly in sight. "Mathematically speaking, two negatives make a positive."

"Only when you multiply." Wash pointed out as he adjusted the disproportional volcano.

"Logistics." River snorted rather inelegantly as she adjusted one of the green ribbons in her hair.

"Are everything." A dark voice rumbled; Wash jerked his head around to see Riddick looming in the doorway with his arms stretched over his head as he leaned against the frame.

"Whatever helps a person sleep, I say." Wash shrugged, resettling himself in his chair and seriously thinking over the possibility of getting bells for the pair of them to wear on-ship. He didn't think his heart could take all the shock.

River eyed the two of them. "You are mocking me." Her head cocked slightly and, while her expression was not quite displeased, it was not amused either.

"Not much else to do at the moment." The pilot shrugged as Frank began to dance across one of the console screens. "It'll be a few hours still." He threw back over his shoulder to the convict that had moved from looming in the doorway to leaning against a support beam.

Riddick gave him a slight nod of his head to indicate he'd heard. His gaze, however, was focused on the small blemish in his vision that was the glare from the projected light of the space station. He repressed the urge to let his displeasure show. Riddick detested space stations, especially the older ones like Red Sun. The electrical systems emitted a high-pitched keen and the sheer number of people in such a confined space prevented the air filtration systems from ever truly ridding the air of the stink of sweat and unwashed bodies. Had he not needed to go with Jayne and procure a few things for the job on Greenleaf, Riddick would have volunteered to watch the ship just to avoid the irritation.

"Wash, how long?" Mal's voice called up the bridge stairs followed shortly by his body.

"Few hours still, Cap." Wash answered without turning his attention away from Frank, who was attempting to waltz with Lucy. The two dinosaurs were having little success given the fact that their legs did not bend but Wash was determined.

"Riddick, you and Jayne know what you're gettin'?" Mal asked.

The convict nodded again, his gaze moving from the windshield to River. "Can't take any of the girls with us, Zo included."

"Since when is Zo included in the list of girls?" Mal asked as he fiddled with a few knobs. "Wash, this reading supposed to be this high?"

"Yes-," Wash answered again without looking up from his dance lesson, though he did glance up slightly on his next statement, "-and, unless I've been _seriously_ mistaken for a few years, Zo is a girl. Last time I checked anyway."

Mal repressed the urge to make a face as the visual of his pilot and his first mate crept inside his head; he visibly shuddered.

River remained silent. She and Riddick had already had this argument and she had lost, though she preferred to think of it as conceding to the truth rather than losing. The images Riddick projected were enough to turn her stomach and cause a shiver of fear to creep beneath her skin.

"These boys aren't exactly shining examples of civilization, Mal, and their ideas about women…" Riddick let his statement die in the air, giving his head a slight shake. "Unless you want to run from this station at full-burn 'cause I had to put a new hole in some filthy _hundan_ (bastard) who can't keep his hands or his thoughts to himself, it'll be just me and Jayne." As he spoke, a lethal looking blade had appeared in his hand from seemingly thin air and he twirled it lazily between his fingers almost hoping for a reason to use it.

Mal swallowed a bit, more unnerved by Riddick's shift in posture and tone than the actual facts he had revealed. "Right then. Little Bit, you said you had post?"

River nodded proudly. "I do."

"So you want to come down onto the station rather than stay here with your brother and the Shepherd then?" Again the Reader nodded. "You know, I let you slide on the gun rule while we were on Haven but that was 'cause I was lookin' to make peace there. If you're gettin' off on this station, you're bringing a gun or you're staying on board, _dong ma?_" Mal added sternly. "Don't even try them eyes on me neither. I'm serious. I ain't chasin' you across the station while you and Kaylee gush over every little stall and booth. Inara's carryin', Kaylee's carryin', and so are you unless you want to stay behind."

"I do not require a gun." River tried to argue.

"Be that as it may, just sitting on your hip it's enough of a deterrent." Mal held his ground.

"I would have told you if he didn't." Riddick merely shrugged as River looked to him for support. "We've been through this already, girl."

"There is a Saber A-3 in the weapons locker which is sufficient." She replied somewhat indignantly.

The convict snorted. "It's a fucking pea gun. Jayne threw it in there because it's so small he almost broke it trying to fire it."

River held up her hand, wiggling her fingers defiantly, comparing Jayne's size to her own. "Size is inconsequential if your aim is infallible. It is a gun. The requirement has been met." She arched a brow, daring either one of the men to argue further.

"Gun's a gun." Mal shrugged, just happy she had agreed without the epic battle he had been anticipating. "The A-3 will put a hole 'tween a set of eyes just as easy as my .38." He tapped the butt of his own sidearm. "Just don't miss, Bit." He gave her a cheeky wink as he turned to head back down into the bay to find Zoe.

"I never do." River replied; her three words sending a shiver down Mal's spine for the sole reason that, so far, it was the absolute gorram truth.

Riddick glared at her for another moment before relenting. At least it was a gun, he just wanted her used to the idea of carrying. The fugitive wasn't the biggest fan of guns either; he agreed with her that they somehow devalued death, selling the price of a soul for much cheaper than it was worth. They were, however, a necessary accessory. He might not have liked them but he wasn't stupid either. He turned, muttering something about talking to Jayne, and exited the bridge without another word.

"Someday somebody is going to explain you two to me." Wash remarked casually as Lucy abandoned her dancing partner and went in search of greener pastures along the navigation monitors.

"To me as well." River sighed.

"'Least he's not making you shave off your mustache." The pilot offered mournfully as he stroked his upper lip and the ghost of the milk-catcher which had remained behind.

River arched a brow.

"Look, Riv, everybody makes sacrifices in a relationship, right? Compromise and all that _goushi._ Mine was my mustache." He told her with a put-upon expression common to belly-aching men the 'Verse over. "You know that price you pay that you're always going on about? Zoe wouldn't even look at me 'til after it was gone. Kaylee had to tell me that. I thought I just smelled funny at first, took to showering three times a day." He chuckled a bit at the memory. "Turns out, it was just the old soup-catcher that was making her give me the stink-eye at all hours of the day. He had a name and everything. Took me four years to grow him just right. Mr. Beasley." Again he rubbed the empty space Mr. Beasley should have occupied. "It was worth it though. I'd trade a hundred Mr. Beasley's for Zo."

River considered his words. Wash had sacrificed his comfort and security as a testament to his love for Zoe. She had not before considered that perhaps conceding the gun issue would go a long way in easing the tension between her and Riddick. She knew his stubborn insistence was born from a genuine fear for her safety. She had been annoyed by it but it had not occurred to her that Riddick feared for very few people and, in his own way, his fear for her was proof of his affection. It also occurred to her that Riddick did not like to feel fear and admitting to the emotion, even only to himself, cost him a great deal. If she agreed to carry a weapon, it would ease his fear and make him less combative and defensive as well as perhaps prove to the others she was stable and capable.

"You are an odd man-," River said slowly, "-but you are wise as well. I enjoy your company greatly." Though her words sounded playful and amusing, she spoke reverently.

"There's a compliment in there. I know it." The pilot chuckled and then gave her a grin. "But thanks, you're not so bad yourself _e baobei_ (baby goose, yes "e" means goose.)"

*T*F*C*

_Red Sun Station, Lower Level 4 Market…_

The interior of the lower levels of the Red Sun station were as to be expected from the exterior. The patched together stalls were crammed together randomly in labyrinthine fashion with not even the slightest attempt at organization. Gas masks were sold alongside silks, though River felt it made a sort of sense when one could be considered just as valuable as the other given circumstance and perspective. The wares, however, were just the beginning of the sensory assault which made up the lower markets. Brightly colored fabrics and scrap metal shaped the booths. The scents of food, both exotic and mundane, intermingled with dozens of varying incenses and perfumes; intertwined with hundreds of voices.

"Forget what you think you know!" River's head swiveled around to the source of the voice. A tall, too-thin man, buried beneath layers of ridiculous rags, as tattered and hodgepodge as the station herself. "Forget what your mother told you when she tucked you in at night; forget the lies of our oppressive cabalistic Allied governments!" He had River's full attention now; her head cocked to the left as she moved through the crowd toward the barker. She heard Kaylee and Wash call her but, she knew from experience, they would follow if she didn't respond far more easily than if she did and continued forward. "Behind this curtain lies the very secret they don't want you to see!"

"I will go!" She yelled abruptly, interrupting the man's speech.

"River-," Zoe tried to protest.

"No. He has secrets." She told her seriously.

"Ah-," The barker cut in, not wanting to lose his customer, "-there's a brave soul! Willing to overcome fear and discover the truth for the mere price of six bits a view!"

"Riv, just look into his head." Kaylee whispered quickly. "Ain't no such thing as aliens." She gestured towards a poorly painted banner above the curtained off stall.

Wash however looked positively hopeful. "Oh come on, it'll be fun." He frowned suddenly. "Unless it really is real, in which case I might run screaming."

Zoe just shook her head.

River frowned, both disappointed and slightly embarrassed at her misunderstanding. Unwilling to admit her error however, she forced a carefree laugh. "And I wish to see it."

Zoe and Kaylee exchanged a look. "Well, alright then." Kaylee relented first with a cheerful shrug. "What's six bits to us now anyhow?"

"That's the spirit!" Wash cheered and looked to his wife; employing a patented set of puppy eyes that were in no way manly at all.

"Why the hell not?" She shrugged with a slight grin.

Wash grinned as he clapped his hands together and rubbed them, "-shall we then ladies?" He gave a dramatic bow.

"That's it, folks! Four brave souls! Now that'll be twenty-four bits. Prepare to have the universe as you know it changed forever!"

*T*F*C*

"Oh my God! It's grotesque!" Wash exclaimed as he laid eyes on the ominous looking jar in the center of the darkened tent; suspended in which was a nearly unidentifiable lump of sickly yellow flesh. "What is it?" He asked River a bit more seriously as together they pressed their faces against the glass.

River's face scrunched involuntarily as she tilted her entire body slightly to the left and stepped away to change her perspective. "It's a cow fetus." She frowned, more than a little disappointed.

"I guess so…" Kaylee tried to lean like River was but she still wasn't quite sure where she was getting a cow fetus from. "It does have an awful lot of limbs though."

"You sure? I've never seen a cow like that before." Zoe asked as well, tilting her head as she circled the jar; the lump of flesh was nauseating and yet she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away.

"It's mutated." River supplied as she pressed her face back against the glass. "Eighty-seven percent of the outer world livestock was grown in labs from DNA strains. There was a forty-seven percent failure rate in the first three generations."

"But how do you get cow?" Wash asked.

"It's upside down." She informed them, making a gesture with her finger as she pointed out the head.

Kaylee turned her head so she was as upside down as she could be without falling over. "Huh." She said straightening herself again. "Well, whaddya know, it's a cow." Her hands went to her hips. "Well crap, now we're each out six bits. If you knew it was fake Riv, couldn't you have just told us?"

Zoe's face twisted slightly. "Huh. Six bits for a cow fetus. You happy, husband?"

"What's six bits to us now?" River repeated Kaylee's words with a shrug. "I was curious." She answered. It was the furthest thing from the truth but she was not about to admit she had believed a man's words before reading his mind.

"Poor little thing-," Kaylee said as she stepped closer to the jar and leaned in for a better look, "-never even saw the light of day and now she's in show business."

"Do not fear me." Wash spoke to the fetus, each word slow and carefully pronounced. "Ours is a peaceful race and we must live in harmony." Kaylee couldn't help but laugh while Zoe merely shook her head and smirked over her husband's antics.

River quickly grew bored of the mutated fetus and was eager to be away from the reminder of her mistake. She briefly tilted her head, searching out the others of the crew. A slow smile spread across her face as she stepped away from the jar. She had not found the others but something else entirely diverting.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad of a joke." Wash protested as he watched River walk towards the tent's exit.

"I chuckled." Kaylee offered.

"See, Kaylee chuckled." Wash called after River.

River paused just before exiting. "There is a man selling frozen balls of cream and sugar flavored chemically with artificial vanilla and named for a terraforming tragedy."

It took Wash only a moment to translate. "Oh, Ice Planets!" His face lit up. "I didn't see a vendor out there." He made a sort of half-jog to the exit to fall into step with River. "Hey-," he asked, a thought popping into his head, "-think you can keep that brain radar working long enough to find us some new dinosaurs for the bridge?" He asked.

"A proportional volcano is first on the agenda." River replied as she led Wash through the mingling crowd towards the Ice Planet vendor.

"Works for me I'm all about the Feng Shui." He shrugged trying to keep up with her.

*T*F*C*

Inara turned the gold cuff bracelet around in her fingers as she admired the finely worked vines and leaves which twisted along its borders. She was just about to ask the vendor for the price when it was plucked unceremoniously from her hand and dropped back into the pile of _goushi_ that she had rescued it from.

"I was looking at that." She gave the captain of _Serenity_ a sort of sideways glare.

"It's fake." Mal snorted as he placed his hand almost casually against the small of her back and guided her away from the booth. He had had every legitimate reason in the world to make Inara crew but the truth of it was that none of them were even remotely close to the real reason he was glad she was no longer just a paying passenger.

"And how would you know that?" She asked, trying to ignore just how very aware she was of the position of the Captain's hand. "You hardly glanced at it."

"I'm a thief; it's my job to know the good stuff from the _goushi_." He gave her a cheeky sort of grin. "'Sides, most everything you find down here's a fake anyway. Those silks-," he pointed out a vendor a few stalls down, "-really just a synthetic blend offa New Lafayette."

"How in the universe can you possible tell?" She asked as they passed the stall in question and she paused just a moment to inspect the cloth. At first glance and touch it looked and felt like the real thing. Though, after holding it for longer than a few moments, she could tell the difference.

"When we first startin' runnin' _Serenity,_ we were carryin' post for Amnon here. He had a boy workin' for 'im in those days that grew up on this station. Boy never did shut up and he knew just 'bout ever corner of this place."

Inara smiled. "And what happened to this boy?"

"Alliance officer shot 'im down." Mal answered mechanically. "Thought the boy was going for a weapon. He was only pulling out his station access pass to prove he could be on the upper levels."

Inara was at a loss for how to respond to the captain's answer; rather than reply with words, she linked one of her arms through his. If she noticed his spine straighten, she made no remark on it.

"So, everything down here is a fake then?" She returned to their previous conversation.

"Most of it. See that tent?" Mal pointed out a small cornered-off section. "One that Wash and Zoe just walked into."

"Oh yes." Inara replied craning her neck for a better look. "Aliens?" She turned to the captain with obvious skepticism. "You're telling me aliens are real?"

"Nope." Mal grinned. "That's a cow fetus." He couldn't help but laugh at the sudden twisting of the Companion's features.

"How do you know?" She asked, swatting his arm for laughing at her while they continued to stroll somewhat oblivious to the hustle and bustle around them.

"No such thing as aliens, woman." Mal couldn't seem to pull the grin from his face. "Said so yourself." He shrugged. "Every station or half-crooked sideshow's got an alien in it. Ten outta ten times its some kind mutated fetus. If you wanna peek at the genetic atrocity, I could oblige." He offered with more than a little amusement in his tone as he made a sort of semi-bow, or as much as was possible without releasing Inara's arm.

"I suppose you see one in the mirror every morning, so it wouldn't be so difficult for you." She laughed lightly.

Mal knew a joke when he heard it and was more than a little pleased that he was the reason behind that rather pleasant laugh that had just passed an impeccable set of lips. "You wound me." He feigned a look of hurt as one hand gripped his chest. His act was interrupted slightly as a young and very dirty little boy ran smack into him. The kid mumbled an apology and moved to run off. The captain, however, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and held out his other hand without releasing Inara's arm. The boy muttered a curse but slapped down Mal's wallet. "Nice try, kid. See me in eight or so years." The captain snorted before giving the boy a slight push to be on his merry.

Inara and Mal continued walking as though they had never been interrupted. "Malcolm Reynolds-," Inara began picking up their conversation again, "-you give me too much credit. As if I could possible say anything that would wound or deflate your ego in the slightest."

"Oh, I beg to differ, 'Nara. I rec-o-llect many a jaded barb flung my way." Mal joked.

"I suppose, now that you are my captain, I shall endeavor to be more respectful." Her words hid a poorly concealed smirk.

"Now, now, don't you go changin' on my account." Mal chuckled; he slightly adjusted their course, as he checked his pocket watch. "Crew should be rallyin' over by the post station 'bout now. This way."

*T*F*C*

"Amnon, how are you?" Mal called out as he and Inara approached the small post depo.

Behind the security glass, Amnon set down his clipboard as a broad grin stretched across his plump features. "Well, well, Malcolm Reynolds!" He hurried out of the booth to shake the captain's hand. "The sight of an old friend is a balm in these days."

"It's been too long, Amnon." Mal returned his friendly shake and greeting with genuine emotion.

"No, no-," the older man chuckled, "I reckon' it's been just about the right amount of time. Too much of you is less of a balm."

"I got a bull's-eye on my forehead for cheap shots?" The captain asked Inara.

"It practically glows in the dark." The Companion laughed as she accepted Amnon's hand and gave it a dainty shake.

"Bit surprised you haven't left this old freight dog for greener pastures." The postman teased Inara.

"Hey now." Mal warned, feigning hurt.

Inara ignored him and laughed lightly. "My dear Amnon, who would ever want to leave _Serenity?_"

"She is a good old gal, ain't she?" Mal preened on Inara's answer.

"That she is." Amnon agreed. "Got more than a few packages for you." Amnon replied turning to the captain and switching back into business mode. "Can you sign for all of them?"

"That I can." Mal nodded as he accepted the clipboard Amnon produced and scratched a hasty signature.

"You got yourself some new crew, I see." The postman called over his shoulder as he headed towards the storeroom door. "More than twenty packages for an Anna Delacroy."

"What?" Mal looked at Inara confused.

"She needed clothing." The Companion shrugged. "Anything for me, Amnon?"

"Just something small from the House Madressa." The plump man replied as he huffed his way back out the door lugging behind him a heavily laden cart, nearly teeming with packages of all shapes and sizes. "Big one on the bottom's for you."

Mal let out a low whistle as he eyed the packages.

"Holy hell, Mal." The captain turned to see Jayne and Riddick each carting their own loads which Mal assumed were the supplies needed for the Greenleaf job. "Any of those for me?"

"Got one somewhere for you, Jayne." Amnon informed him.

"You get everything?" Mal asked Riddick as the convict handed over a bit of spare paper and coin.

"Picked up a set of wireless comms, too." The convict rumbled.

"Got a bit of a discount, too, on account of mine and Riddick's intimidatin' manner." The merc grinned, leaving out the small details on what had occurred which had made the two "public relations officers" intimidating.

"What in the hell did we order?" Zoe asked as she and Kaylee approached.

"Anything fun?" Kaylee asked, eyeing the packages.

"Hell if I know." Mal answered absently as he eyed the big package at the bottom of the pile. "We order any parts?" He directed his question at Kaylee and Zoe.

"Not that I recollect." Zoe shook her head; the gesture was mimicked by the mechanic.

"Maybe it was somethin' we ordered a while ago that was back ordered?" Kaylee offered.

"Aha!" Wash cried and the crew immediately turned to the left to see their pilot and resident genius chasing each other's Ice Planets. Wash's muffled "Aha!" had come when he managed to get a lock on River's hanging ball of ice cream.

"My food is troublesome." River complained as she tried to reach Wash's dangling Ice Planet as the pilot jerked it high above her head, laughing around his own stolen mouthful of hers.

"What the hell are you doing, girl?" Riddick asked, an eyebrow slightly quirked in amusement as he watched the normally graceful girl stumble.

"Husband?" Zoe quirked one of her own.

Wash sheepishly released his mouth-grip on River's Ice Planet. "What?" He shrugged.

River reclaimed her half-eaten frozen treat with a frown. "It is problematic." She remarked as she eyed the ball which seemed to mock her as it dangled in a deceptively helpless fashion from her colored stick.

"Gorram ruttin' genius and she can't figure out how to eat an Ice Planet." Jayne snorted as he started to sort through the boxes for his package.

River let out a small squeal of excitement and dropped her frozen treat on the floor of the station. "My post has arrived!" She practically launched herself at the pile.

"Yeah, about that, Bit-," Mal started, "What in the rutting hell did you order?"

"Feathers and claws. Accoutrements to the successful criminal." She answered without looking up from her boxes. She frowned suddenly as she picked up a smallish sized box. "This is not mine." She held it out for Jayne to accept and lost interest in it entirely as it left her fingers.

"Might we all want to step back a few paces before he opens that?" Wash joked.

"Har, har-," Jayne sniped, "it's from my Ma."

Mention of Jayne's mother drew all but River's attention.

"What'd she send?" Kaylee asked eagerly.

"Is it pie? Oh, God, let it be pie!" Wash prayed.

"How in the hell is she supposed to send pie?" Mal asked. "I hope its gravy."

"Like gravy's any easier to send than pie." Wash retorted, only partially interested in his Ice Planet now that he and River's game was over.

"Hey, hey!" Jayne snapped, holding his package above his head and sliding out of the suddenly crowded position he found himself in. "Back the hell off, will ya?" The merc snorted.

"Just open it!" Kaylee squealed excitedly. The merc turned off his scowl just as it landed on his girl and a broad grin broke across his features.

"Hold yer horses, girl." He chuckled as he pulled off the paper and opened the box. He pulled out at a letter written on slightly yellowed paper. "My dear boy-,' he read slowly, pronouncing each word carefully. Reading wasn't exactly Jayne's strongest point but he would be damned if he sounded like an idiot in front of the crew, "-I hope this package finds you on your travels. I am posting it to Red Sun in hopes you are still picking up post there. We have just received your credit transfer and, boy, you shouldn't have. All that money is too much when you got a sweet little Miss to look to now." The merc paused to blush slightly, but one glance at Kaylee made the chuckles of the crew worth it. "Matty is doing well thanks to your Doc. It is so kind of him to wave us. Lara and him go on for hours sometimes." Jayne stopped reading, his grip on the letter tightening visibly.

"I will not allow you to pry out his eyeballs with chopsticks." River informed him without looking up from her packages. She was practically bouncing up and down, internally warring over tearing open her boxes now. The only thing that was holding her back was the copious amounts of thieving minds she had come across on the station. Her eyes darted upward, protectively scanning the crowd for any potential threats against her newly acquired possessions.

"She won't stop you from scaring the shit out of him though." Riddick offered, a slight smirk gracing his features as he leaned in slightly and added in a low whisper he knew River could hear anyway, "Think we can make him piss himself?"

Jayne's expression relaxed as he let out a booming chuckle despite Kaylee's well-aimed elbow to the ribs.

"Ya'll do nuthin' of the sort." The mechanic huffed, fully aware that the true path to Jayne's heart was through his family. Defending her, hopefully, future sister-in-law was a good start. Plus anyone could tell plain as day that the doctor was lonely. She allowed the idea of Lara joining the crew to play across her mind. It was the perfect romantic solution in the young romantic's mind. Everyone onboard _Serenity_ would be evenly and perfectly paired off then. "Finish the letter Jayne." She encouraged the change of subject after deciding she would ask River about the best course of action concerning her brother and Lara.

"We will discuss." River chimed, earning her a confused look from the crew but a beaming smile from the mechanic that made Jayne and Riddick both a little nervous.

Jayne raised the letter again, eyeing Kaylee carefully. "You tell Mal that I am still waiting to see ya'll again. I have enclosed a little something to keep you and that precious little Kaylee warm on you travels. And yes, a little blackmail for your captain. May the Lord bless and keep you all, yes, even you, Captain Reynolds." Jayne grinned, ignoring Mal's uncomfortable look. "Oh, hey!" Jayne began to dig through the stuffing in his box. With a grin, he removed two identical yellow and orange hats, complete with earflaps, and a large pom-pom at the top. Jayne first tugged one onto his head and then dropped the matching onto Kaylee's. "How they sit?" He asked proudly. "Pretty cunnin', right?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Riddick repressed the urge to laugh outright while pointing. "Makes a statement." He rumbled, pressing his lips into a firm line to keep from laughing as Jayne threw an arm around Kaylee's shoulders.

"Aw, Jayne, I think they're just about the shiniest hats ever." The mechanic beamed.

"A man walks down the street in that hat; people know he's not afraid of anything." Wash managed to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"Damn straight." Jayne grunted as he adjusted it on his head.

Mal pointedly cleared his throat.

"Oh yeah, right, Mal." Jayne rushed, picking up the box that had been momentarily forgotten; the merc rummaged through the stuffing and removed a large square of something brown, sealed and frozen in a clear air-tight container. Jayne handed it over with a slightly confused look. "Well whaddya know. Ma sent you gravy." A few members of the crew lost control at that point and began to laugh.

"Ma sure knows how to sweet talk a fellow." Mal said appreciatively as he tucked the container into the rucksack he had thrown over his shoulder.

River had tuned into the letter with only the barest traces of attention though the hats had produced a longing look and she resolved to send Ma a portrait of Jayne and Kaylee in hopes of earning her a hat as well. The afghan Ma had given her was deliciously warm in every way possible; it would be pleasant to be able to carry that warmth with her. "I will require assistance in transporting my post." She announced.

"Yeah, no shit." Riddick snorted as he eyed the packages, assuming he was about to be forced into playing pack mule. "Pile them onto the big one, Jayne and I will haul it all."

The merc looked up indignantly. "Since when the hell did I volunteer?"

"Since I pay you to be the muscle." Mal clapped the merc on his back with a grin. "Remember me saying back on Haven how the captain doesn't have to do the lugging? Well, this here is one of those occasions."

"This one is not mine." River plucked up a small rectangular box and handed it to Inara, who pocketed it in the folds of her dress. The Reader gave the older woman an arched brow as the contents of the package flinted across the Companion's mind.

"We all have our secrets." Inara replied cryptically.

"A woman of mystery and intrigue." River giggled.

"Precisely, _mei-mei."_ She giggled as she tapped River on the nose playfully.

"Care to share?" Mal asked curiously.

"Not in the slightest." The Companion smirked as she linked arms with River and turned to head back to the ship.

"Do not damage or drop her post." River warned over her shoulder as she left Riddick and Jayne to carry her packages.

"'Do not damage or drop her post.'" Jayne mimicked River in a high-pitched whiny tone. "Ruttin' women should just carry the damn things herself." He grunted as he picked up one end of the large box and Riddick the other. "What the hell's in this big one anyway? A ruttin' corpse?"

Amnon chuckled, "Sorry to disappoint but that's the one thing I don't transport; aside from it being illegal, corpses tend to stink up a place."

"Ain't that the truth." Mal shook his head in amusement. "Well, Amnon-," Mal offered his hand, "-hopefully you're still kicking the next time we pass through."

The plump man shook Mal's offered hand, "Let us hope." He chuckled.

*T*F*C*

"We get anything fun?" Simon asked as he and Book greeted the returning crew in the bay.

"Ask your sister, Doc-," Riddick grunted as he set down his end of the load, "-most this shit is hers."

"River, what in the universe did you order?" Simon asked as his eyes glanced over the mound of packages she was sorting through.

River didn't immediately reply; her head cocked to the side, her eyes glazing over and rapidly darting to and fro. Her reaction caused a reflexive intake of breath from the crew. They were all too familiar with that look of hers. She stepped back towards the large box, an expression of confusion, wariness, and anger settling across her features. She had overlooked the box initially in her own excitement over her packages. Cut off as she was now from the onslaught of minds inside the market, with _Serenity_ beneath her feet once more, the slight whispering of dreams was impossible to ignore. Carelessly, she knocked off the packages that remained piled on top of the box and laid herself down over top of it, one ear pressed firmly against the metal lid.

_/River?/_ Riddick pressed into her mind, his curiosity no longer able to be quenched. The crew hadn't had much luck with mysterious boxes in the past and the trip out had gone too smooth given their track record. The crew was overdue for trouble. It only seemed appropriate to him that it would be mailed to their doorstep so to speak.

River answered him verbally, though her answer did little in the way of clearing up the crew's confusion. "Sshh. Tiny, little, quiet, dreaming, voices. Someone else is walking up the downslide again."

"Oh hell no!" Jayne leapt away from the box as though he had heard ticking. "Get it off the ship, Mal!" Jayne yelled. "Right ruttin' now! She said that shit in Ariel when we was goin' through the hospital. Some _goushi_ 'bout walkin' up the downslide. Get rid of it! We don't need no more trouble." He pulled Kaylee back away from the box and protectively behind him.

Mal ignored his merc's warning, casting a wary glance at Zoe, who slid one hand down to her Mare's leg and pulled it free from its holster. The action was mirrored by nearly every member of the crew save Simon, Book, and River by some unspoken order.

""'Course he's gonna ruttin' open it." Jayne grumbled as he pulled out both his Lemat and the smaller caliber he kept on his ankle.

"Bit, that ain't gonna blow up if I open it is it?" Mal asked.

River lifted her head slightly, gifting him with _the Look._ "Would I be laying on it if it was? She said dreaming, not ticking."

"Right then-," Mal drawled, jerking his chin toward Riddick, implying the convict should be the one to open the box, "-if you'd kindly slide off it so we can find out just what's dreaming in there."

"It's who, not what." River corrected as she did she complied.

"Anybody else gettin' a flashback to the last box we popped open?" Kaylee asked nervously as she lowered her gun slightly.

"The 'bot or River?" Riddick asked as he jammed the edge of the crowbar in the box.

"I guess it's too late to hope it's just more funny hats?" Wash asked.

"Watch it, Flyboy!" Jayne barked perhaps a bit severely, though to his defense, he was more than a little unnerved over the box and River's creepifying reaction to it. "Ma's hats are cunnin', not funny."

"Ma, I do apologize." Wash rolled his eyes.

"Damn straight." The merc grunted.

"Can I please call your attention back to the potentially deadly box?" Zoe arched her brow without taking her eyes away from said box in question as the lid gave way with an echoing pop.

Ten sets of eyes peered in as the lid was fully removed.

"Ah hell." Jayne was the first to speak as he holstered his weapons. "Of course it's a ruttin' dead guy."

*T*F*C*

_Battle of Du-Khang_

_Seven years earlier…._

_Zoe watched from the shadows as Private Tracy hunkered down behind a pillar. Around her, the sounds of Repeater fire screamed through the night. Every so often, the ground would shake as another Alliance mortar met its mark. She repressed the urge to roll her eyes as the kid got comfortable and started to dig through his pack. Her head jerked subtly to the right as the sound of a boot-step reached her ears. An Alliance soldier had broken through their line and was moving towards Tracey, his gun leveled and finger on the trigger. The kid was cracking open a can of beans, his gun carelessly forgotten beside him, as he muttered over the quality of his food. She waited a breath, testing to see if the kid would notice the quickly encroaching soldier. She wanted to snort with disgust as the purple-belly's foot knocked over a stone; Tracey fumbled for his gun but she knew he wouldn't draw in time. _

_ Noiselessly, she stepped forward, one hand reaching for the purple-belly the other her boot knife. The sound of flesh parting beneath her blade was as close to sweet music as she'd ever heard. She let the corpse drop at her feet, her stony gaze never leaving Tracey's shocked expression._

_ "Thanks." Tracey said, without looking up from the dead man. Zoe continued to glare at him as she relieved the dead man of his weapon and shouldered it for herself. Ammo was becoming scarce and this fight was far from over. "I didn't know you were out there."_

_ "That's sort of the point." Zoe informed him, her voice cold and harder than her gaze. "Stealth, you may have heard of it."_

_ "I don't think they covered that in Basic." Tracey went back to his beans. It had been almost a day since he'd eaten last and it would have taken more than a near-death experience and a dead body to get him to part with his beans now._

_ "Well, at least they covered dropping your weapon so you can eat beans and get yourself shot." She retorted harshly. They'd been trying to hold the Buddhist gardens for the last six hours; she was in no mood for jokes._

_ "Yeah, I got a badge in that." Tracey replied through a mouthful of beans, unfazed by Zoe's tone or temper. "Won't happen again."_

_ Zoe snorted with a slight roll of her eyes. "It does, I'm just gonna watch." She told him, though it was more of a threat than the truth and they both knew it. Zoe Alleyne didn't leave men behind._

_ "See anything interesting out there? If you mind me asking?" Tracey switched the subject away from his inevitable early death._

_ Zoe gave a slight jerk of her head towards what remained of the grand entrance of the ruined temple. "'Bout thirty troops behind those buildings, mortars, but no rollers yet. I expect they plan to peck at us a spell before they charge." Tracey gave a quick glance out from behind his pillar. "They had two scouts sniffin', 'bout ten yards out. I took 'em down." There was no pride or satisfaction in her words, nor even relief, at taking down the scouts. Her eyes remained restless and hard as if she were calculating a strategy even as she spoke. _

_ "Wow, I didn't hear a single thing." Tracey replied as he shoveled in another mouthful of beans though the hint of amazement was obvious in his voice even through the beans._

_ "First rule of battle, little one-," Zoe started with no small amount of derision, "-don't ever let them know where you are." No sooner than she finished her sentence did both of their heads swung around at the sound of an excited yell._

_ "Whoo-hoo! I'm right here!" Mal screamed as he jogged backwards, firing a spray of bullets. "I'm right here! You want some of me? Yeah ya do! Come on! Come on!" He hollered before diving behind a fallen pillar; never once had he stopped firing. "Whew! Whoo-hoo!" He cried out as he picked himself up out of the dirt in front of Zoe and took a knee just to her right._

_ "'Course there are other schools of thought." She said with a slightly exasperated smirk as she turned her head towards Mal._

_ "Whew. Ha." Mal coughed out a bit of dust. "That was bracing. They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself." He chuckled as he backed himself up against a broken pillar and peeked out around the corner of it. _

"_Didja find Vitelli?" Zoe asked._

"_Vitelli's out of it," Mal explained in between pants, "-that bumblebee laid down arms at the first sign of inevitable crushing defeat. Can you imagine such a cowardly creature?" He spoke quickly as he reloaded his rifle._

"_Southwest corridor's open then, huh?" Tracey asked._

"_Tracey, ain't you dead yet?" Mal asked, noticing the private for the first time._

"_Through no fault of my own." He assured him as he set down his beans and cast a sidelong glance at Zoe._

"_Damn, and I really wanted your beans." Mal joked, though if he was forced to admit it, that empty can looked mighty appealing._

_ "They're gonna come right through here." Zoe interrupted the banter. "They got rollers?"_

_ "Oh, they got every damn thing." Mal assured her._

_ Tracey's eyes widened slightly as an explosion lit up the night just behind them._

_ "How's the lieutenant?" Mal asked the private. _

_ "Oh, he started screamin' all of a sudden about his arms." Tracey answered with a bit of bitter incredibility. "Where's his arms? We hadda go back and find them."_

_ "What the hell happened?" Zoe demanded, her head swinging to the man huddled a few meters ahead of them. His arms looked perfectly intact to her._

_ "He ain't even hurt!" Tracey snorted. "He's got ten pretty fingers on him, just like most men." He shook his head. "But he's screamin' like they're gone; crying. Now he ain't said a word in two hours."_

_ "These kids." Mal muttered under his breath, as he eyed the back of the man more than eight years younger than himself who was rocking back and forth._

_ "Sir, do we hold?" Zoe asked Mal._

_ "I don't wanna die here." Tracey shot out, his voice slightly cracking. "Forgive me for sayin' it but this rock ain't worth it. Not our lives."_

_ "Everybody dies, Tracey. Someone's carryin' a bullet for you right now in fact, doesn't even know it." Mal informed him. "The trick is to die of old age before it finds you."_

_ "We can still cut through to the 22__nd__ at the school system-," Zoe cut in, looking back over her shoulder, a fine coil of anxiety sitting in the pit of her stomach, "-have a chance at a decent stand there."_

_ "Well, we can't do any good here." Mal panted. "I sure as hell ain't gonna lay down arms." He glanced around at the pockets of men scattered everywhere. "Zoe, you heard the lieutenant give the order to join up with the 22__nd__." He said to her._

_ "I did." She replied without hesitation._

_ "'Round them up then." Mal grunted as they pushed themselves up. "And you heard the lieutenant, too." He told Tracey._

_ "I ain't gonna rat you out, Sarg. Don't worry." Tracey said, almost insulted. _

_ "Ain't me I'm worried on." Mal shot a nervous glance back at the lieutenant. "If the lieutenant gets his mind back, this shouldn't be on his record. Weren't his fault he couldn't take it."_

_ "That's more than he'd probably do-," Mal silenced Tracey with his hand as the sound of whirring hit his ears._

_ "Seeker!" Zoe yelled her eyes going wide as she hit dirt._

_ Mal threw up a heat-flasher before grabbing Tracey and throwing the boy to the ground; shielding him from the worst of the shrapnel with his own body; it did little good. The private let out a scream of pain as a piece of metal pierced the flesh of his left calf. Mal ignored the pain in his back as he tried to haul the younger man to his feet._

_ "Is it bad? Is it bad?" Tracey demanded as Mal started to pull him up._

_ "It's glorious!" Mal yelled over the sound of gunfire. "Come on! We gotta move! Come on!"_

_ "I can't!" Tracey grunted through the pain as it exploded through his leg._

_ "We gotta run!" Mal gave up trying to get him on his feet as a roller broke through the far temple wall and resorted to dragging him. "Zoe! Get the lieutenant!" He didn't wait to see if his order was carried out as he began to move. He knew Zoe was a step behind him and to his right, she was always just a step behind and on his right._

_ "I can't really! Go!" Tracey yelled at Mal. "Leave me! Just Go!"_

_ "You know the old saying!" Mal grunted refusing to release him and dragging him every step of the way. _

*T*F*C*

_Present Day_

_Serenity_

"That just don't make no sense." Mal couldn't pry his eyes away from the pale, dead corpse that once was Private First Class Tracey. "Zoe?" he looked up hopefully.

"I got nothing." She shook her head."But it's definitely Tracey."

"You know this guy?" Wash asked, shaking himself out of the stupor the sight had caused.

"Is it a warning?" Inara asked quickly, unconsciously stepping closer to Mal.

"He's not dead." Riddick rumbled, holstering his gun and crouching down next to the box. "River said she heard him dreaming." The convict inhaled deeply. "He don't smell dead, smells like drugs." He reached in and touched the boy's cheek. "He ain't dead cold either."

Simon stepped closer, pulling out his stethoscope and checking for a pulse or heart rate. "I think they're right." His brow furrowed. "There's something, though it doesn't quite count as a pulse. Byphodine maybe, like what River and I used on Ariel?" He stood back up, "I could run a few tests, try and wake him up."

"Who would send you a body?" Book asked.

"There was no return." Wash set the lid back down after checking.

"How do we know he ain't plague-ridden?" Jayne asked, taking a step back further as Zoe tried to find any clue that might have been stashed on the body.

"We know." Zoe didn't even bother to look up as she continued her search.

"Actually, we don't." Wash cut in. "I mean, I respect you guys have a history but… What are you doing?" He asked incredulously. "And please God, wash your hands."

"Not necessary." River spoke up. "There is no disease in his body."

"How in the Hell…" Jayne didn't bother to finish his question, "Oh, right." He snorted.

"Found something." Zoe called over her shoulder as she removed a small recorder from between Tracey's hands.

"Play it." Mal ordered from a clenched jaw; the captain was bordering on outright fury. He wasn't sure what Tracey had gotten himself mixed up in, but he was beyond pissed over the fact that, whatever it was, the kid had now gotten him and his crew involved.

Zoe's emotion, what could be read of it, mirrored that of her captain's as she hit the play button.

"_Uh. Okay. Umm, recording… Hi, I guess. It's me. Tracey._

_This is a message for Zoe, and for Malcolm_

_Reynolds, and I really hope ya'll are the ones_

_listening to it. Or, I guess I don't. I guess I hope I'm_

_upright and telling this tale for myself and we're laughing about how_

_stupid I am, but that don't look likely._

_No, it's more probable I've gotten_

_myself dead, which is a shame if you're me._

_I'll spare you the boring details,_

_falling in with untrustworthy folk, making a bunch of bad calls. All_

_that matters is I expect to be shuffled off and you two are the_

_only people I trust to get me where I'm going._

_Which is home._

_I'd like my body to be with my folks on St. Albans. We got the family plot there_

_and my mom and dad deserve to know I died. If you can come up with some heroical lie _

_as to the how…no, don't. I'd just like to be able to lie next to my kin and_

_for them to know that's what I wanted._

_It's funny. We went to war never looking to come back, but it's the real world I couldn't survive._

_You two carried me through the war. Now I need you to carry me just a bit further._

_If you can._

_Tell my folks I'm at peace and all. When you can't run anymore, you crawl, and_

_When you can't do that… well you know the rest. Thanks, both of you._

_Oh. Yeah. Make sure my eyes is closed, will you?_

River didn't wait to be prompted to speak. "Vocal patterns indicate he is both lying and speaking _Dao. _Slight inflections, true pretty emotion sprinkled here to distract you with shiny while the real ugly truth is just beneath." She stepped towards the open box and repressed the urge to shudder. "Wake up. Wake up and he'll say boo."

"Creepfying as hell." Jayne grunted and, for once, the pilot was in wholehearted agreement with the merc as he nodded his head.

Mal and Zoe spoke a million things at once through the hard gaze they shared. "River, you tellin' me he's alive and that that recordin's a fake, and I just personally carried and delivered a whole 'nother shit-storm right onto my doorstep?"

"A less eloquent translation but yes." River nodded, her head now tilted to the left as she took another step towards the box. "He is difficult to Read, the drugs in his system have shutdown all but the most basic of functions."

"So we need to wake him up to find out just what sort of trouble we're in?" Zoe asked.

"Now wait a gorram minute!" Jayne pushed off the stairwell. "Don't see the percentage in bringin' him aboard. We got 'nough of our own troubles, Cap. Now, I respect ya'll got a history but this here's the present and we don't need no more gorram shit than we got!"

"Kaylee, engine room. Wash, get my ship in the Black and get Amnon back on the horn and find out where the Hell this box came from." Mal ordered, his gaze not wavering from his fuming merc. "Zoe, help me get him into the infirmary. We're waking him up. River you get in the vents and you stay hidden, _dong ma?"_

"But she has post." River argued, pointing at the unopened packages.

"Just askin' to get us kilt, Mal." Jayne growled. "Don't need the trouble."

"We got a job to get to, Mal. One that pays and one that will come back and bite us on the ass if we fuck up." Riddick added to the chorus of objections which increased in volume as every other crew member added their two bits. "St. Albans is four days, two if we waste the fuel to go full-burn."

Their bits were wholly unwelcomed. "_**Bi zui!**_ (Shut up)!" Mal roared. "I gave orders!" He barked viciously at them. Once more the war found a way to barge back into his existence and he was being crossed by someone he trusted on the thought that he'd be too golden-hearted to see through the scam. "Get it done." He added and, though there were more than a few glares and angry snorts, the crew dispersed.

"Riddick, you stay with me, Zo, and the Doc." Mal grunted as he and Zoe hefted up the crate. "Little Bit, first twitch you get, you send it to Riddick. I need a yes or a no when he speaks."

River cast one last longing glance at her packages before she disappeared into a vent shaft; resigning herself to the fact they would have to wait.

_/She is displeased./_

_ /You and me both./ _Riddick growled back mentally. _/This boy a threat?/_

_ /Based upon the captain's and Zoe's memories, he is inept at best./_

_ /Fucking beautiful. Wait for me in my bunk. No need for you to be stuck in the gorram vents all the goddamn time. He bitches when you go hiding and, every fucking time there's a threat on the ship, he sends you into the same gorram places he bitches about./_

_ /The hypocrisy is not lost on her./_

_ /And fucking back to third-person. First time in four days you referred to yourself like that. I should gut the fucking kid on principal./ _

_/No killing./ _ River thought back, ignoring the fact Riddick had been keeping track of her pronoun usage.

_ /Don't fucking remind me./_ His growl was audible as he followed the others into the infirmary.


	69. The Message II

"_Taikong suo de xingqi saijin wo de piggu_!_ (_all of the planets in space shoved up my butt_)" _Amnon swore in a hushed voice. "And you're waving me about this Wash?" He asked incredulously, a fine sheen of sweat already forming on his brow.

"I just need to know who dropped that package off and where it came from." The pilot insisted, there was no trace of usual whimsical attitude, his face for once was stern, his tone serious.

"Look Wash, we go way back, me and _Serenity_, but you don't seem to understand if anybody gets wind of this I'll lose my franchise." His voice was almost frantic as his eyes shifted nervously; wary of anyone who might be listening in. "I have no idea where it came from. It showed up, I delivered, that's my job; I did a favor for Mal by accepting a package like that and right now I can't afford to do anymore."

"Amnon-," Wash started again.

The older man did not give him the opportunity to finish, "_Tian you buce feng yun, ren youdan xiou fu_ (idiom, fortune is as unpredictable as the weather/ everyday may bring fortune or calamity/ the unexpected may happen at any moment)" He said quickly, no sooner had the words left his mouth than was the signal killed on the postmaster's end.

"Oh, this is bad." Wash groaned as he killed the power on his end.

"We've been in worse." Book offered from where he stood just beside the pilot and gazing out through the windshield.

"Yeah, not comforting." Wash snorted. "Knew things were going a bit too smooth."

"Oh, I have a feeling smooth just isn't _Serenity's_ way." The shepherd chuckled lightly.

"Nope, that would be guns blazing, warehouses exploding, bullet wounds gushing," He replied a bit dramatically as he feigned an imaginary sword fight and punctuated each phrase with a quick jab, "You know, big damn heroes and all that jive." The chuckle which followed was somewhere between bitterness and actual affection.

"The Lord never gives a body more than they can handle, son." The preacher said sagely.

Wash swiveled in his chair to fully look at the older man, one eyebrow half cocked and his head tilted in a very River-like fashion. "That would be where I take issue. You see, I'm glad the Big Guy up there thinks we're good enough to handle all this _goushi_, and quite frankly, I'm a little flattered that he's got so much faith in us, but you know what? A little ruttin' break would be nice from time to time."

Despite himself Book had to chuckle a little at that. "Consider the fact he has lead a brilliant doctor, a mind reading psychic soldier, and, well, whatever title you would like to give to Riddick, right to your doorstep to help us along the way."

Wash snorted as he turned back to his controls to finish plotting the course for St. Albans, he didn't need Mal to tell him that's where they were heading. Wash knew Mal, and he knew at the very least the Captain would get the boy home. "That psychic is half crazy, and I say that with nothing but affection, the doctor accidentally shoots crew members, and Riddick-," he briefly turned back to the shepherd, once more quirking an eyebrow, "-well he's just Riddick, need I say more?"

"Your point?" Book smirked.

"The Big Guy's got a really twisted sense of humor." Wash deadpanned.

"Or perhaps he is all knowing and has placed these souls in your path for a reason?" Book suggested.

"Nope." He popped the "p". "I'm sticking with fucked up sense of humor for the win."

Book pressed his lips together in a fine line and merely shook his head, reminding himself that in time all lost lambs found their way home. "As you will." He conceded graciously with just the barest traces of smile on his lips.

*T*F*C*

To say the atmosphere in the infirmary was tense, would have been an understatement of epic proportions; the air, as Mal, Zoe, and Riddick, watched the doctor pull off the kid's shirt and run a series of quick tests to confirm what they all already believed from River, could have been sliced with a knife. It was convenient that Riddick was tapping a rather obscenely large one against the doorway he loomed in. His goggles were pushed up, despite the lighting in the infirmary. The effect he knew his eyes had on people however was worth the pain which was searing through his head at the moment. He kept his eyes somewhat downcast and away from direct exposure; the slight scowl on his features caused by the pain, if anything only made him appear more dangerous and lethal.

"He's alive." Simon announced pulling off his gloves. "Technically anyway." He added with a slight grimace and tick of his head. "If it's Byphodine, he's using some kind of cheap generic."

"Can you wake him up?" Mal asked.

"I could do it politely-," The doctor replied holding up a vial of drugs, "-or, I can give him the shock of his life." He added, pointing to the crash cart. "Either one will do the trick, for the record, I'd like to state the vial of drugs needed to awaken him costs about one hundred and five platinum on the Black Market."

"Don't waste the drugs." Riddick rumbled darkly from the doorway, its small size compared to his large, made him only seem bigger as it framed him.

Mal exchanged a glance with Zoe, whether it was because of some moral dilemma or just a confirmation of his choice, even he wasn't entirely sure.

"We didn't ask for his trouble, sir, and we're already paying for it as it is." Zoe said. If Riddick hadn't been able to smell the anger coming off of the woman, he would have never have known the depth of it as he watched her glare at the unconscious kid on the table; but scent didn't lie, and the familiar traces of adrenaline and pheromones were woven through her usual aroma.

_/He was careless in the war. Careless with his own life and careless with hers. Once more he's brought trouble to her and hers. He will find no quarter with Zoe. She thinks it would be better if he was really dead. /_ River's thoughts answered his own and he repressed the grunt of acknowledgement that he would have made had they been speaking verbally.

"Shock him." Mal grunted with a severe nod of his head. Once upon a time, yes, the boy had been under his command, one of his own; but now, now the rotten _hundan_ had tried to play him, and it was a whole different game. If he had really been dead, or Mal honestly thought, if he had fallen for Tracey's game, it might have been different, but as it was he was more than a mite pissed. "It won't kill 'im right?" He added almost as an afterthought.

"No." Simon assured the captain as he powered up the machine. "It'll hurt like hell though."

"A little pain goes a long way." Riddick replied darkly, the barest traces of a smirk curling at the corners of his lips.

"Okay-," Simon exhaled, "-that was only mildly disturbing."

"Quit pecking at each other you two." Mal snapped as he started to pace. "Just do it Doc." He gestured to the paddles. "You turned on?" He asked Riddick.

Riddick smirked, cocking an eyebrow. "That's a real personal question there, Mal."

"Is River listening in?" Mal corrected from a clenched jaw.

"Always." The convict continued to smirk.

"Good, do it Doc." Mal ordered again, though it wasn't actually needed as Simon already had the paddles charging.

"Here goes nothing." Simon said as he looked at the three in the room with him. "Clear." He warned more out of reflex than necessity; but abruptly paused just before shocking the unconscious body.

"What?" Mal demanded taking a step closer.

"He's been opened before." Simon replied; his brow furrowing as he set down the charges and adjusted the table lamp for a better look. "It's almost invisible, good clean work, but it's there." He trailed a finger down the nearly invisible line, appreciating the work as only another surgical eye could.

"How good of work?" Zoe asked suspiciously.

"Not to be offensive or rude-," Simon answered, "-but not the kind of work an ex-Browncoat could afford." He shook his head.

"So the kid got money for some kind of surgery-," Riddick openly mused, "-I'll bet he's running from whoever he borrowed it from; maybe a loan shark, maybe Green Dragon, or maybe just a bank with less than impeccable credentials and public relations."

"Borrow the money to save your life, than play dead to avoid paying it back." Mal ran a hand through his hair. "There's some kind of irony there ain't it?"

"Let's just hope that's all he's runnin' from sir." Zoe replied, her wary gaze never leaving the body.

"Zap him Simon." Mal grunted. "Only way River can get the truth."

"It's so wonderful you've found such a use for my sister's talents." Simon retorted sarcastically, "-yes, let's send her into the minds of deranged criminals and on the run former soldiers because that will work wonders for someone suffering from Post Traumatic Stress."

"Can it Doc." Mal warned, though the protest didn't go as unheard as the doctor may have thought.

Simon rolled his eyes and picked up the fully charged paddles once more; again he called out the unnecessary clear before hitting Tracey with roughly three hundred and fifty volts of electricity.

The former soldier's body jerked violently upwards; his eyes shot open, a feral scream ripping from his lips as he lunged forward. Tracey did not make it far. Riddick's massive hand had shot out and wrapped its way around the kid's throat, slamming him back down against the exam table. "_Calm the fuck down!"_ The convict snarled locking his mercurial eyes with Tracey's terrified set of brown ones.

Tracey took a moment to gather himself, drawing in great heaving gasps of air as his eyes darted around the room to take in his surroundings.

"You'll want to let him go." Simon said dryly as he held out a metal pan. "Trust me."

Riddick looked up at Mal who gave a slight nod of his head and the convict released Tracey's neck and returned to his former position in the doorway. No sooner had Riddick stepped back, did Tracey begin to heave up the contents of his stomach into the waiting outstretched metal pan.

"It's the Byphodine." Simon explained, how he was able to keep a straight face as the kid retched up all but his stomach and intestines, was beyond the others; especially Riddick who was fighting to keep a straight face in response to the nauseating smell that was quickly filling up the room; week old stomach bile was, he decided, the foulest smell in the Universe. "It will wear off in a few minutes, and he'll be fine." The doctor added as he pulled away the tin once Tracey had stopped. The kid started a little when Simon surprised him with an injection, his eyes were still somewhat glazed and he looked more than a little confused, but he wasn't screaming or puking anymore, something the captain took as a good sign. "It will help with the after effects." Simon informed Tracey after the injection as he began hooking him up to several monitors and machines to track his vitals.

Tracey blinked, clarity beginning to creep in around the edges of his vision. "Sarg? Zoe?" Their names were rasped out, his voice rough from lack of usage and a need for water.

"War's over Tracey." Mal replied coldly.

"Should know that." Zoe added, her tone, the hard and unforgiving sound of ice against glass mirrored that of her captain's.

"I do." He ducked his head slightly, having the grace to look ashamed, though as to what exactly it was he was ashamed over, was still a matter to be decided.

_/He must focus, the medication has made his made his mind vague and distorted. She can find answers, he must think for her to hear./_

"Reunion's touching and all-," Riddick rumbled darkly, the sound on the verge of a growl as he scratched the back of his neck with the tip of the vicious looking blade he held, "-but maybe he wants to talk about how and why he came to be playing dead and mailing himself to our ship. Schedule to keep and all."

"I'm a bit curious as to that as well." Mal looked away from Riddick and back towards Tracey. "Anytime you wanna talk on how you came to be all corspified I'm all ears, but for your sake I'm thinkin' now would be that time Tracey." Mal pointed at Riddick as he looked at his former underling. "You see that big _hundan_ that nearly popped your eyes out he had such a grip on your neck, well he's a little pissed you showin' up dead kinda threw us off schedule, since we just acquired a job by his good name." Mal ignored Simon's snort which followed the remark on Riddick's good name. "And I got me another big ass merc skulkin' 'round my ship that ain't too keen on the possibility of a fight and losin' money." Mal paused for a moment, briefly looking up. "Well I suppose in the end he's okay with a fight, but he gets real sore over losin' money."

"Real sore." Zoe added with a tick of her head but remained seated on her stool.

"They're really nothing more than poorly trained apes." Simon added with feigned disinterest as he connected Tracey to a heart monitor. "It took me four hours to clean up the last poor sod."

Riddick bit back the surprised chuckle that nearly blew Simon's performance; he had a moment to think maybe there was hope for the Doc after all.

_/It's the mustache. It has made him diabolical. /_ He heard River reply inside his mind, and he was forced to redouble his effort to keep his stony mask in place. He had been right about one thing; this ship was all sorts of fun.

"Sarg?" Tracey blinked again, not quite able to believe the man in front of him was the Malcolm Reynolds he had known.

"War's over Tracey." Mal replied stonily. "Told you that already, you can call me Captain. And the clock is ticking; only so long I can hold my mercs back from tossin' you out the air lock. They're an insolent bunch."

"Ain't a merc." Riddick spat out, offended by the reference.

"Not now Rick." Mal shot back.

"We're in the Black?" Tracey perked up immediately; no one missed the brief flash of relief that crossed his features.

"Focusing on the wrong things kid." Riddick half growled.

Tracey opened his mouth to say something to his defense, though the words were lost as he felt the bile rise up in his throat again. This time however Simon was not prepared, and the doctor let out a small groan as Tracey puked all over his spotless floor. "It will wear off in a few minutes." Simon sighed as he crouched down with a rag. "It was Byphodine, right?"

"Some such street equivalent." Tracey managed to pant out as he spit the last of the bile from his mouth. "Fella that sold me it said I'd be under for 'bout a week, and that I wouldn't dream." He snorted. "Oh, I dreamt."

"So we've been told." Zoe replied quietly, her gaze seemed to be even more weighted and unforgiving than Mal's; Tracey quickly looked away.

"And we were just gettin' to the why you got yourself all corspified and mailed to me." Mal said as he leaned back against the counter beside Zoe.

"All in the recording-," Tracey shrugged as he looked around uncomfortably, "-made a few bad calls, thought I'd get scrapped off the 'Verse. Thought it might be best to just try and beat 'em to the punch ya know." He laughed nervously.

_/Half truths make whole lies. He's hunted, and afraid. He carries life but death is angry and it pursues./_

_ /Wanna try making some kind of fucking sense?/_ He could practically feel her snort of indignation.

"Not buying it kid." Riddick rumbled, his head shook nearly imperceptibly to signal the captain.

"Neither am I." Mal added as he pushed himself back off the counter and moved to stand directly in front of his former underling. "Who are you running from?"

"Not running from, running to." Tracey admitted lowering his head slightly.

_/Liar./_

_/No shit, even if he is running to, he's still running for a reason./ _Again Riddick shook his head almost imperceptibly at the captain.

"Just wanted to get home is all. It's all I ever wanted." Mal's features relaxed, albeit only slightly at Tracey's statement; he knew from Riddick's cue and common sense that the former private wasn't telling everything, but he couldn't help the almost reflexive twinge of sympathy he felt. "Except there's them that would take exception to that while I'm in possession of their property." He added with a bit of a cheeky grin.

"What'd ya boost, Tracey?" Mal asked sternly.

"More importantly-," Riddick spoke from the doorway, "-who'd you steal it from?"

Tracey exhaled deeply; resigning himself to the fact the only way to get out of the mess he'd put himself in and escape possible disembowelment from the big guy with the knife was to come out with the truth. "Well you see Sarg… I mean captain-," No sooner had the words left his lips then the sound of the alarms of the medical equipment began to blare, cutting off all conversation.

"Captain-," Simon called warily, his eyes darting from the equipment to the young man whom seemed perfectly healthy sitting on the exam table, "-I don't mean to interrupt, but we may have a serious medical emergency here." He donned his stethoscope and rushed to Tracey's side. "This man appears to be in cardiac arrest." He was oddly calm, even for himself as he tried to locate a heartbeat.

Tracey merely chuckled, looking utterly unfazed.

"What?" Mal asked incredulously as he looked from the doctor to Tracey. "Tracey you havin' a heart attack?" He cracked a brow at the doctor. "He don't look like he's having a heart attack." He said to Simon, his voice a bit accusatory and perhaps a bit guilty for ordering Tracey be electrocuted back into consciousness.

"Don't pay any attention to your machines, Doc. They'll fib to you." Tracey chuckled as Simon checked his vitals over and over again. "Heart's just fine. Better than fine in fact." He laughed again. "Just runs a little hotter than usual that's all."

Simon went back to his monitors, his confusion more than evident. "My god-," his face scrunched as he looked over the data, "-it's not just the heart muscle it's everything." He looked back at Tracey incredulously.  
"All the moving parts." Tracey informed him lightheartedly.

Zoe exchanged a glance with Riddick. The first mate looked pissed; Tracey's amusement only seemed to piss her off further.

"All the movin' parts Mal. That's what I took. That's what they want back." He admitted finally.

"You fucking idiot." Riddick audibly growled. "You're smuggling fucking organs?"

Mal swallowed back his own anger. "Tracey, are you tellin' me your innards ain't your innards?"

Tracey didn't have a chance to reply.

"Goddamn it." Riddick growled as he swung around. "Thought you had business elsewhere." He bit off each word slowly.

_/The drugs confuse him, his lies hid behind the murky waters, needs to touch to hear./_

_/Since when did you need to touch somebody to hear them?/_ Riddick growled mentally as she ducked beneath his arm to enter the infirmary.

_/_ _Byphodine, his mind is still waking up; she cannot tell the difference between what he has dreamed and what is reality. /_ She thought back, anger lacing each one of her silent words.

"I am curious to know, how you thought you would survive once they reclaimed their property?" River asked curiously as she approached the table, ignoring the disapproving glares of Zoe and Mal. She could hear the captain yelling at her inside his head and she wished he would stop; his anger was making it difficult to focus solely on her purpose. She was well aware she had disobeyed an order, but she told herself, usually the disobeying of orders was the wisest course of action aboard _Serenity_ and the path of _Dao, _was not always the easiest to walk.

The heart monitor Tracey was connected to had begun to beep rapidly as he unabashedly stared at the young woman who hadn't so much as even flinched in the shadow of the ape-man. He knew he was grinning a bit stupidly, but if asked, he'd pin it on the drugs later; she was the prettiest little thing he'd seen in a long time.

"Anna." Mal bit off her alias just as harshly as Riddick had. "I thought I gave you an order."

River blinked suddenly, her body jerking slightly; the captain's words had caused her to lose focus and she found herself abruptly jarred both physically and mentally. River had never had the occasion to Read a drug addict and now, she was hoping she never did. The Byphodine left in Tracey's system was making it extremely difficult for his thoughts and memories to take a tangible shape. She hadn't tried to Read her brother on Ariel after they had woken up because it hadn't seemed important, now she was wishing she had, at least then she would have been better prepared.

"I am gathering intel." She forced the statement out, taking care with her pronoun usage. "Calculation could not be properly made without all of the variables considered." She tried to convene her meaning in her words and was beyond irritated when the captain looked away from her and behind her to Riddick. It was not her fault the crew was unable to ask the correct questions.

The convict however was not looking at Mal; if looks could in fact kill, various pieces of Tracey's head would be decorating the pristine white walls of the infirmary. The former solider seemed utterly oblivious to the death glare the convict was giving him, though even if he was it could not be assumed he would care. Tracey had always been a bit too reckless and bit too arrogant; at the moment, he missed the convict's murderous glare because he was focused solely and unapologetically on a very fine set of legs.

"Wait for me in _**my **_bunk." Riddick half growled pointedly as he stepped in between River and Tracey; though his words were for the girl, his eyes never left the boy.

"Nah, she can stay-," Tracey grinned, it was a disturbing likeness to Mal's signature cheeky grin, "-I ain't shy."

"And back to the part where you're guts ain't yours and you stole 'em." Mal stepped in immediately, noting with more than a little unease Riddick's grip on his blade had tightened. He was less than pleased that River had decided to disobey a direct order, and even less pleased over the fact Tracey was making eyes at her.

"All sorts of curious myself to the answer to Anna's question." Zoe spoke for the first time in several minutes attempting to put a halt to the copious amounts of testosterone which were hanging in the air.

Tracey shrugged a little. "They paid me to transport 'em. Grown in a lab, every last one of 'em. I wouldn't take 'em from a real person." He looked to Mal on his last statement, almost pleading with the captain to see he wasn't all bad. "It's just the only way they can be moved is in a person." He scratched his head. "Don't rightly know why. Didn't ask."

"No. You never do." Zoe smirked, but there was nothing sarcastic or amused in the expression; it was contemptuous, damning almost.

"They have to be moved in a person because they're not ready." Simon scoffed. "None of that technology is yet. You're not just a carrier, you're an incubator; and everything inside of you is likely to be completely unstable. For God's sake you could go into kidney failure in the blink of an eye, and in case you're wondering, I don't have the equipment for that here." He threw down the rag he had been cleaning his hands with. "Your ignorance knows no bounds, just how did they plan on keeping you alive after harvesting their _goods_?" He challenged. "I suppose you didn't ask."

Tracey shrugged again; it seemed to be the young man's default response. "Supposed to be in a clinic on Ariel two weeks ago, they said they'd put me back together there."

"And where would they get the organs to do that Tracey?" Mal demanded. "If they can't move their own organs in anything but a body how the hell do you think they'd get your original parts across the 'Verse to the drop point?"

Tracey faltered momentarily though he wasn't sure if it was the captain's statement which caused him to do so, or the fact that Anna was handing him a glass of water and smiling prettily as she touched his hand in what he thought was a gesture of support.

"It didn't matter-," River spoke momentarily forgetting caution, "-it was never his plan."

"See?" Tracey grinned as he sipped off his glass and tilted it in a sort of grateful salute to Anna. "She gets me, didn't matter none 'cause I never planned on meetin' 'em. I was gonna take the money they gave me to do it all plus the transport money and go back to my folks on St. Albans. I gotta get 'em off that rock Mal. You know what that shit hole is like. They deserve better, and this was my way to give 'em more." He said in earnest.

"And shovin' your troubles on my lap was a part of that plan?" Mal gritted out.

"Didn't have anybody else to trust." He answered, for the first time his grin truly slipped from his features.

"Trust is earned Tracey. What you did, what you're doin' is nothin' but sucking us dry." Zoe spat out, she pushed herself off her stool and turned her back on Tracey to speak to Mal. "We can hit St. Albans in two days like Rick said at full burn. Then, his troubles are his own."

"You signed for that package Mal, his troubles are ours now when they come looking." Riddick rumbled from his left. "You want to be the one to answer to the mercs that come looking for him? That whole no killing rule; gonna be a lot harder to keep then." He tossed the blade he had been holding once and slid it into his boot, adding as he stood again. "We got a job waiting that pays ten times what his skin is worth."

"You ain't really gonna turn me in Sarg?" Tracey asked beginning to panic. "They'll kill me. You dragged my ass through that war, all that work, for nothin' than?" He laid on the guilt. "There was a saying, when you can't walk, you crawl and when you can't crawl-,"

"I know the rutting saying!" Mal barked harshly surprising everyone but perhaps River who was still watching Tracey, a thoughtful look on her face and eyes glazed ever so slightly. "Let me ask you Tracey, who'd you ever carry?" He accused darkly. "Seems to me, it's been us doin' all the carryin' and I'm 'bout sick of the dead weight."

"Just two days Mal, that's all I'm askin'. Two days to St. Albans, just please."

Riddick chuckled darkly. "You really think you got a vote in this right now kid?"

"Nobody's votin'." Mal snapped. "Told ya'll once, this ain't a ruttin' town hall." He grunted.

"Womack." River whispered, immediately blushing and stepping away from Tracey to hide herself behind Riddick. The convict was almost surprised by the amount of emotion she was putting off; embarrassment, shame, recrimination, but the one that caused the tensing of her body had him stifling his own reflexive growl, she was afraid. She'd slipped and she knew it.

"What'd you say?" Tracey swung his head around fearfully, not sure if he heard her correctly and praying he did not.

"She said woman." Riddick rumbled, a feign smirk of amusement across his lips. "You beg like a woman."

Zoe arched a brow at River who was trying to disappear behind Riddick and understood immediately, she shared a quick glance with Mal shaking her head in the affirmative; hoping he understood what it meant.

"Shoot, I'll beg like a dog if you want me too. I just wanna go home Cap."

Mal looked back to Zoe, and then to Riddick. "We'll be on St. Albans in two days Tracey. This ain't an old war buddy helpin' an old war buddy; this is you backin' me into a wall. And don't you think for one second I won't tell those that come lookin' where I dropped you if it comes down to you or my crew. You ain't one of mine anymore Tracey, and I don't wanna see ya on my doorstep again." Mal turned abruptly on his heel. "Anna, you're on the bridge with me." He cast a hard glare the girl as he passed, thinking very clearly at her that their discussion over her disobeying an order was not over. "You cause one lick of trouble Tracey, and Rick here, he's gonna give you an up and close look of the inside of an airlock." Mal disappeared out the infirmary doors without another word.

"We ain't good Tracey, don't think we are." Zoe said before turning to leave as well. "Doc, get him settled in one of the dorms. Bridge is off limits."

"Come on girl, let's go deal with Mal, then get your packages into _my bunk_, so we can go through them._" _Riddick turned to River, uncharacteristically throwing one arm over her shoulders as he guided her out of the room, not giving her the opportunity to look back at Tracey. River was about to ask why she was putting _her _new possessions in _his _room when she felt thin slivers of jealousy and possessiveness lace across the thoughts he tried vainly to keep hidden.

Tracey released the breath he didn't know he had been holding after he was alone with doctor. The silence was a bit uncomfortable. "So, the skirt, nice bit of legs there huh?" He tried to joke.

"That's my sister." Simon deadpanned looking up from his handheld as he made a few final notes.

Tracey chuckled nervously. "Well…" he cleared his throat.

"And just a friendly warning, that ape-man, will most likely pry your eyeballs out with that blade he uses to scratch his head with if you keep looking." Simon looked up only when he was finished with his notes, the smile on his face was on the surface entirely friendly and polite, but it was the undertones of the smile which made Tracey nervous. "Shall we get you a room?" Simon asked lightly.

*T*F*C*

Amnon's head jerked up from his papers at the sound of the door being slammed opened. "Excuse me?" He asked indignantly. "Can I help you?" His tone changed slightly as he took in the three men's appearance. He had assumed the interruption was just another one of the local station gangs stirring up trouble; Amnon didn't need more than a look to know they weren't the usual riff-raft trash gang members. The three men were dressed in black leather trenches; their steely expressions etched against stony jaw lines and erect postures. These men were soldiers of some sort; he could see it a kilometer away, even without the uniforms.

"You are an ugly looking quim you know that?" The only man not wearing a beret asked as he stepped forward, as he did so he flashed a badge that nearly stopped Amnon's heart; Alliance Federals.

"Look if there's a problem-,"

"So you have to be asking yourself-," the man, Lieutenant Womack, according to his badge cut him off as he made a slow circle around the small room, "-as ugly as you are, how repulsive looking the guy that's going to make you his little woman is gonna be." He stopped in front of Amnon , leaning in close. "Hmm?" He pressed, before slowly backing away again. "I mean Slam is a real lonely place. You sure as a hundred moons ain't gonna be pitching. So what kind of sorry ass troll is gonna get blue enough to grapple with you? I shudder to think." He added cruelly as he came to a stop before the now extremely pale looking postman.

"I've broken no law." To Amnon's credit the statement came out without the expected stutter.

"Transportation of human cargo, especially dead cargo-,"he jabbed his finger against Amnon's forehead, "-through the use of the Allied postal system is punishable by five to ten years on a Slam moon." His head ticked slightly as he stepped closer, "Plus you don't know this yet but you resisted arrest." He informed him as the two men which had accompanied him began to search the room.

"Wh—wh-," the stutter which had been absent before, now made an unwelcome appearance in Amnon's voice.

"Where's my body?" Womack demanded.

"I—I—don't know. I-,"

"The dead guy." Womack snapped losing patience. "He got shipped here." Womack stated as he looked back to the larger of his two men who gave a slight shake of his head before turning back to Amnon. "And shipped back out I guess." He added off his second's look. "Where?" The calm in his tone and posture was more frightening then the threats he had made.

"I never saw a body." Amnon's voice quavered. Womack looked away, sighing deeply as though he was preparing himself for an unpleasant task. "But wait!" Amnon hurried. "There was a crate big enough for one." _Forgive me Mal, God forgive me._ He offered up the silent plea. "I just handed it over a little while ago."

"Lovely." Womack hooked his hands behind his back, his tone cold and business like. "Who got it?"

"Um…" Amnon flipped several sheets on his clipboard. He couldn't bring himself to verbally sell out _Serenity,_ and he pointed to Mal's name. "Here." He sighed, damning himself for being a coward, but at the same time beyond relieved he would be going home to his wife tonight.

"Malcolm Reynolds." Womack read. "And where would he be going?"

"I swear on my soul I don't know." Amnon rushed out and it was the absolute truth. "He's the captain of a Firefly and he left naught but two hours ago!"

"Relax." Womack clapped the terrified man on his shoulder as he brushed past him. "I was only bluffing about arresting you, who needs that kind of paperwork?" He asked, and it was more than apparent the question was rhetorical. "Skunk-," he called his second, "-light him on fire." He ordered the nonchalance with which he did so was entirely unnatural.

Amnon didn't have time to protest as he stumbled backwards trying to escape the spray of lighter fluid; intelligible pleas for mercy sputtered out between his lips and he tried to not swallow the fluid. He wasn't able to scream as he heard the striking of a match.

Casually Womack blew out the match Skunk had lit. "You tell anybody we were here, you even think about warning this, Malcolm Reynolds, you'll wish we burned you." The lieutenant informed Amnon. "Come on boys-," he straightened the cuffs of his trench, "-let's find us a corpse."

*T*F*C*

"You're not angry that he saw her, your angry that he liked what he saw." River informed Riddick as they crossed through the bay and took the stairs up to the catwalks.

Riddick didn't bother to deny her accusation; what was the point, she was a fucking mind reader. "He didn't see you River." He replied with a bit more emotion than he had intended, but again, was there really even a point in trying to keep things from her? _Nobody sees you like I do._ He added mentally, and while the thought wasn't directed at River, she heard it all the same.

"And how do you see her?" River asked.

"Now's not the time Riv." Riddick growled.

"It's never the time" River said bitterly attempting to shrug off Riddick's arm.

In the next breath Riddick had her pressed up against the stair railing, his lips crashing down on hers as his fingers twisted themselves into her braids locking her in place. The kiss danced along the border of brutal, but it was the raw honesty in it which made it so. Her legs, seemingly of their own accorded wrapped themselves around his waist in her own attempt at holding him in place; one hand left her hair to trail along exposed skin of her thigh revealed by the slit in her skirt; gripping her firmly to him. His lips branded hers, he made promises with his tongue as it ran along her own, each stroke of it signifying a new emotion and River found herself drowning beneath the heady sensations; and yet it was not enough. The tumult of emotion spiraled between them, magnifying itself with each completion of the cycle as it volleyed between them.

The sound of a throat clearing; laced with amusement, reached them at the same time, freezing them both in place. River wanted to giggle at the onslaught of cursing which reached her through her mind; and she would have, if she wasn't just as utterly put out by the interruption as was Riddick.

"This better be fucking good." Riddick growled, just an inch from River's lips; the small mewl of protest was somewhat satisfying but did not even come close to abating his frustration.

"Captain's waitin' on the bridge." Zoe smirked as she leaned against the wall.

"Fuck him." Riddick retorted, his eyes not leaving River's swollen lips which were practically screaming to be kissed again. Riddick was as close to the border of control as he had been in a very long time. It was both exhilarating and unnerving, his body was thrumming, the now almost familiar sensation which was the precursor to his "glowing" was humming just beneath the surface of his skin. It was for that reason alone he released River and very nearly tore himself away from her warm body.

"You want me to quote you on that?" Zoe arched her brow, repressing the urge to outright laugh at the pair.

River took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself, both physically and mentally. "That will not be necessary." She attempted to smooth down her now hopelessly wrinkled dress as she carefully slid past Riddick who had yet to look away from the slight dent in the grating he had been staring at since he released her.

"I'll be in my bunk." The convict muttered as he headed back down the stairs to take the long way around and up towards the bridge and crew bunks. He didn't think at the moment it was a good idea to follow behind River as she walked past his bunk and up to the bridge.

"I despise you." River glared at Zoe after Riddick had departed.

Zoe actually laughed at that. "'Least you don't have to try and sneak around the captain's back. Man can be awful observant at the most inconvenient of times." She smiled slightly at the memories, and River's ire was somewhat abated by the warmth of them. Zoe's lighthearted tone and gaze changed quickly however as they began to head towards the bridge. "Shouldn't have disobeyed the order Riv."

"I didn't." River replied archly, "And then I did." She amended. "He wanted answers that were impossible to find given the residual of the cryo injections. It is not like reading a book." She added a bit indignantly. "Or it is-," she amended again slightly frowning, "-though it is written in a language that you do not speak."

"I get it Riv." Zoe nodded. "You don't have to explain nothin' to me, but you're crew even if you are a genius and a Reader, and you got to follow orders like the rest of us. Chain of command is there for a reason, can only be one captain on a ship. What Mal asked you to do was for a reason; a face like yours on a fugitive's bulletin is somethin' people remember, harder to notice in a crowd, but the way Tracey was lookin'-," she looked down at the younger woman with a recriminating look, "-he'll remember. That boy's been nothing but trouble since the moment he reported for duty, he ain't like us. We look to our own, he looks to himself, what he did, only proves it Riv."

"She will not spend her life cowering in air vents." River retorted.

"And that's it ain't it?" Zoe asked knowingly. "Wasn't that you needed to be closer was it?"

River looked away, not really wanting to confess the truth, but knowing it was useless to try and conceal it. "Partially, but what she said about his mind was the truth. She could only Read fragments and she wanted to know if touching would make it clearer."

"And did it?"

"No." River admitted. "One would assume drug addled minds are easier to Read, they are not." She added a bit petulantly. "He became louder, not clearer."

They crossed into the mess in silence, and River found herself reluctant almost to take the first step up to the bridge knowing fully what was waiting for her. It helped some that the captain was not looking forward to the reprimand. River felt it was the least she could do by way of apology to save him the trouble. She spoke before he had the chance, and though the pronoun usage was a bit difficult, she was determined. "I was wrong. I compromised both my safety and the safety of Mother. The ace in the sleeve is both figurative and literal, mission parameters were set, and I rejected them in favor of my own agenda which admittedly had a less than thirty-three percent chance of success. It will not happen again." She confessed looking at her feet and wringing her hands.

Mal blinked, he had been expecting an argument, some yelling, a bit of cussing, more so from River, the girl had a dirtier mouth than most soldiers Mal knew; he had fully anticipated some foot stopping and maybe even a dramatic exit. It took him a moment to come to terms with the fact a member of his crew had just admitted they'd been wrong by disobeying an order. Honestly, he wanted to savor it a bit. If he had been surprised by River's statement, Wash exclamation truly threw him for a loop.

"River that's fantastic!" The pilot exclaimed nearly jumping out of his chair.

"What? !" Mal swung around and his confusion was mirrored by not only Zoe but River as well.

"Don't you guys get it? She "defied mission parameters"." He rolled his eyes when no one seemed to get it. "Geeze, I knew I was the handsome one, but I really thought River had the genius market cornered. She defied an order, weren't you like "built" or "programmed" to follow orders to the letter? Like it's supposed to be impossible for you to not follow orders?"

"Provided her survival is not compromised." River conceded.

"And was it?" Wash prodded. "I mean like, you wouldn't have died if you hadn't gone down there, I mean you just said you pretty much knew it wasn't going to work."

"She argues with me all the time!" Mal threw his hands up. "What makes this any different?"

"She argues, maybe even has gone behind your back a time or two but she's never disobeyed a direct order. She even crawled out that stash spot when she was hiding from Book's hair even though she was terrified of it because you ordered it." Zoe added finding her husband's train of thought.

"I ordered her to tell me 'bout Riddick." Mal pointed out, though he was a bit unsure as to why he was arguing at all.

River cleared her throat, if for no other reason than to remind them they had begun to talk as if she wasn't in the room. "He is her _shi li_ (strength), he cannot be comprised." She informed them, understanding beginning to settle across her mind. "I am getting better." Her smile could have blinded the room.

"So what? I'm supposed to be happy that she can now tell me to go and fuck myself?" Mal snorted, though he was smiling a bit himself.

"Yes sir." Zoe grinned.

Wash swiveled briefly in his chair to grab Lucy and toss her to Riv. "Happy Ability To Munity Day!" The pilot laughed.

River caught the flying dinosaur, the full weight of the implications of the situation hitting her at the precise moment Lucy touched her hand. She could get better. She would be better.

_I am better._ She fought the urge to frown as Lucy winked at her. _Somewhat._ She added mentally.

"Beautiful." Mal said incredulously, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Now we're throwin' parties for ignorin' orders." He snorted.

"Not a party, just a dinosaur." River corrected, beyond pleased with herself as she rocked back on her heels and grinned up at him.

Even Mal snorted a chuckle. "I am happy, not that you disobeyed mind you-," he added sternly, "-but 'bout what it means. That bein' said, maybe we can talk about that name you spit out down there in the infirmary?"

"Womack." River repeated, her grin fading somewhat. "That is all she can give; the Byphodine, will be completely flushed from his system in the next four hours; though her ability to translate should increase in direct correlation to the decrease in Byphodine."

"Well-," Wash started as he briefly checked their heading, "-we already know he's runnin' and in trouble, does it really matter who from?"

"Rather be chased by some loan shark than the Green Dragons." Mal snorted.

"Point taken." Wash conceded.

"Mr. Universe sir?" Zoe offered.

"Damn it." The captain practically whined. "Call 'im, have 'im run Womack through his system see what the name bings, can't be all that common."

"The population of the known 'Verse exceeds two trillion." River informed him.

"Well, they're not all Womacks are they?" Mal shot back, sounding a bit childish even to himself.

"She's right though, running a single name, just a last, not even a first, could take days." Wash pointed out.

"Sir, if they never planned on putting Tracey back together after the trip, I think we can assume these men that come looking will shoot first and ask questions later."

"Can't just turn 'im loose either Zo. Lucky for us we got us a genius Reader here that will feel 'em 'fore they pull the trigger."


	70. The Message III

Riddick had had every intention of heading back to his bunk after he and River parted ways. He found himself standing in the center of River's dorm with no clear explanation or reason as to why he had entered the room at all. He dropped into his chair by her desk; rubbing one large hand viciously across his face as he seriously considered the possibility that he was losing his gorram mind. What the Hell had he been thinking grabbing her like that in the middle of the gorram bay? He could still feel the slight hum in his veins. That thing, that thing inside him, paced; snarling at shadows.

Riddick inhaled deeply, hoping that the traces of River's scent would calm his mind. It was oddly faint inside the small confined space and it took Riddick a moment longer than it should have to realize why. River spent every night in his bunk with him with the exception of the nights she didn't sleep at all and just wandered the ship. Her dorm had really become just a place to hold her shit. A slow smirk twitched at the corners of his lips as he realized that, if he wanted to smell River, he didn't have to look any farther than his own sheets. The crew, of course, was unaware of where River slept. She traveled by air vents and had never been seen coming or going from his bunk. Inara, he thought, could possibly have a clue and Simon's ignorance was really more self-imposed than anything else. The more he thought about the situation, the more he realized how fucking ridiculous the whole thing was. He was Richard B. Fucking Riddick for fuck's sake, not some horny teenager sneaking a girl into his room.

He was still more than vaguely aware of the heat left behind on his lips. Her scent was thoroughly entrenched in the skin of his hands and, when he closed his eyes, he could feel her small hands splayed out against the back of his neck. A growl of another kind entirely escaped him. She was _his_. They might not have been fucking, or even in any kind of acknowledged relationship, but she was his, _god-fucking-damn-it._ _His_.

"Fuck this." He rumbled to the empty room before pushing himself out of his chair and crouching down next to River's bed to pull out the suitcase beneath it. The much abused piece of luggage was only battered further as Riddick nearly tore the zipper from its seam in his haste to get it open. Despite the carelessness with which Riddick regarded River's luggage the convict packed her meager belongings with a surprising amount of consideration. The upcoming battle of wills was going to be aggravating enough; he had no desire to hear her bitch over him breaking something as well. Or at least that was what he told himself as he carefully wrapped up her small collection of jeweled hairpins in a silk scarf before tucking them protectively inside his pocket.

_She needs something to keep these in._ He caught himself thinking and, for some reason, the thought caused a tensing of his entire body before he physically shook himself and continued. _Fuck it. She's my girl. So fucking what. She needs a jewelry box and I want to get her one. Doesn't mean anything besides she needs it and she's mine to take care of. _For some reason, he preferred to think of it that way; as him providing for her rather than wanting to give her something. He had given her an entire crate of apples for fuck's sake. Why a jewelry box seemed to make him nervous, he had no idea. Nor did he care to consider it for overly long. His focus was single-minded; get River's shit to his bunk before the girl or anyone else had time to protest. Not that it really mattered if they did. His patience and control were hanging by the barest of threads. Between Tracey mailing himself as a corpse, the detour away from their current job, and the taste of River left behind on his lips, Riddick wasn't looking for one more confrontation.

River's mind was swirling with traces of elation. It was strange since she'd gone up to the bridge to be bitched at but Riddick didn't allow himself to dwell on it. Her occupation was keeping her distracted from monitoring him, or at least that was what he thought. It was a new strategy he had been thinking on as a way to keep things from her; to wait until he felt her preoccupation with something before making his move. He wasn't trying to keep secrets, more testing the boundaries and limits to see what kind of room he had to maneuver with.

"What are you doing?" Riddick was torn from inside his own head by the sound of Simon's voice. The convict repressed the almost reflexively stream of curse words which threatened to spew forth from his lips. Of course, things never went smooth on _Serenity_.

"Don't start." The convict warned without bothering to look away from the task at hand as he gathered up River's colored pencils and sketch pads. The two words were ground out from behind a clenched jaw; their dangerous warning more than evident.

"That's not going to work." Simon snapped as he stepped inside, unfazed in the slightest. He was beginning to realize that Riddick wouldn't actually kill him, not if he wanted to stay on River's good side. The realization made him slightly bolder and, for a moment, he thought to try and grab the sketch pads from the convict's hands but, at the last second, self-preservation kicked in and he stopped himself. "Why in the hell are you packing up my sister's things? Why are you even in here when she's not?" He demanded instead.

"Sister's moving into my bunk." Riddick grunted, shouldering past the doctor to get into River's locker.

"The hell she is!" Simon protested. When Riddick didn't so much as even bother to shrug in reply, Simon forced himself to breathe and actually began counting backwards from ten mentally as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "And when was this decided?" He asked with forced calm.

"Not talking about this with you, Simon." Riddick . "Do yourself a fucking favor and go back to your infirmary."

"Excuse me?" Simon asked incredulously.

Riddick spun around abruptly, the distance between the two men was no more than a handful of inches when the convict spoke, his head bent slightly to be level with the doctor. "Sister's a grown ass woman, doc, get the fuck over it." He snarled with a deceptive amount of control. He didn't wait for Simon to reply; he grabbed the suitcase and snatched up the afghan Jayne's mother had given River, then shouldered past the younger man.

Simon stood in a sort of stunned silence for a few minutes, gazing around the now bare room. "This is what going mad feels like." He announced to the shadows.

*T*F*C*

If Riddick had held any delusion over whether or not River was aware of his actions, they vanished completely as he entered the foredeck hall and saw River, standing in front of his bunk door. Her face was neutral, curious perhaps; her head was cocked slightly to the left and there were the faintest traces of a smile at the corner of her lips. Riddick wasn't sure if the smile was for him or because of whatever had made her happy on the bridge. For the very first time in his life, Riddick found himself wishing the smile was for him. The air between the pair grew thick; River tilted her head further to the left before snapping it directly back into place.

"Why?" She asked, her eyes darting to the suitcase and then back to Riddick's face.

_/'Cause you're mine._/ Riddick replied mentally. He was well aware of the three sets of prying ears and eyes just beyond the bridge doorway.

The slight traces of a smile on River's face bloomed and, though Riddick refused to admit it even to himself, the sight of it caused a reflexive relaxing of his entire body.

"One day, you will be required to speak those words out loud." River informed him. "They don't count until then." Riddick's relief crashed quickly, anger replacing it; though, before he could lose his mind entirely, River kicked open his bunk hatch and slid down. "I require my packages as well." She called back up.

"Ruttin' women." Jayne snorted as he passed by Riddick who still stood looking, somewhat stupidly, at the hatch to his bunk while holding a suitcase. The merc gave the convict a look of manly sympathy. "Kiss your girlie mags goodbye, Rick." He chuckled as he clapped the fugitive on the back and slid down the ladder of the bunk he and Kaylee shared just next door to Riddick's.

Surprisingly, the convict was not bothered in the slightest by River's request, Jayne's jibe, or even the fact that he knew Mal, Zoe, and Wash were eavesdropping. He smirked to himself as he unceremoniously dropped River's suitcase down into his bunk. The high-pitched Mandarin which answered him caused his smirk to mutate into a barked chuckle as he sauntered back down towards the bay to collect his girl's packages. His girl. In his bunk. On his ship. With his crew.

_**We are brutal people, our Mother-world was brutal, our very natures bestial and raw, but even the fiercest of creatures calls a place home, calls those that belong to him family.**_

"Serenity's _got a way, that's for damn sure."_

"_He found a ship; he found a bucket of parts just as busted up as he was. He rebuilt her, and she rebuilt him."_

"_Perhaps you should think of it like this, Riddick; have you ever been around people who cared to hear you speak? Around people who thought enough of you to want to understand you? My questions aren't laced with suspicion, Riddick; they are based off of honest curiosity and a desire to understand you."_

_ "_Serenity's _got somethin' special in her bones, long as we look after her, ain't no real harm will come to none of us."_

Echoes of past conversations circled around his mind and, for the first time, they were more than just words; he felt them, understood them. As he climbed down the stairs and into the bay, Riddick fully understood what Mal had said to him on the bridge a few weeks back about there being a difference between having a reason to live and just living to keep from dying. _Serenity_ was more than just a place to keep River safe now. He was starting to feel her as River felt her. Every breath and heartbeat; every caress of metal against skin; he understood.

*T*F*C*

"Just tell me he won't hurt her." Simon practically pleaded as he dropped rather petulantly onto Inara's sofa. The Companion offered him a small, amused, and yet understanding smile. "I know, I know-," Simon raised his hands palms out, "-she's more than capable of kicking his _piggu_ across the 'Verse and back but I'm her _ge-ge!_ I'm allowed to be mildly freaked out by this."

Inara merely arched her brow.

"Okay, I'm allowed to be verging on a complete and utter mental breakdown."

"Simon-," Inara consoled him gently as she handed the doctor a cup of tea and took the seat beside him, "-River is an adult-," she held up her hand before Simon could interrupt, "-albeit slightly confused at times, she is a woman. A woman who has made a choice. A choice you as her _ge-ge_, and the only blood family she has left, has every right to be uncomfortable with."

"Thank you." Simon exhaled with relief.

"But-," Inara continued pointedly, "-your sister is not like every other woman, nor is Riddick like any other man. Consider the fact that she is not afraid of him but that he makes her feel safe and treasured. He values her for all she is. Confused or sane; artist, dancer, woman, psychic, and killer included."

"She's not a killer." Simon protested. "She's a girl who can kill, but she's not a killer." Simon insisted.

"Simon-," she began patiently, "-Your sister was destroyed by what they did to her. They took away her identity; her emotions. They took everything that was her and replaced it with things that made her theirs. She is beginning to find herself again and, honestly, I believe that her recent obsession with her clothing and her progressing relationship with Riddick are good signs she is succeeding."

"So I should be rejoicing that my sister has chosen a murdering escaped convict to spend her life with?" The doctor snorted bitterly.

Inara couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. "Simon, they're sharing a bunk, not asking to be married by the Shepherd. A girl River's age, and of her standing, would have had dozens of beaus by now." She chided, before the expression on her face turned serious once more. "And no-," She shook her head, "-you shouldn't be grateful your sister has fallen for a man with such a… dubious past but you should be grateful that your sister has found someone willing to die to protect her from the real monsters, Simon." The Companion replied, the first traces of impatience and annoyance coloring her tone. "Riddick may have once been a murderer but he is not a monster. Riddick became a convict because he tried to stop the evils on Sigma Three. Life on the run made him the man he is. Not being able to trust a single soul in the 'Verse for almost a decade made him the man he is. Being hunted... made him. There is no one in this 'Verse more qualified to protect your sister than Riddick, nor is there anyone else who could love her like he does."

"He doesn't love her." Simon snorted. "She's a curiosity to him. He'll get bored and leave her to rot."

Inara sighed deeply. "You only see what you want to see, Simon. You're her _ge-ge._ I understand you have every right to be protective and suspicious especially given the special circumstances but you have no right to be blind."

"What?"

"Simon, watch them." She smiled compassionately. "You'll see. He loves her and she desperately loves him. Their relationship is complicated but Riddick told me once that he'd die for her and I believe him."

"He told me that as well." Simon confessed. "He promised to protect her too if anything ever happened to me."

Inara was slightly surprised by that and paused mid-sip. "Why are you so upset about them sharing a bunk then, when you yourself asked him to stand by her?"

"Jealousy?" Simon offered sheepishly. "He's taken my job."

"I thought as much." Inara placed a gentle hand on his arm. "You will always be her _ge-ge_, Simon."

"It's just... always been my job." Simon repeated. "Even before all of this mess, our parents never had much time for us once they were done showing us off. River made my mother uncomfortable and my father was more concerned with grooming me to become the Med-Elect. River was always mine." Simon looked up for his tea long enough to catch Inara's eye. "It's childish, I know." He confessed.

"It's human." Inara comforted him; a small smile teased her lips, however. "Did you ever consider that Riddick assuming responsibility for River left you open to pursue other relationships?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Simon replied, quickly draining his cup and looking to make a fast exit.

"Oh, so those hours on the cortex with Lara are nothing then?" She laughed coyly.

"Strictly medical." Simon lied. "She _is_ the one who takes care of Matty."

"And I thought our gifted doctor had cured him." She teased.

"Damp Lung is chronic; it can't be cured only managed." The doctor rushed as he set down his tea cup. "I should, well, the infirmary…" He cleared his throat as his eyes darted towards the exit.

"Yes, yes, cleaning and all." Inara laughed as she waved her hand towards the doors.

"Yes, well-," Simon cleared his throat, "-bacteria waits for no one." He rushed as he made a beeline for the door, leaving a giggling Companion behind.

*T*F*C*

"You have _any_ money left from the Lassiter job?" Riddick asked critically. It had taken three trips from the bay to his bunk but he had managed to bring all of River's packages down into his... no, _their_ bunk.

"Nothing substantial." River replied a bit distractedly as she tossed a package behind her in her pursuit of a specific box. "The Greenleaf job has a seventy-four percent chance of success-," she looked up frowning slightly, "-roughly." She dismissed her frown as she shook her head. "Cost verses worth, these items were necessary. Feathers and claws, the accouterments of a proper criminal."

"Claws?" Riddick's eyebrow quirked. "You have my attention."

River giggled slightly, grinning broadly as she located the package she had been searching for. "Before claws, comes the feathers; his headaches are her headaches."

Riddick didn't take the box right away; instead he stared at it in her outstretched hand, glancing up at her uncomfortably. "This for me?"

River rolled her eyes and tried to unsuccessfully shove the box into his hands.

"Why?" Riddick looked at it unsure.

"His headaches are her headaches." She repeated pragmatically. When Riddick didn't immediately take the box from her she released an annoyed huff of air and opened it for him; pulling out a pair of sleek black goggles which looked remarkably similar to the pair he already wore. "They are designed for welder's use inside the mines." She informed him, showing him a nearly invisible button just beside the right lens. "They will recalibrate as necessary."

Riddick accepted the goggles, his emotions a tumult River didn't altogether understand. It wasn't until she realized that it was the first time Riddick had ever received a gift in his life aside from the bottles of alcohol she had gifted him with twice before. She didn't even count those as they had been given as a means to placate his sour moods.

"Try them on." She urged, hoping her own eagerness would become contagious.

Riddick warily removed his old goggles. Placing the new ones on, he pressed the small button on the side. Neon green numbers and Mandarin characters scrolled rapidly across the lenses, the tint shifting several times before the characters, "Parameters Set", flashed three times. Riddick looked up, directly at the light, more than a little impressed as the shades darkened dramatically, almost instantly lightening as he looked back away and into the shadows of the corner of the room. "Nice." He smirked; the expression bordered on a genuine grin, one mirrored by River.

"There's more!" River practically sang out as Riddick's emotion rolled into her mind; the collection of swirling feelings a drastic contradiction to the stoic, barely there expression on his face.

Again Riddick quirked an eyebrow. "Claws?"

"Oh, yes." River arched both her eyebrows briefly, that lethal light Riddick found so utterly beautiful flashing behind her eyes as she produced another package three times the size of the previous one. She didn't bother offering it to Riddick, however, she opened it herself and Riddick's head immediately jerked up at the familiar sound of sharpened metal sliding from a heavyweight sheath. His goggled eyes did not leave her hands as they withdrew two large curved blades. The hilt of the blades had been designed to be held in a closed fist; the blade itself was serrated at its start, tapering off into a smooth and lethal edge as it curved around the knuckles. "They are called ulaks." She informed him almost reverently as she slid them back into their sheath; a heavyweight, reinforced dual rigging meant to be worn across the back. Riddick eyed them greedily. "To replace the one lost on Jiangyin, as well as to thank him for saving her from being burnt at the stake." Her face twisted into a deep scowl. "It would have been unpleasant."

The dark chuckle Riddick released escaped on its own accord as he accepted the rigging and pulled it on. He couldn't help testing them out as he spun, drew, and executed a few quick moves; imagining the serrated blade cutting into the cheek of a man, before the second blade followed with a swipe across the jugular using the smooth edge. He found he didn't even have to switch up his grip. "Fucking beautiful." He chuckled, his deep graveled voice heavy with appreciation and gratitude. "What else you got?" He turned back to her with a dark smirk.

River laughed. "The rest are mine." She informed him pointedly as she opened a smallish rectangular box removing three sets of stiletto knives, long sleek blades perfect for carrying inside a boot or strapped along her ankle or thigh.

Riddick reached over and snatched one of them, ignoring River's protest as he flipped it several times to test the weight; just before River reached for it, he threw it. The blade embedded itself into the metal of the locker door; the hiss as it cut through air, was like a melody carried by the wind to the two killers. The echoing "_pinck_" as it landed in its mark was the sweetest of final notes. "Nice weight on those-," he picked up another, flipping it in his grip before making a jabbing motion, "Severed a man's spine with one of these before. Straight through their neck from behind." The convict rumbled appreciatively.

River took a moment to pluck her blade from his hands and store it away carefully. These blades were meant to store her own memories, and no others. Riddick had grabbed up another box, her enthusiasm finally catching on, and tore it open. River's head snapped around immediately and she lunged for the box.

Riddick laughed again, holding the box high above her head. "What's in this one?"

"It's hers." River glared at him as she jumped up, trying to reach the package.

"Technically, right now it's mine." He goaded her. In retrospect, it wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done. A fact made clear to him as River jumped, kicking off the edge of the bunk with one leg and the table beside it with the other. In a move the convict was barely able to track, she was up on his shoulders; her right leg shifted, wrapping around his neck and yanking his body sideways. Riddick went down as River landed cleanly, flipping off his back and landing in a crouch.

"And now it's mine." River replied as she picked up the box Riddick had dropped.

The convict was staring up at the ceiling of their bunk from his back; his eyes rapidly blinking as he tried to replay in his mind exactly how the fuck she had pulled that off. The small space of the bunk should have made the execution of such a move impossible. He should have been pissed. He should have gotten up and put her through a wall. Instead he laughed, his whole body giving into it. The sound of it filled the bunk and added a weight to the air as the echo volleyed back and forth against the walls. If he was going to be honest about it, the ghost sensations that her bare legs had left behind on his neck and face were worth the throbbing in his head. It, in fact, had created an entire different kind of throbbing as well. "So, what the hell is it anyway?" He rumbled with amusement as he shifted position to be sitting, one leg sprawled out on the floor the other pulled up, his arm resting on his knee.

"Don't be greedy." River chided him as she opened the box completely. Her hands caressed the soft leather, a deep, rich, full-bodied red which bordered on maroon. In one dramatic, fluid movement she shook the garment out and slid into it. The ankle-length duster fit her body like a second skin; there was a single button placed high, and closing the jacket just below the hollow of her rib cage. To Riddick, the shade he saw of the color had a familiar tint to him; the definite color was impossible for him to identify, but it was familiar nonetheless; he'd know that shade anywhere; it was blood.

"It doesn't wash off-," River spoke quietly as she buttoned the jacket and tested the movement of her arms, "-you learn to live with the color of it."

"Looks good on you." Riddick rumbled appreciatively, fully aware of the hundreds of different meanings the simple statement held. He watched with undisguised interest as she retrieved one of the stilettos and slid the sleek blade into place just inside her left sleeve. She turned her back on Riddick unexpectedly and then spun; her right hand drawing the blade and throwing it, the sweeping of her duster mirrored by her braids. Riddick barely heard the kiss of metal against the leather as the blade was removed but the clear "_pinck_" as the blade met its mark, much as he had done earlier, rang out in his ears.

"Acceptable." River remarked.

"Fucking beautiful." Riddick smirked, yanking her down onto his laps and reclaiming her lips. River didn't offer a single protest, her lips parted for his upon contact; his tongue resuming its tantalizing promises along her own. It wasn't as rushed as it had been earlier. The intensity, however, was the same if not greater; each pass of his tongue searing Riddick's mark onto hers. He tugged back on her hair, exposing her neck to his devouring mouth at the first break for air.

It was with every ounce of her willpower that River pulled herself back and away; granted she realized she had only succeeded because Riddick had allowed it. She took a few moments to breathe deeply, resting her forehead against Riddick's. She could read the waves of confusion as well as his struggle with the thing under his skin. The thing that was not pleased with once again being told to stop.

"I am working still." River said by way of explanation, her words little more than a breathy whisper.

"Mal wants you in his head, doesn't he?" Riddick rumbled, his fingers moving up from her thighs to caress her temples as he bit back the sudden flare of temper. "We know the kid is lying through his teeth and you got a name already, what else is there to fucking find?"

"The Byphodine manifests as a fog; everything is sluggish and murky." She frowned as she pulled herself off his lap and nestled into his side instead. She was finding it difficult to think in her previous position. Riddick adjusted his position slightly, one arm wrapping itself around River as he tucked her head underneath his chin. "She is not just listening to him but the whispering of the stars as they watch Mother's footsteps. Daddy does not trust him. It is enough for her to remain vigilant and you are distracting."

Riddick's chest rumbled with his chuckle. "Not like this helps." He replied as he ran the tips of his fingers along the bare skin exposed by the slit in her skirt. He brushed the thin delicate fabric away completely to trace circles around her kneecap. "Or when you wrap them around my head-," he chuckled darkly at her quick intake of breath as he imagined a rather detailed alternate ending to her assault.

River batted away his hand as her mind began to haze over at the heated sensations he was creating. "You are being distracting."

"Could go back to irritating." He rumbled as he shifted her easily back into his lap. "Your choice." His words were muffled against her skin as his lips rediscovered the hollow of her throat.

River gave in for just a moment before pulling away again, maneuvering herself back out of his lap. Riddick was less gracious the second time around and his growl was audible as River put as much distance between them as was possible in the small room.

"Once already today, her personal prerogatives comprised the safety of Mother. Her actions were unacceptable, her reprimand deserved. She promised to not fail." River said quietly. It was a half-truth; she wasn't entirely prepared to be intimate with Riddick.

Riddick didn't need the bond with River to know she wasn't being entirely honest. The undercurrent of anxiety in both her tone and scent was more than enough. He let his head thud against the post of their bed several times before he opened his eyes and looked at her. She was wringing her hands and looking at the ground, tension vibrating from her entire body.

_You fucking asshole._ Riddick swore at himself. "Alright, girl, what else is in these boxes?" He exhaled deeply, picking up the package closest to him. He gave the box a half-hearted shake, perking up immediately as the he heard the muted sounds of metal clanking around.

River relaxed immediately, oddly feeling much more comfortable discussing the lethal contents of the package than the inevitable progression of their not-relationship. "Butterflies." She answered with a feigned coyness.

"Butterflies?" Riddick's brow furrowed slightly, the expression, however, reversed itself quickly as he caught on and opened the box. A matching pair of titanium butterfly knives; a closer inspection revealed delicate etchings of actual butterflies on the handles.

"They are infinitely diverting." River explained with a slight shrug as she took the matching blades and executed a series of spins and snaps; tossing them once or twice, showing off perhaps a bit before snapping them closed and shoving one into each boot.

"Some would call that disturbing." Riddick smirked.

"And you?" She asked as she opened another box, one of the largest, and began to pull out an assortment of clothing; not a single dress or skirt among them, a fact Riddick was both grateful for and sorely disappointed by as well.

"Thought you didn't want me to be distracting?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, repressing the urge to chuckle over the instant blush which heated her skin.

*T*F*C*

Inara was sure to lock the door to her shuttle before sitting down at her vanity to open up her own post. The box itself was of a plain and understated kind; though a trained eye would have noticed the brown paper it was wrapped in was of an unusually high quality as far as shipping paper went. Inside of the box, was a still smaller one, this one black and rectangular; just as plain as its carrier, and yet there was something decidedly dangerous about the inoffensive little box. Before opening it, the Companion removed a dozen or so thin, black hair sticks from the drawer of her vanity. The sticks were unadorned and unremarkable in every way; in fact, the only quality worthy of note was the almost lethal looking tip each stick boasted.

An almost satisfied smile curled at her lips as she tested each stick's sharpness; she nestled two securely into her updo and rose regally from her chair.

"Mal! Behind you!" She yelled in a hush whisper; her hand reaching for a stick she yanked it from her bun and threw it. The stick met its mark cleanly; embedding itself directly into the center of a wooden Buddhist carving hanging on her wall. The smile returned to her features as she daintily plucked it from the wood. "Nandi, you would be proud." She smirked to herself as she very nearly skipped back across her shuttle to her vanity and retook her seat, removing the lid from the small black box and retrieving the vial contained inside.

She held the clear glass vial up to the lamp, no light passed through the rich, violet liquid; nor did any smell escape when she uncorked it. When Inara had first entered service at House Madressa, she like every other Companion had learned the history of their profession. She and Nandi had become obsessed with the Geishas of Old Japan, the Courtesans of Old Italy and the Hetaeras of even Ancient Greece. The art of seduction had changed little over the millenniums; nor the circles in which such arts were practiced. The House Madressa boasted one of the largest libraries ever amassed on their history; hundreds of thousands of journals and diaries collected and electronically stored. She had always found it amusing how the whore was considered the least dangerous person in a room; how freely men spoke when they assumed you had not a thought in your head aside from the next party you would attend; how loose lips became in a bedroom.

So many of them were so much more than simple courtesans; they were spies and assassins. Some working for governments though, more often than not, they worked to achieve their own agendas. She supposed she should have felt some sort of trepidation as she dipped each tip into the violet liquid, laying each stick out carefully across a cloth to dry; she didn't, only a slowly building coil of anticipation. She wasn't altogether sure what that said about the true nature of her character but she couldn't help but feel as though she was joining the ranks of some sort of secret sisterhood as she worked through her task. She was now only a Companion in name and title, beneath the feathers there was something more. She had a purpose, a place; she was more than a pretty, useless face. The feeling was worth any price she might be forced to pay.

*T*F*C*

Riddick had forcibly removed himself from his bunk when River had mentioned wanting to change. Even his control had its limits. He had the misfortune to cross paths with a particular merc and mechanic pairing as he entered the mess from the foredeck hall. Said mechanic was practically bouncing on her hands to keep herself in her seat, while said merc was wearing what could only be described as the biggest _shit-eating- I-told-you-so_ grin Riddick had ever seen.

"Fuck off." The convict snorted without preamble as he dropped into a chair across from the two and poured himself a cup of coffee.

Jayne merely raised his hands palms out, his lips pressed firmly together to keep from laughing. Kaylee, however, feigned a bit of insult. "Who said me bein' happy had anythin' to do with ya two? Could just be I'm happy over plannin' crime-," she gestured to the digital sheets of paper on the table before her and Jayne; schematics of the Greenleaf facility, "-and I'm just hungry and Book said dinner will be up in fifteen." She huffed as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Not everythin' here is 'bout you and Riv."

"Anything you say, Sunshine." The convict rumbled as he took a sip of his coffee. If the pair across from him noticed the trace of a smile the action was made to cover up, neither remarked on it. "These the Greenleaf specs?" He asked though he already knew the answer.  
"Yeah." Jayne grunted, sipping off his coffee. "Think we got all the blow points mapped out. Gonna keep it nice and simple. Blow the load-bearers." He pointed out several circled sections on the paper. "Bitch of the thing is some of these rooms are designed to hermetically seal in case of a fire." He sighed in exasperation. "That's the bitch of it. They build these places to withstand full-on military assault."

"Timing's gonna have to be everything." Kaylee picked up as she laid a clear sheet of digital paper over the schematics. The paper whirred slightly before rezzing up a seemingly chaotic maze of lines and circles, highlighting certain sections of the schematics while blacking out others entirely. Her head shook slightly as she chewed on her lower lip. "In order to blow the place completely, we're gonna have to knock out power. The labs got nine auxiliary generators scattered throughout the complex. They run three different sets of auxiliary systems; three generators for each setup and each one is gonna have to be disabled before we blow the main power."

"How many of those EMP flashers you got left?" Riddick asked Jayne.

"Five." Jayne answered, the wheels in his head turning as he caught Riddick's suggestion.

"Only need three." Kaylee picked up immediately. "I can wire 'em to be remote detonate! We'll use a fourth for the main systems, too. Won't matter then if anything survives the blast. It'll be damn near impossible to reclaim any kind of security footage or code access once the equipment's been killed by an EMP."

"That's not a bad idea at all." Book interjected as he crossed from the stove where dinner was finishing up and leaned over the blueprints to add his opinion. "You'll need at least three teams." He said as his eyes scanned the blueprints. "One to go after the power systems, one to clean out the lab-vault, and one to wire the rest of the building with charges."

Riddick nodded his agreement a moment before his body tensed. His nostrils flared and, with one swoop of his arm, he overturned all the digital papers on the table; knocking Jayne's coffee over and shorting out the papers on the top of the pile.

"Gorram it, Rick!" Jayne barked. The anger in his tone died immediately as Tracey sauntered into the mess.

"Oops." The convict rumbled darkly. "Be more careful over where this stuff is kept." He said pointedly to the two across from him as he drained the contents of his cup. If they were really going to point those that came looking for him in his direction, he didn't want the kid to have anything to bargain with.

"No need to stop your plottin' on account of me." Tracey said cheekily as he dropped into a chair at the mess table. "'Course, don't know why the Sarge bothers-," he chuckled, "-ain't a single one of his plans ever go 'ccordingly anyhow."

"Plenty of the Cap'n's plans go just fine." Kaylee huffed a bit indignantly as she gathered up the ruined sheets of schematics.

Despite themselves and their distaste for the former Browncoat, neither Jayne nor Riddick could repress their almost perfectly timed snort.

"So, have you met the rest of the crew yet, Tracey?" Book asked, hoping to ease the tension in the room as he headed back to the stove to finish off dinner.

"There's more of ya?" Tracey asked.

""Nara's been in her shuttle all afternoon and Wash ain't left the bridge. He's still up there with Mal and Zoe." Kaylee said as she finished rolling up the mostly useless pages and stowing them on the ground by her feet.

"They your pilots?" Tracey asked.

"Wash is, 'Nara's our…" She looked at the other men in the room for an explanation.

"Ambassador." Book offered.

"Figured Zo' would be flyin'." Tracey shrugged more to himself than anyone else. "But she never did fly nothin' bigger than a scout transport back in the War."

"_Serenity's_ too big for her." Kaylee shrugged. "She can fly her in a pinch; even 'Nara did back on Jiangyin."

"Oh God, don't remind me." Wash groaned as he entered from the foredeck hall, alongside Mal and Zoe.

"Right on time." Book grinned as he emptied the stir-fry he'd been making from the pan and into a large serving bowl.

"Where's Anna?" Mal asked, his head swiveling around the mess.

"Getting changed." Riddick replied, though he spoke to the captain, he looked at Tracey. As if to say, _That's right you, little fuck, getting changed in my bunk._

"What in the Hell did that girl order, anyway?" Zoe asked Riddick as she took her place to the right of Mal, Wash sitting down just next to her.

"Shitload of clothes, shitload of blades." Riddick replied as he set River's plate in front of the empty chair in between himself and Wash, where River would sit.

"Blades?" Jayne perked up.

Riddick grinned as he removed one of the lethal-looking Ulaks from the rigging he still wore. "Waiting for you to notice." The convict held out the Ulak, catching a glimmer of light on its face as he showed it to Jayne.

"Holy shit if that ain't a nice bit of shiny." Jayne whistled in open admiration. "Girl knows her blades."

"I see we've arrived just in time for the ritual disembowelment before each meal." Simon joked as he and Inara walked in from the rear mess stairwell.

"I would have been terribly disappointed if they hadn't waited for us." Inara laughed lightly as she took a seat to Mal's left beside Jayne.

"Sister's got good taste, Doc." Riddick informed him.

"That's what she brought?" Simon nearly choked as he sat down at the table.

"Among other things." River answered as she appeared at the foredeck hall.

The crew, aside from Tracey who had never really bore witness to River's usual clothing choice found themselves momentarily stunned by her appearance. The complicated assortment of braids and coils were nothing new. The ribbons however were uncharacteristically dark, tying up the front braids into a somewhat messy bun while the rest flowed down her back, shoulders, and bare arms. The lower half of her body was encased in a pair of black leather pants, slung low around her hips, topped with a deep green tank-top; turning her pale skin almost white in contrast. The most unusual addition to her wardrobe, however, was the A-3 Saber she had carried with her on the station. It was the presence of a gun on her hip which startled the crew more than anything else.

The gun in question was by far the most uncomfortable thing River wore. She could practically feel the metal burning through the thin leather of her pants but she was resolved. She was whole and functional. The captain had been right about one thing; the gun even idly sitting on her hip, dead weight she was made to drag around, was a strong enough deterrent. She didn't have to be sane; they just had to think she was. The gun was a statement. Just as Riddick's arm, which found its way around the back of her chair as she sat, and the convict glaring pointedly at Tracey was; the fingers of the arm around her tracing lazy circular patterns on her shoulder.

It was by some unspoken agreement that none to the crew mentioned the change in her wardrobe or the gun on her hip. It didn't take much effort; they were so used to not remarking on her sudden mood shifts or odd statements that they treated it as such.

"What other kind of blades you got?" Jayne asked as he forked a mouthful of food in. He really couldn't have cared for what River was wearing; and as to the gun he only thought, _'about gorram time'_. He was, however, mighty keen on the set of Ulaks Riddick was now in possession of.

"Titanium stilettos, for piercing and throwing, and butterflies as a last resort." River answered, ignoring the eyes of Tracey, which were uncomfortably situated on her. In fact, most of the crew was attempting to ignore Tracey's presence. Inara, in what would have been the greatest of all social faux paus, hadn't even offered an introduction.

"'Bout time you got yourself outfitted." The merc snorted. "Ya can stop using them damn shivs Rick spends all his time makin'."

"Therapeutic." Riddick rumbled, not a trace of expression on his face.

"All need a hobby." Jayne chuckled. "I prefer blowin' shit up myself, find it all sorts of relaxin'." His glare landed on Tracey, who swallowed a bit despite himself.

"Stilettos, huh?" Zoe mused. "Suit you nice, I got a pair of bracers I wasn't ever real fond of, a bit too small for me, I'll dig 'em out for you fore we hit dirt 'gain."

River nodded, offering a small smile in way of gratitude. She would have spoken it but was afraid her words would be somehow lost in translation. The amount of negative emotion swirling around the table was uncomfortable, more so because the mind she was supposed to be monitoring was the target of that emotion. Though he was oblivious to it, she was not.

"Wait, you tellin' me _you're_ a gun?" Tracey asked, incredulously as he took in the much smaller woman. In his opinion, she didn't really look like she could stand up against a hard wind.

"Assumptions are the mother of all fuck-ups." Riddick rumbled darkly.

Mal cleared his throat pointedly at the head of the table. "Mighty fine stir-fry, Preacher." He added as a change of subject.

"It's amazing what a little soy sauce will do to a dish." Book replied graciously.

"So's ya'll fought together." Kaylee prompted the conversation in an attempt to lighten the tense mood in the mess, as well as turn the focus away from their resident fugitives.

"That we did." Tracey grinned through a mouthful of seasoned protein. "From the start all the way up until the end. Three of us made it from start to finish together." He added with an amount of pride which the other two concerned parties didn't seem to share.

"Bet ya got all sorts of stories." Kaylee pressed.

Tracey forked in another mouthful nodding, his grin still in place. "There was this one general, Orbin, god awful soup catcher, kinda walrus-y…."

River stopped paying attention to the story, listening instead to the background dialogue running through his mind. The drug in his system was still noticeable in his thoughts; she, however, managed to catch brief fragments and semi-solid memories. Unconsciously, she began to grip the sides of her chair, her body tensing as her head cocked subtly to the left. Zoe nudged the captain's foot underneath the table, her chin tilting slightly in River's direction while Jayne and Riddick shared a nearly imperceptible nod.

_The River bled into the cracks and pores of Tracey's skin. Reality hummed in the background as the dividing lines faded in and out of existence. She felt herself be absorbed through his skin as he talked. The Sunshine deserved a present. The memory had set his mind turning, accessing emotions and thoughts directly related to those it was a portrait of. Mother had not been his only hope. Mother had been the solution to a carefully calculated equation. And then there was the name, the Constant in the equation. Womack. And then there was more. Lieutenant Womack, of the Alliance Federals._

"_Liu kuoshui de biaozi he houzi de ben erzi_ (stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey)." River's voice was icy as her eyes cleared and landed directly on the boy in front of her.

"Ex..excuse me?" Tracey choked slightly on his water.

_/He has lead the Purple directly to our door./_ River thought immediately to Riddick.

"You fucking son of a whore!" The convict snarled viciously as lunged across the table to grab up Tracey's shirt. River, surprisingly, didn't do much more than snort. She had thought at Riddick to emphasize the need for discretion; apparently, that had been lost in translation.

"What in the gorram hell is going on here, Sarge?" Tracey asked frantically as he was yanked first across the table, and then slammed back down on top of it. The crew simultaneously shoved themselves away from the table to avoid the flying dishes and food Riddick had sent scattering.

"Like to know that myself." Mal replied from a forced degree of calm in his voice as he brushed a bit of protein of his shirt. "Way I see it-," Mal drawled, "-is you got about five seconds to tell us before my gun puts a new hole or two in you."

"Me? Didn't do nothing, Sarge! I swear it!" Tracey yelled as he struggled to get free of Riddick's grip. His struggle ended the moment he felt the cold chill of metal against this jugular.

"Brand new-," Riddick rumbled darkly, "-give me a reason to break her in."

"Womack. Lieutenant John T. Womack of the Alliance Federals." River informed the crew, figuring any attempt at discretion was now a moot point.

"You little shit." Jayne growled. "Should chuck your worthless ass right out the airlock."

"How in the Hell did you know that?" Tracey asked, trying to look at River and failing miserably as Riddick forced his chin upwards with his newly acquired blade.

"Not in the position to ask questions." He reminded Tracey as he added just a slight bit more pressure.

"Oh, that's just great!" Wash threw his hands up as he shoved his away from the table.

"Where are you going?" Mal asked.

"To change our course!" Wash yelled over his shoulder. "Gonna hop shipping lanes and burn her as hard as I can. Gonna have to blow through main shipping traffic to try and lose ourselves. Of course, that also means we run the risk of getting pinged for a random inspection as we'll be flying directly through patrolled airspace." He finished off, his voice tilting to near hysterical.

"How long?" Mal asked.

"If I push, we can be there by morning." Wash answered before disappearing into the foredeck hall.

"I'll see if I can't scrounge us some more power." Kaylee offered immediately. "I had Ivan's boys help me add a few extra bits to draw power from when we need it. It'll eat fuel but it'll help."

"Womack?" Book asked River, "John T. you said?" River nodded as the preacher rose from his chair. "I'll find out what I can about his status and see if I can't find us a nice safe spot to break atmo. Someplace far away from an Alliance Federal station."

"We make the drop quick, kick him out the airlock the moment we're close enough to ground that it won't kill him and we can be on our merry and back in the Black in under twenty minutes, sir."

"Mal." Riddick rumbled without looking up or relaxing his grip on Tracey.

"Let 'im go, Rick." Both the convict and the merc swiveled their heads around to look at Mal. "I gave an order." He added sternly.

Riddick forced himself to release his grip on Tracey, pushing himself away from the table entirely.

_/Talk to me./_ His thoughts were snarled and nearly incoherent. River's only reply was a rising of her palm to signal she needed time and a slight tic of her head, oddly enough, to the right.

"Ain't like we've never been chased by the Alliance before. We continue onto St. Albans as planned." He informed the crew that remained behind in the mess as he retook his seat at the head of the table. "Got no other choice. Tracey, I'll get you home, and I won't hesitate to tell the first Fed who comes looking just right where I dropped that crate."

"You'd rat me out, Sarge?"

"Goddamn it, Tracey!" Mal snapped, shoving himself back out of his chair and knocking over a few dishes left on the table. "Didn't ask for your troubles! And I wouldn't have taken them on if I'd known. You know what's good for you, you will shut your gorram mouth and be grateful I don't lock your ass back in that crate until we get there!"

"Too late." River breathed. "They're following. ETA four hours, fourteen minutes."

"How in the gorram Hell does she know that?" Tracey demanded.

"If you know what's good for you Tracey-," Zoe turned on him, taking one step towards him and blocking his view of River, "-you'll turn around, head back down to the dorms."

Tracey opened his mouth to protest, but Mal didn't allow the words time to escape. "Sounds like a real good idea to me, in fact, I'm thinking the Doctor will accompany ya down there."

"Sar-"

Again Mal cut him off. "That wasn't a suggestion, Tracey." He gritted out, a hard steel in his voice Zoe hadn't heard in a very long time.

"You'll want to do as he says." Simon urged him, his look as forgiving as the less than gentle grip as he guided Tracey out.

"Bridge." Mal grunted and cocked his head at his remaining crew.

*T*F*C*

"What do we know people?" The captain barked as he paced in what little space was allowed once the crew, save Simon and Kaylee, had gathered on the bridge.

"'Sides your old pal is a _fey fey duh pee-yan (_baboon's ass crack)." Jayne snorted as he leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed.

"Ain't the time, Jayne." Mal bit off.

"We got a dirty Fed on our ass." Riddick rumbled from where he stood, leaning against the railing. River was perched on the console next him and nodded in affirmation of his statement; her eyes not leaving the butterfly knife she was absently snapping open and closed in her hand.

"Are we sure he's dirty?" Book asked as he scrolled through a set of terrain maps on the cortex screen in front of the co-pilot's station. "The man is an organ smuggler."

"River?" Riddick asked with a slight smirk.

"Womack is the deal maker, Tracey the breaker." River answered; her calm demeanor, as well as the fact she was currently playing with one of her butterfly knives, was more than a little disturbing.

"Bit?" Mal arched his brow, glancing at the knife spinning in her hand; there was a glint in her eyes as she looked up that had Mal unconsciously swallowing. It was more than a little hard to reconcile the woman in front of him now with the one, who less than twelve hours ago, was scowling over problematic food. River snapped the knife closed; it vanished with the same unnerving tendency of Riddick's blades. "Right, then-," Mal cleared his throat, "-we got a dirty Fed. Options?" He looked up at Zoe.

"We can try to buy 'em off, sir."

"That's not likely." Book shook his head. "You have no idea how much the organs he is carrying are worth on the open market."

"Here's an idea-," Jayne pushed himself off the wall, "-how's 'bout we hand the kid over? Didn't ask for his trouble, said it yerself, Cap."

"Jayne." Mal warned again.

The disgruntled merc snorted and shook his head. "I'll be in the engine room with Kaylee. Said my piece." He turned and headed down the stairs, muttering an incoherent string of profanities as he stomped down each step.

"He's got a point, Mal." Riddick rumbled. "Got enough mercs to worry about as it is, you really want to add a dirty Fed to the mix?"

"Why don't we use that?" Inara asked suddenly. "Call him on the fact that we know he is dirty? Surely, he'd turn a blind-eye to Tracey if we could present him with proof that we can connect him to the smuggling."

River's head slowly tilted to the left as she regarded Inara. "It is a good plan."

"Damn right it is." Mal grinned. "Wash, you keep us on the edge of the shipping lanes, visible enough to have a firefight pop-up on the radar but far 'nough out a dip into the Black won't go noticed if needed. In the meantime, Zoe, you get on the horn to Mr. Universe; have 'im dig up anythin' and everythin' he can on our pal Womack. Book, you keep your ear on the security channels. Ain't likely he'll call in on us, but I wanna know if anybody knows he's coming."

"Dangerous line your toeing, Mal." Riddick warned.

"And I know it." Mal nodded. "But chances are, when he comes at us, he'll be wavin' a badge hopin' to make us piss ourselves."

"And what do you plan on waving back. Mal?" Riddick asked. "A couple of data chips? A photo of a deal going down, if that weird little shit even manages to dig up something like that in the time frame we're looking at?"

"Nah, Riddick-," Mal replied, the trademark Serenity smirk crossing his features, "-a whole shitload of guns is what we'll be wavin'. Gonna pull a number like we did on that last bunch of _hundans_ that tried to hit us. I want you and River to disable the fore-couple, scramble the electronics so's when they scan us they'll read electrical problems and we can force 'em to the ground. Book, you find me a nice outta the way place to land."

"Shouldn't be all that difficult." The preacher mused as he continued to scroll through the maps. "Most of St. Albans is barren arctic. Somewhere in the mountains." He said more to himself as he looked over the maps.

"So we're going for old fashion stand off again, are we?" Wash asked nervously.

"That's the plan." Mal nodded.

"And if they decide to shoot first?"

"She'll kill him before he pulls the trigger." River answered for the captain as she slide off the console and walked off the bridge.

"Second thought, Mal-," Riddick smirked as he pushed off the rail to follow River out, "-kinda like this plan." His eyes not leaving the confident and uncharacteristic sway of River's hips as he trailed her down the stairs.

There was a brief silence which followed their departure, one in which several uncomfortable and more than slightly nervous looks were exchanged.

"I really think she means that." Mal muttered as he looked at the now empty hatchway.

"Once more, I'd like to state how positively relieved I am that they're on our side." Wash chuckled in order to avoid shuddering.

"Ain't that the truth?" Zoe shook her head, her lips quirked just barely at the corners.

*T*F*C*


	71. The Message IV

God was a fuck. A fuck with a real twisted, sadistic sense of humor. At the moment, Riddick was drawing Niska/God comparisons in his head. Anything to distract himself from the fact that River's leather-clad ass was less than four feet in front of him. The tight, enclosed space of the access tunnel he had once crawled through with Kaylee just beneath the bay seemed to magnify her scent as it mixed tantalizingly with her sweat. He could make out the thin beads of it as they traveled down her slightly arched back. Subconsciously, he found himself stalking one such bead of sweat, distracted from the job at hand in a way he had never before allowed himself to be. It took him a moment to realize that when he had grabbed her ankle, yanked her back and underneath him, that it had only been a fantasy and that the actual amount of space in the tunnel wouldn't have allowed for it.

_Could if I just…_

Riddick's thought was cut off by River's sudden profusion of Mandarin. She jerked her head around as far as it would allow to glare at him. "_Bi zu _(shut up)!"

"Didn't say a damn thing." Riddick repressed his chuckle just barely, unable to conceal the rumbling in his chest as he pushed himself forward. The back of his shirt caught on the various bits and parts which hung from the ceiling of the tunnel until he had covered the lower portion of her body with his own. His nose nudged up her tank, his tongue catching the one specific bead of sweat he had been stalking earlier; drinking in the heat of River's body as she subconsciously arched further into him.

"One hour, thirty seven minutes." She reminded him, the words just barely forming.

"Not stopping you from working." He rumbled against her skin as he teased her spine with his tongue, paying special attention to the nearly faded needle scars which dotted it on either side while his calloused fingers ran along her sides, dipping beneath her to trace the lines of her ribcage.

River reflexively jerked her body up further as the tickling sensations of his fingers jolted through her nerve endings.

"_Sonofabitch_!" Riddick's assault was abruptly stopped as the convict swore viciously; gripping the back of his head, which had been slammed up against the ceiling of the tunnel at River's jerky motion.

"You're fault." The Reader snorted unsympathetically as she managed to catch Riddick's uncovered glare.

A slight growl, one that River somehow felt seep through her skin to fill her, vibrated from Riddick's chest. His left hand tangled in her hair, forcing her head back at an awkward angle. Her breath caught as she anticipated the assault on her lips; his silver eyes focused solely on her lips. He hovered just above her mouth; his words rolled, graveled and rough as they were, in a caress against the plump flesh. "Finish the wiring."

The expression on River's face was somewhere between incredulity and indignation. Riddick chuckled again, brushing her lips briefly and nipping at her chin with his teeth before slowly crawling back down her body. The lines of his own disappearing into the shadows of the tunnel.

"_Piyan_ (asshole)." River muttered under her breath. Riddick's answering chuckle had her blowing out an annoyed huff of air as she returned to her panel, her stream of Mandarin not abating in the slightest.

"Love it when you talk dirty, girl." The convict couldn't help but goad her; his chuckle only deepening as he ducked low to avoid River's responding kick to his head.

"_Likai_ (Go away)!" River snapped, despite her heated tone there was a trace of amusement to her voice and the second kick she batted at him was more playful than anything else. "You are distracting." She laughed. The sound was genuine; absent of any strain or hysterical undertones. For the briefest of moments, she felt as though there had never been an Academy. There had never been Blue Hands or needles. She was just a girl; just a girl being teased by a boy. It was the use of the word 'boy' in her thoughts which broke the spell. Riddick was the farthest thing from a boy and, even as she returned to work, she could feel his desire seep through her skin to become her own and she had never felt more real or alive as she did when she could feel him so. His want and need made her real; made her more than just an intangible concept. His pulse beat within her veins as their systems once more fell seamlessly into synchronization; their breathing echoing as one in the small tunnel.

He was leaning against her again, though he was all business once more, reaching above her body to finish his share of the wiring. She was more aware of it at the moment than she was of Mother. _Serenity _herself seemed to approve of the attraction as the ship shuddered, causing them to bump against each other; every inch of her bare skin that touched his felt as though it was on fire.

Riddick shifted his weight, carefully rolling to his back to gain a better angle; his head resting on the back of River's thigh as he did so. The convict bit back the groan that nearly escaped him, River's scent searing into the membranes of his nostrils. He caught himself before turning his head the mere inches which would be required and forced himself to focus on the job at hand once more. The sooner they dumped the kid and the Fed that was chasing him, the sooner he could reasonably lock River away in their bunk and, just maybe it could be done before he lost his goddamn mind.

*T*F*C*

"It's a bit insultin'." Tracey snorted as he fiddled with a button on his coat.

Simon didn't bother to look up fully from the crossword puzzle he was doing on his handheld in the chair just inside the doorway of the dorm. "And that would be?" He asked with no real interest.

"That Sarge thinks you'd actually be able to keep me in this room by force iffin' it came down to it." The former private snorted again as he pushed himself off the bed he'd been lounging on to pace the room. "Think one of his guns might 'ave a better shot." He added with a cocky grin. "Least keep me distracted with somethin' pretty to look at."

Simon set down his handheld slowly, bristling over the insinuation and the fact that it was more than obvious which gun-hand he would have chosen to be his guard. As slowly as he had set aside his handheld, he looked up, a slightly cocky grin of his own forming just below his nearly grown in mustache. He found himself repressing the urge to comically stroke it for effect. "Just full of assumptions aren't we?"

Tracey cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, first you assume we'd fall for your ploy; then you assume the captain's generous nature would save you; you assume the skirt with the nice set of legs-," he added with a slight sneer, "-would have any interest in a second-rate petty thief with delusions of grandeur-," admittedly he knew he was stealing River's phrasing, "-and then, to make matters worse, not only do you assume that you would have a 'shot' at getting past my sister, which on a side note-" Simon barked out a sarcastic chuckle before continuing and schooling his features, "- but also that I'm here to make sure you stay put."

"Huh?" Tracey's brow furrowed, he wasn't following. "What do ya mean, you ain't here to guard me? That's why you're still sittin' here, ain't it?" He chose to ignore everything else but the last of Simon's statement.

"Aside from our Shepherd-," Simon began as he picked up his handheld and entered an answer with his stylus, "-I'm the only one aboard this ship that wouldn't just stand aside if Rick or Jayne came looking to toss you into the airlock." He finished bluntly.

Tracey stuttered slightly, visibly balking. "You're lyin'. Sarge wouldn't stand for it. He don't kill less he has to." He retorted smugly, throwing himself back down on the bunk because there wasn't much else to do.

"Really?" Simon looked up again, arching his own brow ever so slightly. "I would suggest you pose that question to a woman named Saffron but you can't unless, that is, you manage to get lucky and run into a corpse drifting through the Black somewhere between here and the Kalidasa System." The smirk which punctuated his statement was entirely uncharacteristic. "I suppose though, should you mention my sister or her legs again, you'll find out firsthand."

"Ain't no way Sarge would let 'em do it." Tracey said; though this time his self-assurance and confidence were completely feigned. "Got too much history 'tween us."

"The captain was married to Saffron." Simon informed him disinterestedly. "If he would space his own wife what makes you think he would hesitate at all to do so to an old war buddy?"

Tracey's jaw dropped open in disbelief. "Mal got married?"

*T*F*C*

"Really ain't the time to be talkin' on this Kaylee." Jayne muttered as he stowed away a box of now almost offensively clean tools on an upper self in the engine room. Their newest passenger and the position they'd found themselves in now had him almost crawling out of his skin.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have your sister on the ship though?" Kaylee prodded. "Mean, it's like you'd have a little bit of home with ya wherever we went."

Jayne turned around to face her, grinning stupidly because he knew he was about to score himself some major points and, the kick of it was, he'd actually meant each word he was about to speak. "Yer my home, girl; all I need." He told her as he pulled her towards him by the knot of her coverall sleeves at her waist.

"Jayne." Kaylee blushed furiously and rose on her tip toes to plant a kiss on the merc's lips. Jayne, however, took the opportunity to scoop her up, kicking the engine room door closed in the same motion.

*T*F*C*

The bridge was unnaturally quiet as the gathered crew: Book, Riddick, River, Wash, Zoe, and Mal, anxiously awaited the zero mark on River's countdown.

"Where are they coming from, Riv?" Wash asked his voice barely above a whisper as he looked from one monitor to the next.

River didn't verbally reply. She had been standing beyond the console railings, on the aviation deck, her silhouette nearly blocking out Wash's sightline of the viewport. Her head cocked further to the right, as she raised her left arm; arcing it over her head as she pointed to her right and just slightly behind her.

"How long 'til we hit St. Albans?" Mal asked.

"Bad side of five hours." Wash answered ominously. "Hard to say if they'll follow the bait all the way there."

"They will." Riddick rumbled as he leaned against the main support beam, his eyes not leaving River. Occasionally her fingers would twitch or the angle of her head would change. Vaguely, he wondered if the difference in the direction of her head tilt meant anything at all. "Too much cash sewn up into that kid to risk blowing him up and there's not a rock between us and St. Albans they could detour us to."

"He's right." Zoe agreed as she slid one hand onto her husband's shoulder. "So's far as they know, he's still dead and we have no idea what we're carryin'."

"And they don't want anyone to know they're following." Book said, looking up from the co's station. "The security channels are still clean; there's some chatter from a few Alliance military ships in the sector and they're large enough for us to dock with. If he isn't as dirty as we think, we might find ourselves in a spot of trouble."

"They won't make the call." Riddick insisted.

"Let's just hope he's as thick as the last purple-belly we had pollutin' our ship." The captain muttered as he leaned down to look over Wash's monitors.

"Ring. Ring." River spoke for the first time in the near hour since they had been on the bridge.

The meaning behind her words was blatantly obvious and the entire crew looked to the blank wave screen; it took less than ten seconds for the bright red light signifying an incoming wave to whirr to life.

"Here's to a shot in Hell." Mal exhaled as he flicked on the vidscreen; his slickest salesman smile plastered across his face.

"This is Lieutenant Womack of Allied Enforcement." The stern face which appeared immediately announced, bypassing any chance at friendly greeting. "You are in possession of stolen goods and are ordered to power down your thrusters and prepare to be boarded."

"Lieutenant Womack, this is Captain Reynolds-," Mal kept his face neutral, his voice sounding almost bored if not annoyed over the delay, "-I think there's been a mistake. I run a legit shipping operation."

"There's been a lot of mistakes, Captain." Womack replied. "Starting with a crate you accepted within the last twenty-four hours on Red Sun station." He added pointedly, his eyes hardening as he leaned forward threateningly. "Power down your thrusters and prepare for boarding."

"Took in a lot of inventory today, Lieutenant." Mal lied easily. "Like I said, I run a legit operation here and if somethin' got took in by accident I'll hand it back but I got a schedule to keep too and ain't got time to let the Feds run all over my ship as they please. Even if I did, my fore-couples on the fritz so you'll understand if I'm hesitant to try to form a seal this far out. I'll have my boys run through the cargo. This crate marked?" He asked innocently.

"You might want to take care with the games you play, captain. I will blow you out of airspace." Womack's face, if possible, hardened further.

"Police procedure's changed a bit since I was a kid then." The captain replied, unable to keep the cheek out of his tone. "You blow us and your cargo gets blown to itty, bitty shards as well. Now I got a schedule and deliveries to make, Lieutenant. You lock onto our trajectory and I'll see iffin' there's anything here that fits your description." He didn't wait for Womack to reply as he flicked the screen off.

"Well, that went well." Wash said pleasantly.

"They call back, you keep 'em busy, Wash." Mal ordered.

"And do what?" The pilot scoffed. "Shadow puppets? I'm a bit rusty but-"

"We'll handle it, sir." Zoe cut off her husband. "They'll follow us to Albans. Like Riddick said, they won't risk losin' the coin."

"We hear back from Mr. Universe yet?" Riddick asked.

"Not yet." Wash shook his head. "Side note, Lenore's even creepier when she answers his waves." He shook his head slightly.

"We got a back-up if he don't come through, sir?"

"Sure we do." Mal assured her. "Just ain't quite figured it yet."

It was as though Mr. Universe could hear himself being talked about from across the trillions of kilometers which stretched between them as the wave console once more lit up.

"Speak of the devil." Wash looked up at Mal hopefully.

"Patch 'im through." Mal grunted as he slid in front of the screen. "Mr. Universe." He greeted as the curly haired man's face came to life on the screen before him.

"Captain Reynolds, you are either the dumbest man alive or the unluckiest. I haven't quite decided but it's really here nor there. Your little soirée in Red Sun has put me behind schedule, even more so now that I've taken more of my valuable time to cover your tracks." He frowned slightly, but didn't give the captain anytime to respond. "I'm uploading the data now; which, by the way, I will be adding an additional three percent to my take on the Greenleaf job if you manage to live long enough to complete it. A word of warning, Mal, if you can avoid killing Womack, I would advise it. There's a reason he gets away with what he does and that reason is a very powerful uncle in Parliament. Now, if there are no other pressing fuck-ups for me to fix, tootles." The connection died, though it took Mal a moment longer to unclench his jaw and look away from the screen.

"I really do hate that man." He announced to no one in particular.

"But you can't argue with his work." Book mused quietly as he scrolled through the uploaded data. "Womack is well connected but that works to our advantage too; getting away with what he does is fine and good as long as it remains quiet and behind closed doors. His uncle would be the first to disown him if his indiscretions were made public."

Riddick leaned over the Shepherd's shoulder to read through the data himself; his head slowly shaking as he straightened himself again. "Fucking Yuri. Should have killed that fuck when I had the chance."

"You wanna elaborate on that any Riddick?" Mal asked, his brow half cocked.

"Womack got his command stripes on Silverhold; that rock has one moon, Beggar's Tin. Five years ago, Yuri wasn't anything more than a shit drug-runner. Managed to buy himself a few politicians and now he owns most of that moon. Wouldn't be surprised if Womack's a hype himself. Its Yuri's M.O., gets them hooked on his product, keeps them coming back. Organ smuggling is a new one for him though and if he's running them from here to Ariel in White Sun, means he's looking to expand again."

"This is bad news, right?" Wash asked, looking up at his wife who merely nodded.

"He doesn't forget." River answered, her eyes glazed over as she gingerly picked her way through Riddick's mind.

"He don't." Riddick nodded. "We might get rid of Womack but he'll run back to Yuri."

"What's one more psychopathic crime lord looking for us?" Wash tried to joke; the somewhat panicked edge to his chuckle, however, killed any attempt at humor as flashbacks of Niska's complex assaulted him.

"Let's deal with the now." Mal said firmly. "We'll finish this, do the job we came to do and then stay the Hell out of Red Sun. Book, you go through that _goushi_ and pull the relevant. When the time comes, you'll do the talkin'."

"You mean you think he'll hesitate on shooting a Shepherd and give me chance enough to speak." Book replied, somewhat amused.

"Well, you _**are**_ in charge of ship defense." The captain replied.

"And you do have that reproachful, intimidating manner about you." Wash added, somewhat helpfully.

"There's that one look, all Preacher-like, where you press your lips together and shake your head; makes me feel like I stole my own ship." Mal nodded. "Yup, that's it, that's the one. I call it the 'Special-Hell-Look'. Man strikes me as the type that talks in a theater."

Book merely shook his head, a sort of amused expression on his face. "Far be it for me to pass up the opportunity to morally chastise."

"We really goin' with this plan, sir?" Zoe asked.

"It look like we got any other choice, Zo'?" Mal answered with another question.

"No, sir; just checkin'." She shook her head.

"I ain't lookin' to be blown up and I ain't looking to have to kill a Fed. Dirty Fed or not, that just ain't an option; not with the friends he's got and not over Tracey." He shook his head. "That's the last kind of trouble we need. Gonna play this all sanguine-like."

Wash arched a brow. "You do realize that statement implies there's a fifty percent chance we'll all die?"

"Yup." Mal popped his "p". "Ain't like we ain't used to those odds."

*T*F*C*

_Two hours later…_

Tracey was beginning to get nervous. He'd been stuck inside the dorm room for hours now with no word or decision regarding his fate. He still hadn't quite figured out how it was the girl, Anna, had figured out about Womack. Now that he thought about it, she was pretty sure of his plan back in the infirmary when he'd first woken up. He pushed himself off the bed to pace the small space once more, casting annoyed glances at his "guard" who couldn't seem to be bothered to look up from his damn computer. Could she have run across the Lieutenant at the station? Could Womack have really been that close? And just how in the Hell had they known he wasn't dead anyway? There was the possibility they were just familiar with who was running the organ smuggling game. The guy that had been wielding the big ass knives had practically screamed career criminal and, from what he had gathered, _Serenity_ was doing mainly smuggling runs as it was.

He didn't actually think that the Sarge would send Womack looking; Mal had always been good at playing the hard-ass but, when push came to shove, he and Zoe would never leave a man to rot. It was why he had chosen them after all. That fact aside, Womack was the big bad Alliance; just another dirty Fed. He resettled himself in the chair by the small desk as he assured himself the Sarge would never do anything to help the Alliance. More likely than not, he was just pissed over being lied to. He'd get him to St. Albans and one look at his family would keep the Sarge from sending anybody his way. He'd just have to tug on the heartstrings and play all the right cords.

*T*F*C*

_Two hours later…_

Jayne and Riddick gave the bay one last look over from the airlock entry way. The set up was more orderly than the last time they had had to stage an ambush; though, to a well trained and careful eye, it was more than a little obvious.

Jayne rolled his neck to crack it. "Hate waitin' for a fight to start." The merc grumbled. "Been sittin' on this for hours. All this build up and, most likely, we ain't even gonna hafta fire a shot. Don't even think I wanna bring Vera out; been teasin' her with all these possibilities and I ain't had to use her once." He openly complained.

"Got one last thing to do still." Riddick replied. "Have a little fun while we wait. You in?"

Jayne eyed Riddick, noting with more than a little interest the dark curl to the convict's smirk. "What kinda fun?"

"Just one thing first."

"What?"

"Take off than goddamn hat. I can't even fucking take you seriously." Riddick snorted.

"Oh, fuck you, Riddick." The merc looked genuinely affronted. "Hat's cunnin' as all hell."

*T*F*C*

"Hey, Doc." Riddick rumbled, catching Simon off guard and repressing the urge to chuckle as he jumped slightly.

Simon nearly dropped his handheld at the sound of Riddick's voice. He looked up warily, noting the fact Riddick was still wearing the Ulaks River had given him and more than slightly suspicious over the convict's conversational tone. If Riddick's demeanor wasn't enough to convince him something was up, the rather sadistic-looking grin the merc who stood behind him was wearing removed all doubt.

"Hello." He answered carefully, shooting a glance over at Tracey, who was snoring slightly as he dozed on the bed.

"Why don't you take a piss break?" Jayne jerked his head slightly down the hall.

"I'm not an idiot." Simon deadpanned.

"Which is why you're going to go and take a piss break." Riddick replied causally. "He's seen your sister's face, Doc; just want to remind the kid about the importance of a bad memory in extending a person's natural lifespan." He said, playing on the doctor's deepest fears.

"Just a little hysterickal fear, Doc." Jayne added. "Healthy dose is good for a body."

"He's already turned on Mal and Zoe once. The captain made the mistake of telling Tracey he'll send them looking." Riddick added, pushing Simon completely over the line. "What if, between now and then, he sees a picture, one on a wanted board?"

"Hell of a bargaining chip; bet that price on your sister's twice what he's carryin' 'round inside his body." Jayne goaded.

"Ten minutes." Simon said quickly; not looking back again as he quickly exited into the hall, taking the stairs directly up to the mess. His conscience was screaming at him the entire way but he silenced the small voice. River's safety was everything.

Tracey jerked awake at the sound of the dorm door being slammed closed. His eyes widened perceptively at the sight of the two men looming above him. Riddick called for the lights to dim and removed his goggles. Tracey thought it was the ridiculous hat the merc was wearing which stopped him from immediately yelling out but, by the time he realized the danger he was in, it was already too late. Jayne yanked him off the bed only to send him brutally flying into the desk. He had barely managed to pull in a full breath before he was flying through the air again; this time to be slammed against the grating. In the next breath, he was back off the grating; one of Jayne's meaty hands clamped over his mouth, the other clutching a blade that pressed dangerously against his jugular. Tracey's eyes locked onto a pair of gleaming mercurial ones. The added presence of the matching set of blades Riddick had shown off earlier fed the onslaught of panic, nearly blinding him.

"Hey, kid." Riddick chuckled darkly. "Thought we'd have a conversation before we part ways."

"Yer probably wonderin' just how we're supposed to talk with my hand around yer mouth as it is." Jayne added with a chuckle of his own. "Ain't nuthin' to think too hard on. We figured we'd do the talking and you'd just settle for blinkin'. One for yes, two for no. Think ya can handle that?" Tracey blinked once, shaking his head with the gesture. Jayne tightened his grip on Tracey's mouth pressing the blade more firmly across his throat. "I said blink, not nod." The merc growled in warning. Tracey blinked once, keeping his body motionless. "There you go." He smirked as Tracey stilled. "Now we can be civilized."

"And seeing how civilized folk start conversations with introductions, guess I should tell you my name's not Rick." Riddick said almost casually. "You run in some interesting circles though and you might have heard my real name in passing. From what I hear, Yuri's still real sensitive about that scar."

Tracey's eyes bulged almost comically.

"Think he's heard of you, Riddick." Jayne chuckled.

"That's the reason for Yuri's scar-," Riddick said his tone remaining conversational, "-fucker always did talk too much. Jayne, you think I could take a man's head off with these?" He ticked his blades up. "Right angle shouldn't be too hard. Only about a hundred and twenty pounds of force needed to decapitate a human."

"Same follow through as a neck snap, I reckon. 'Course, I'm kinda partial to the crack sound; satisfying as it is and it'd be cleaner too." Jayne replied, mirroring Riddick's easy manner of speaking.

"Kind of a fan of the blood." Riddick mused as he held up one of the knives for a closer inspection.

"You would be." Jayne snorted. "Gotta say, Riddick, that fetish of yours is bit creepifyin'."

"And your hard-on for blowing shit up ain't? It's called finesse, Jayne."

"And you call 'finesse' leaving a trail of gutted out bodies behind you?" The merc argued. Beneath Jayne's grip, Tracey was trying very hard to not start screaming.

"Makes a statement." Riddick shrugged. "What do you think, kid, because, you see, this kind of concerns you. Mal's planning on letting you walk off this ship."

"Wasn't our vote." Jayne grunted, the edge of his blade forcing Tracey's head up a bit higher. "See, Riddick here, he's a bit concerned your mouth runs like Yuri's. That one day you might see somethin', or hear somethin', that makes you remember him and this ship. Might find yourself in a situation where it seems like a good idea to remember us. Especially seein' as how you remembered your old war buddies so well when you needed somebody to save your sorry ass skin."

"I think it's important, Tracey-," Riddick said as the tip of his ulak traced a line from Tracey's temple to chin, the pressure just enough to burn without breaking skin. "-for you to realize we ain't Mal or Zoe."

"No, sir." Jayne growled. "Can't ever say I've been called the forgivin' type, and Riddick here, well I'm sure you heard he's got this powerful knack for escapin'. What's that number? Five? Five triple-max Slams. What happened to that last _hundan_ that tried to take you down, Riddick?"

The convict immediately shoved away the thoughts of T2 and the creatures which inhabited it. For once in his life, Riddick felt it was appropriate to slightly censor himself. "Which part of him, Jayne? I left a few pieces here and there; course, he should have seen that coming. Johns was a bit of a dumb fuck and, apparently, that broken shiv-tip I left in his spine wasn't enough of a warning to stay the fuck away. Point we're tryin' to make though, kid; I find out you opened that fucking mouth of yours, won't be enough pieces left to ship home to your folks next time. 'Course, if I find them first, won't be anyplace to mail you either." He chuckled, tapping the flat edge of an ulak a few times against Tracey's cheek. _"Dong ma?"_

Tracey blinked once.

"Good." The smile Riddick offered him made Tracey nearly piss himself. The promise of pain and violence burned into him as effectively as Riddick's glare.

"Oh, and one other thing, kid-," Jayne added as he tossed him roughly back onto the bed, "-this deal with Womack goes south, and I lose one of mine, I'll take every goddamn one of yours." He growled.

Almost on cue, Simon reappeared in the dorm doorway; though Riddick was well aware the doc had snuck back down and had been listening in. "What are you doing in here?" He demanded with feigned accusation.

"Nothing, Doc, we were just leavin'." Riddick replied, brushing past him.

"Good talk, boy." Jayne chuckled, following Riddick out.

The moment they disappeared out of the dorm, Tracey exhaled the breath he'd been holding, a tangent of Mandarin escaping on the exhale. "They're psychotic!"

"Not entirely." Simon replied, his eyes swept over Tracey's body just to ensure there was no actually injury before he relaxed back into his chair and picked up his handheld.

"The hell they ain't!" Tracey snapped, rubbing his neck where the ghost of Jayne's blade remained behind. "And what the hell did they mean about the deal with Womack?" He asked desperately; his life no longer in immediate danger, the implications of Jayne's parting statement hit him fully.

"And how should I know?" Simon shrugged, and it was the honest truth. "I've been stuck down here with you."

"All gotta be a part of the plan." Tracey assured himself.

"I didn't think you held much stock in Mal's plans." Simon remarked conversationally.

Tracey visibly blanched; his stomach dropping further as the ship was rocked violently to the port side. "What the hell was that?"

"Friends of yours, I presume." Simon looked up, his mask of calm indifference slipping for the first time.

"He's gonna turn me in. He ain't gonna let his ship get blown up on account of me. He's gonna turn me in!" Tracey yelled, the combination of residual panic left behind from Riddick's and Jayne's visit didn't take much to be stoked into a raging fire over the new set of circumstances.

"Calm down!" Simon snapped at him. "The captain always has a plan." Simon was surprised to realize he meant it.

*T*F*C*

"What the hell was that?" Mal demanded as he took the stairs two at a time into the bridge, Jayne and Riddick not more than a few feet behind him.

"That would have been a nice big hello from our friends with the military craft behind us." Wash chortled as he fingers flew deftly across his console.

"They grow weary of our stall tactics." River added from the copilot's station. Mal admittedly was marginally unnerved when he noticed her fingers moving across the console; at the moment however, Wash seemed perfectly at ease with it and so he chose to ignore it in favor of the more pressing issue at hand.

"'Course, we were more ignoring than stalling." Wash clarified.

"How long until we break atmo?" The captain asked next as he made his way to the wave screen, which was once again blinking rapidly.

"Less than five." The pilot replied as he began running the atmospheric entry sequences.

"Book." Mal called over his shoulder.

The Preacher reached up and pulled down a drop-down screen, circling their LZ for Wash. "At the base of these mountains."

Mal nodded. "Riddick, go grab our guest of honor."

"It is unwise." River warned, her right hand reaching up to cradle her temple. "He is panicking; his thoughts are racing and unpredictable."

"Little bit of hysterickal fear is good for a body." Jayne grunted the barest trace of a smirk on his face.

"Jayne's right." Zoe found herself saying. "Tracey looks terrified, won't be a reason for Womack to suspect anything. Let him think we're turnin' him over; boy could use the lesson."

"Get 'im, Riddick." Mal grunted. "Need to make Womack think we're all friendly and accomdatin'." The convict nodded and jogged down the bridge steps.

"She warned you." River shook her head slightly. The captain might have been willing to take the chance, but she was not. Her mind raced with possible outcomes; none with a high enough probability to warrant formulation of a plan. Tracey's mind was shifting too rapidly; panic and adrenalin blocking out coherent thought.

"Did fine with unpredictable 'fore you came onboard, Bit." Mal said, a bit annoyed by the tone of her voice. "Zo, get everybody in position on the bay."

"Yes, sir." She nodded abruptly; placing a loaded semi-automatic pistol on the console next to her husband. "Just in case."

"_Dang xin_ (Be careful)" Wash grabbed her hand for a moment before letting her go to head down to the bay.

Mal stopped River before she could stand. "Bit, your ass stays in that chair 'til we're done here, you hear me? Don't want this Fed gettin' close 'nough to even take a peek at you; not even one gorram glance at those braids. _Dong ma?"_

River narrowed her eyes but otherwise provided no argument. When Riddick reentered the bridge; a violently struggling and swearing Tracey tow, she found herself gripping the console to fend off the invasion of his panic.

"Shut him up, Rick!" Mal barked, his voice hardened with a vehemence he truly didn't feel. Riddick shifted his grip quickly; locking both Tracey's arms behind his back and clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Bite me and I'll break your gorram jaw." The convict snarled into Tracey's ear.

"Could have been different, Tracey." Mal slowly shook his head, resignation lacing his tone. "Don't rightly know if I woulda helped you had you come to me but it sure as hell wouldn't have played out like this." He turned his back on Tracey to flick the vidscreen on as another warning shot rocked _Serenity_ violently.

"Now, Lieutenant, ain't no need to push." Mal said calmly, as Womack's face flickered on the screen in front of him.

"I think we're done being stalled, Captain Reynolds; prepare to be boarded or be destroyed." Womack's words were clipped with thinly veiled contempt.

"Now see, that just ain't possible, as we been through before, my fore-couple's on the fritz and, if you wanna board, you gotta follow us to the ground."

"How convenient, Captain Reynolds."

"Run a scan-," Mal shrugged, "-you know how temperamental these old Fireflies can be."

"Captain Reynolds, I am warning you. I stepped over a lot of bodies to get to the one you got in your hold. You play this right and you won't have to be another one."

"Ain't plannin' on it, Lieutenant." He assured him. "Found that bit of cargo you was lookin' for." The captain jerked his head and Riddick hauled the still somewhat struggling Tracey into view of the wave camera.

"I see you have." Womack replied slowly, leaning back in his chair. "And do dead men tell tales?"

"Oh, he sings real pretty." Mal assured him. "Don't much care for his tune though. Like I said, Lieutenant, I run a legitimate shipping operation; don't need any trouble with the law, old war buddy or not. So you just follow us to the ground and I promise his pretty face will be waitin'."

"You're smarter than you look, Reynolds." Womack smirked. "I'll see you on the ground."

Mal refused to look back at Tracey as he killed the connection. "Told you it didn't have to be this way, Tracey." He turned around slowly. "Let him go, Rick, get yourself down to the bay while I deal with this." He said quietly, preparing to inform Tracey of their real plan.

Riddick none too gently shoved the younger man down to his knees at Mal's feet before releasing him and stepping away to head down the bridge stairs. Tracey caught himself on his hands before he could fully hit the grating. "You just killed me Mal." He choked out in a half sob.

"Ain't lik-," Mal tried to explain but Tracey did not allow it.

"No!" He yelled at him catching the unattended pistol out of the corner of his eye. "You killed me!" In the same breath, River Read his intention; time seeming to slow as the only possible outcome played itself out in her mind; as Tracey lunged for the pistol, River reacted; as Tracey reached the gun and fired; River drew her own. Her finger just a mere second or two faster. Tracey's body rocked back as a bullet tore through his shoulder; his own gun jerking upward as he pulled the trigger. The bullet screamed through the air, kissing Mal's temple and leaving behind a powder burn lipstick mark.

"Goddamnit Tracey!" Mal roared shoving himself upright and ripping out his .38. "You are some special kind of ruttin' _bai mu gou zaizi _(stupid son of a bitch)! What in the gorram hell do you think you're doing, Tracey? !" He yelled one hand holding his temple as he tried to quell the explosive ringing inside his head.

"She shot me." Tracey choked in disbelief. "You shot me." He accused River.

"You tried to blow my goddamn head off!" Mal barked.

River snorted contemptuously; her eyes flaring with a violent intensity that quite honestly scared Wash more than the fact there were guns out on the bridge. "It can be treated. The chance of death is less than twenty seven percent if you seek medical treatment within the hour." Her voice was cold and clipped, her gun still leveled as she held her body ridged. "You attempted to terminate Daddy, this is unacceptable. The consequence is a direct result of the action. I could have killed you. Daddy wants you alive. Thinks you just need a lesson. That was your lesson."

"You might wanna listen to her Tracey." Mal warned.

_/River, why the fuck did I just hear a gunshot?/_ Riddick snarled into her mind.

_/Not now./_

_/You're fucking me right?/ _ River didn't bother to respond to what she knew was a rhetorical question and repressed the urge to sigh as she felt his anger spike and the distance between them close.

_/He is afraid, she cannot properly calculate his responses, there are too many variables./_

_/Won't even see me coming./ _

"You're gonna sell me out, Sarge, and, I just can't have that." His head ticked nervously as he gripped his gun, still out and leveled as his free hand clutched the wound in his shoulder.

Wash attempted to slowly go for the ship-wide. At the very least, to turn it on and allow the rest of the crew to hear what was happening on the bridge. The movement was not lost on Tracey. "Don't you even try it!" He yelled, turning his gun on Wash. "I will shoot you!"

"Don't think you really want to piss Zo off like that." Mal warned him again, the softness in his tone was hardened by the contradicting lethality of it. "Put it down, Tracey, and let me talk to you." Mal said tersely, one hand reaching out and motioning for Wash to lower the comm.

"Ain't anytime for talking, Mal." Tracey's voice shook. "You tell your pilot to turn this boat around and make a run for it. You tell 'im Mal!"

"He won't be doin' that Tracey." Mal informed his former private. "You're gonna put down that gun and we're gonna have some words you and I, you ain't seein' the whole picture here, son." The calm in his voice belied the absolute anger which was boiling through his veins.

"What are you gonna do Sarge shoot me?" Tracey snorted. "In cold blood?" He scoffed, one eye nervously darting off towards the bridge. "We both now that ain't gonna happen." He made to take a step backwards.

"You so sure about that, Tracey?" Mal asked him.

"You know why I picked you and Zoe, Mal? 'Cause your saps!"He spat out accusingly. "You're reppin' out as stone cold killers but I still remember the old Sarge with his stories and his homilies of glory and honor. "

"Yeah, well, maybe you shoulda listened." Mal replied calmly, edging forward slightly.

"It should be noted-," River stated mechanically, "-she is neither Zoe nor Mal. She will shoot you down."

"Not before I get off a shot and take out one of yours sweetheart." Tracey chuckled despite the arch of the girl's brow that seemed to dare him to make his move and test his theory. "Don't make me do it Sarge!" He shouted.

"Far as I can see-," Mal began his voice hard and controlled, his gun not wavering the in slightest. "Ain't a soul made you do anything, boy. You brought this on yourself. Got in over your head with these stone cold gut-runners, then you panicked and brung this whole mess down on us."

"That ain't how it happened!" Tracey yelled at the captain, half sobbing now and almost begging him to understand.

Mal caught the shadow of one of his men, cast by the light of the foredeck hall; judging by the lack of footstep he assumed it was Riddick. He spoke again, attempting to keep Riddick out of Tracey's range of attention. "Oh, yes, that's exactly how it happened." Mal said sternly, not an ounce of sympathy left in him for his former private. "I'm startin' to think, in fact, that the trail of bodies Womack was talkin' on… well, that some of 'em may have been left by you… losin' your head, doin' what your doin' right now."

"And you ain't left a trail of bodies, work you do? 'Cause your rep speaks else wise." Tracey retorted.

"Wasn't the bodies of those helpin' me out." Mal bit off.

"And you're helpin' me?" He scoffed. "'Cause from where I'm standin' you're turnin' me in. You think I'm stupid? Like I needed a bullet wound in my shoulder." Tracey snorted.

"In every way possible, Tracey." Mal answered without hesitation. "Now you heard Anna, got plenty of time to see to that shoulder wound and you need to calm the hell down and hear out the plan."

"The plan?" Tracey choked out incredulously. "The plan, Mal? What gorram plan, you just killed me Mal. Killed me!" He half screeched as he stumbled backwards towards the hatch. If he could just make it to a shuttle.

"You'll never make it." River informed him the slightest of smirks twitching at the corner of her lips. Her voice lowered as Tracey's eyes widened. "Yes she hears you." River cooed, taking a step forward. Riddick was half way up the bridge stairs and she was tired of this conversation. "All the little dark and dirty things." She stepped forward again. Tracey was not going to lower his gun. His mind was gone, poisoned by slithering and twisting fear; fuelled by his own failings he assumed the others would act as he would. He would have turned them all over in a heartbeat. He would not hear otherwise, he would not see reason. The River bled into him and she knew _Dao._ There was only one way to end this, and that was to instigate his action.

"Shut up!" Tracy yelled; panic lacing every edge of his body and mind. What the hell did she mean she could "hear" him? How the hell did she know he was thinking of making a break for one of the shuttles?

_/Announce yourself./_ River ordered Riddick

_/And get shot?/_

_/Trust her./_

_/I get shot we're gonna have words./_ She felt him half growl in response.

Riddick let the last step leading up to the bridge creek beneath his boot; as Tracey spun Mal didn't hesitate. The bullet met its mark before Tracey had completed his spin. Riddick's hand shot out and yanked the gun free from Tracey's failing grip shoving him to the grating and turning the gun back on him.

"You just murdered me, Sarge." Tracey coughed up a bit of blood as he looked up from the grating, his eyes wide and terrified.

"You murdered yourself, son." Mal said, the sadness in his tone warring with bitter resignation as he lowered his smoking gun. "I just carried the bullet awhile."

"Um, Captain." Wash said nervously, his voice breaking the terse silence. "We're less than a minute from ground."

"Take us down Wash." Mal ordered, his voice tired. "It didn't have to be like this, Tracey. Riddick-," he didn't bother with the convict's alias as he noted entry wound of his bullet, dead mean didn't tell tales, "-help me get him down to the bay."

_/Later./_ Riddick thought to River, as he watched her slowly lower her own gun.

The Reader nodded, saying nothing as she retook her seat at the copilot's station.

*T*F*C*

_Serenity's_ bay doors opened slowly, inch by inch allowing the nearly blinding white light, reflected off the snow covered mountains to infiltrate the bay; the dull grinding of metal, an almost protest to letting Womack and his men desecrate her with their presence. Riddick felt River settle across his vision as his grip tightened on the shotgun Andre had given him what seemed like a lifetime ago on Tyrus.

Womack boarded with his gun drawn, a man on either side. His attention was immediately divided between the perfectly synchronized sounds of two shotguns cocking; one above him on his left and the other above him on his right.

"Well, now, seems like somebody let their dogs off their leashes." Womack drawled easily. "Been shot too many times to be scared by a few guns." He had a bit of an issue taking anyone wearing a hat like the one gun was wearing seriously at all.

"I hear ya." Jayne grunted. "Most e'erybody I know's been shot. S'no big deal."

"Thing is-," Riddick growled, "-we got more than a few." On Riddick's word, the entirety of the crew, save River and Wash, popped out from their hiding places; guns drawn, the echo of nearly a dozen more guns being cocked filling the bay.

"Now, that many, that's 'nough to make even me shit myself." Jayne chuckled.

"Wommmaaccckk-," Tracey coughed, attempting to yell down into the bay, "-think I broke yer junk." He tried to chuckle; the action only served to encourage a fresh sputtering of blood from his lips.

"Little problem during shipping." Mal informed Womack from his position on one of the mid-level catwalks.

"Don't think I need to tell you folk the kind of trouble you're in." Womack barked out, feeling himself being backed into a corner and falling on his badge to get him out of it. "Wetware smugglin', fleein', resistin' arrest; sure, once my boys search your ship, I'll come up with another couple of felonies. You give me the kid and I'll stick him in deep cryo. I get my goods and you get to go on your merry. It's win-win."

"You won't be searching this ship." Book announced calmly as he fully stepped out from his cover. He lowered his gun and stuck it in his waistband; giving the appearance he was not at all intimidated and, in truth, he wasn't.

"That so?" Womack shot Skunk a smirk before refocusing on the Shepherd.

"It is." Book nodded. "You won't be taking us or the boy in either. You're going to turn around and walk off this ship. Then you'll fly away and we'll never see or hear from you again."

Womack pulled his gun off of Mal to level it at the preacher. "I'm authorized to kill as I like, Shepherd's not withstanding; 'specially those carryin' the piece of shiny you got. You a deserter, old man? Ain't seen a piece like that outside spec ops."

Book's only reaction was a smirk. "I imagine it's near enough to the piece your holding but we are digressing here, aren't we? There are nine outlaws aboard this ship, all heavily armed and as ready to kill as you are to kill them, Womack. You only count in at three. Why is that? There's a Fed station not fifty kilometers from here and yet you didn't call for any back up?" Womack's slight balk didn't go unnoticed by anyone nor the small step back he took as the Shepherd stepped forward. "You got your command stripes on Silverhold. That puts you what? Eight, nine sectors out of your jurisdiction."

"Listen here, prea-," Womack attempted to cut him off but Book continued on unfazed.

"But that doesn't bother you, does it? The whole 'Verse is your jurisdiction. Procedure's for stiffs." The look on his face was more than familiar to Mal and Jayne; it was that 'Special Hell' look, his voice laced with disdain. "You're on the take, Womack." The preacher spit out condemningly. "Clearing the way for all manner of black market pirates in your territory. You took pains to keep your presence here a secret. Only firing once we were well off the radar of the military vessels in the vicinity. Now we're well aware of your friends. We have a few of our own and we really don't want to have to kill you and roll your bodies into a canyon but we have a motto on this ship." Book chuckled slightly. "Sanguine. We can end this peaceable. You go on your way and we go ours but, as I am a man of God-," he drew his sidearm in a move so quick it surprised every member of his crew except Riddick, whose barking chuckle only seem to emphasize the Preacher's words, "-I will shoot you down and roll you into a ditch myself."

"Gotta love all that blood'n mayhem in the Bible. Fan of the Preacher's version of things." Jayne added, grinning almost manically.

Womack took one look at Tracey; biting back the bile he felt rising over what he knew to be his only course of action. "Damaged goods anyhow." He gritted out, lowering his gun. "Let's go, boys." He ordered, not looking away from the crew of _Serenity_ as he backed off the ship. He spit on the deck as he shot Jayne one last look. "Hat makes you look like an idiot."

The merc's finger actually twitched for the trigger, his action forestalled only by the sound of Kaylee's voice.

"And the berets your boys are wearin' are just the most cunnin' around!" She yelled at them indignantly waving her gun and stomping forward, almost chasing them out of the bay. "Look like a bunch of sly core-bred sissy boys, you do!" She added just as the airlock doors resealed, the pom-pom of her own hat bobbing just as indignantly as its owner.

Despite everything, there wasn't a soul aboard _Serenity,_ Riddick and River included, who didn't fall into some sort of laughter. Well, Wash was silent, as he glared at River accusingly on the bridge.

"What?" He demanded of River. "What's so funny? Hey? Riv? What?" He snorted just as indignantly as Kaylee had moments ago. "_Gen houzi bi diushi_ (engage a monkey in a feces throwing contest) _Gou pi _(Bullshit)." He made a face. "Pilot misses everything." He bemoaned to Marshall who, much to Wash's dismay, seemed to wink back at him. "So glad today's over." He moaned, dropping his head against the controls as Womack's ship took to the air in front of them.

"So, that was the plan?" Tracey choked slightly on his last chuckle. "It was a good plan."

"I think so." Mal acknowledged, kneeling down next to him.

"Weird preacher though-," Tracey coughed again, glancing at Zoe who had knelt down on his other side, "-I'm feelin' kinda stupid now." If there had been enough blood left in his body, he would have blushed at his own stupidity.

"Only cause ya are." Mal replied. There was no edge left to his voice, or anger left in his body, for his former private.

"Sarge, Zo…I'm sorry…" His voice broke into a sob. It wracked his body, only encouraging the blood to flow faster. Simon was no longer even bothering to keep pressure on the wound, the doctor had backed away to make room for Zoe. "Everyone, I'm sorry…" He sobbed. "I'm sorry… didn't mean it…didn't mean it none."

Zoe felt her heart crack slightly, she shouldn't have treated him as she had but life was too short and brutal for regrets. Tracey had dug his grave. "We know it, Tracey, don't you worry."

"Wasn't never no good at…at life anyhow. Always runnin' scared." Tracey was rambling and he knew it. He'd imagined dying a hundred thousand times before, escaped it more than that, but he was done; and he was sorrier than he'd ever been before that he'd wasted it all. A sad little laugh managed to break free from his chest, accompanied by one last rush of blood. "When you can't run anymore you…c…crawl…and when you can…can't do that…"

"You find somebody to carry you." Zoe finished for him, slipping her hand into his.

"Gu…guess I did at that." Tracey's eyes glazed, rolling back before fluttering finally closed.

*T*F*C*

As the crew carried out Tracey's body to his family Riddick went in search of River. He couldn't be made to feel guilty or sorry for the way things had played out; if it was even possible for him to feel those things. In his mind, Tracey had gotten exactly what was earned. River's mind however was strangely silent; acceptance, layered by an almost calm rolled from her to him in waves. Riddick knew better by now though to assume it meant anything, River's mind was like the ocean in that way; it could be calm, placid almost on the surface, but beneath powerful currents and tides rampaged. He wasn't surprised to find her in their bunk; the fact she had the A-3 broken down and was in the process of meticulously cleaning and oiling the piece however shocked the shit out of him.

"We're on St. Albans." He rumbled.

"I am aware." She answered mechanically without looking up from her task at hand. "You are confused." She pointed out.

"Wonderin' why the hell you're suddenly all about that gun Mal had to force down your throat earlier." He asked almost casually as he leaned against the locker.

"Had she refused it Daddy would have died. The force of a blade would not have altered the trajectory adequately enough. Calculated point of entry would have severed his carotid artery."

"Didn't feel you shift, didn't know anything was wrong until I heard the gunshot."

"A singular is formed from many."

Riddick's head ticked slightly; not having the slightest idea as to what she meant, but he chose to move onto another question. "Why didn't you take the kill shot?"  
"Daddy wanted him alive."

"And yet he shot him. You could have taken that shot, why didn't you?" He asked more out of curiosity than anything else.

"There was no other option."

"Didn't answer the question."

"Didn't she?" River looked up only long enough to arch her brow, following Riddick as he pushed off the locker and dropped down onto the bed. He sat with his legs on either side of her as she worked at cleaning her gun on the floor.

"Not even close." He replied as he began to run his fingers through her braids, freeing her hair from the intricate coils.

"I wasn't carrying the bullet." She told him, snapping the last piece of her gun into place.

Riddick's fingers froze in their ministrations, tugging back slightly so she would look at him. He had been on the verge of asking her just what the hell that meant, when the question died in his throat. "Fuck it." He smirked, letting her head fall back into place. "Whatever you say girl."


	72. Interlude 12 Greenleaf I

A/N: Greenleaf is only about an 18 hour trip from St. Albans, so this interlude picks up pretty much immediately following the close of Trash.

Major, major love goes out to my GENUIS BETA Thug-4-less he is the frickin' bees-knees and the sole reason this update made it out at all. All credit for the layout of the New Dawn facility goes entirely to him.

Much, muc, much, love for the amazing, super shiny reviews, hopefully I got everybody; Bklyangel, librarywitch, Alexydra, moonkisser, SlashnYaoi, Morbious20, Kaedy, angelwingz21, Rachet, Elliesmeow, Dericof Diname, , Tavarus Magnus, bibirijks, Mrstrentreznor, Dessel Ordo, sxevlbtch, messiahthanatos, NightStar28, EroSlackerMicha, pyrobabe7713, ArtLightLove, jebbypal, saturnsfire, AnFan-n-More, Minuet1, Jade121, my shangri-la, gnomelover, InkSpellWeaver, & Taylen-Swordbreaker

To ya'll that review and even those that haven't but have been waiting patiently for this series of updates, thank you so so so so so very much. I don't have words to express how grateful I am for the support and love everyone has shown for this story. Ya'll rock :D

_***Just playing with other peoples imaginary friends while mine are building their own island nation.***_

_***Don't own a thing, and I'm not making any money***_

**Interlude 12: Greenleaf**

Red Sun System

St. Albans

Tri-Peaks Colony

There was an odd stillness in the air as Mal closed the airlock doors behind him; shutting out the screaming arctic winds. Or was he shutting out the wailing of Tracey's mother? It didn't make much of a difference, he decided. They both chilled him in the same way. In the end, he'd played the recording and walked away before the echo of Tracey's voice had fully died on the wind. What could he have said?

_Well, I'm sorry ma'am, but I had to shoot your boy because he was a special kinda stupid, always had been. I reckon' you know that though._

"Wash-," he called, still gripping the hatch controls, "-get us in the air." His voice sounded tired and strained even to his own ears. He brushed off Zoe's questioning look with a weary pat on her shoulder. "Get some rack. All of you-," he ordered as he made his way up the catwalk stairs and towards his bunk where, hopefully, there was still a bottle of Mr. U's whiskey waiting for him, "-we got a helluva job still ahead of us." He only vaguely registered the replies of the crew and the set of his shoulders warned them away from pressing any issue.

Zoe's eyes followed Mal up the stairwell but her body remained where it was.

"You alright, _bao bei_ (treasured one)?" Wash asked her as he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "You seem very far away."

"Yeah, baby, I'm good." She offered him a slow, sweet smile; the one expression that was fully reserved for her husband. "Ain't me I'm worried on."

"The Captain will be fine. He always is." Wash tried to reassure her as they headed up to the bridge.

"Ain't so sure of that anymore." She shook her head slowly.

"Could always ask Riv." Wash suggested.

"Don't seem right." Zoe dismissed the idea. "Sometimes it's best to let a body keep their own counsel. You know he don't take kindly to being thought of as hurting."

"He's not the only one." Wash replied knowingly. "You sure you're okay?" He asked again.

"Tracey got what he paid for." Her voice hardened slightly, just as her body and posture did. "Can't help a man out of his grave if he's the one pullin' dirt down on himself. I'm sorry for the way it went down but if you're askin' if I'm grievin' over him, I ain't. He took a shot at Mal, threatened you and Riv. If I'da been on that bridge, if that had been me and not Riv that fired, I would have killed him there and never thought twice. It played out the only way it could. Only person at fault is Tracey."

"If it wasn't for River, Mal would never have made it off that bridge. If she hadn't fired when she did-"

"Don't." Zoe cut him off. "Ain't no point in the may haves, or coulda beens. Let's just get the hell off this rock."

"No arguments here." Wash shrugged. "Just sayin', I think we owe her another crate of apples."

Despite herself, Zoe snorted; a slight chuckle escaping her.

*T*F*C*

The lights were out in River and Riddick's bunk; dimmed to almost complete darkness as they lay together in their bed. Riddick was on his back, bare-chested, with one arm coiled around River's head as he absently fingered her hair. She was humming, the melody was oddly familiar to Riddick, as she traced the pattern of twisted flesh of burn scars which ran along his torso. It was one of Shirah's, he was sure of it. Outside the walls of their bunk, the minds of the crew circled in disquiet. Today had left a mark on Mother's memory. She forced it all to an inactive part of her mind; lungs breathing and heart beating in time with Riddick's own.

"You are calculating." River observed, her eyes closed as Riddick's deft fingers played along her scalp; her head resting against his chest.

"Always." He replied, being purposefully vague.

"It prickles." She complained.

"Bet it does." He answered, continuing to be evasive.

"You are being recalcitrant." She complained.

"There's a big word." He chuckled.

"I could hurt you." She deadpanned.

"Promise?" He smirked down at her despite her inability to see his expression in the near blackness of their bunk and rolled onto his side; his body casting a shadow over hers as he caught her lips. His tongue traced their lines as though he was committing them to memory. It was unnecessary; their pattern was already branded against his own. His fingers, much like his tongue, took to tracing; their calloused pads caressing the fragile lines of her collarbones. He had used the drug metaphor for River time and time again in his head and, as she lay in their bed partially encased by his own body, it was never more true. He forced himself to pull away before the kiss could deepen into anything more and adjusted their position so that her back was to his chest. Sleep had been the last thing on Riddick's mind for the first night in their bunk together but Greenleaf was less than a day out and it was the last time anyone of them would be able to get some rest given all the time wasted on the Tracey incident.

River exhaled; waves of contentment and peace rolling from her mind and into his caused a stirring of something he didn't have a name for deep inside his chest. His head dipped, burying into the crook of her neck where he could freely breathe her in. Her scent washed though his mind and he could almost feel that thing, the thing which seemed to always be lurking just under his skin, settle as well.

"Tell me a secret, River." His voice was rougher than usual, its graveled undertones scraping against her skin in the most pleasant of ways. "Tell me why I didn't feel you shift before you shot Tracey." The question had been eating away at him, its implications endless.

"I told you." She answered in a sort of breathy whisper. How Riddick expected her to form a coherent thought while his lips hovered less than a breath from her skin was beyond her understanding. "A singular is formed of many. The broken parts cannot be repaired but repurposed. What is rebuilt can be made stronger than the original. Experience and knowledge welded into the fresh seams which bind and hold her together. Sharp edges become smooth; corners become curves. Walking up the downslide is improbable. She must continue forward." She rolled in his grip so their foreheads rested against each other; their gazes meeting in the near darkness. "They wanted a killer, walking up the downslide is improbable. I am what they made me and yet there is always a choice."

"I'm listening." He prompted when she was silent for a few moments. He observed her with interest. Every tick of her muscles, every flash of emotion behind her eyes; nothing escaped his notice.

"Sharp edges become smooth; corners become curves. She understands _Dao." _She repeated her earlier words.

Riddick bit back the retort on his lips, held in check by the glint in her eye and the odd clarity he felt from her mind. Instead of speaking or questioning her further, he turned the repeated sentence over in his mind; reminding himself that everything she said meant something. He was well acquainted with River's tendency to turn introspective after a conflict; a peculiar sort of clarity which couldn't really be defined by the conventional boundaries of sanity and rationality. The silence after a storm, as she had called it before.

_Sharp edges become smooth; corners become curves._ He turned it over in his mind tasting it from every angle. _They wanted a killer, walking up the downslide is improbable._ Was she referring back to Ariel and the moments before they opened the box with Tracey in it? He dismissed the theory almost immediately; it was too simple of an answer. Walking up the downslide, he was almost sure was a metaphor for trying to go backwards; trying to start at the end to change the beginning. _Sharp edges become smooth, corners become curves. _Was that acceptance?

"This choice?" He asked, not bothering to elaborate any further, knowing River knew the question on his mind without even needing to speak the two words he did.

"Whether to bathe in blood or be drowned by it." She answered in such a way that Riddick almost felt foolish for needing to ask it. "She is a killer now. Not because they made her but because she chooses to be."

"You didn't kill Tracey, Mal did." He pointed out.

"Did he?" River challenged, a very Riddick-like smirk twisting at the corners of her lips.

"I was there, River."

"But not here." She tapped her temple. "She could have pulled, instead she pushed."

"Said yourself you weren't carrying the bullet." He countered, no longer sure of where the conversation was headed.

"She wasn't carrying the bullet; she was the force which pulled the trigger."

"Mal pulled the trigger." He continued to argue with her.

"Announce yourself." She repeated the thought she had pressed to Riddick moments before Mal pulled the trigger.

Riddick opened his mouth to argue again but immediately closed it as he processed her words. If River hadn't cued him to make the noise, he could have gone for a silent takedown and allowed Mal to make the call. Mal only killed when he had to. Tracey would still be alive and free to sell them out at the first opportunity he got. He realized belatedly that the conversation he and Jayne had with the kid more than likely went in one ear and out the other. That had been the kid's big problem, he never thought about consequences. Tracey made decisions based on circumstance not outcome.

"I pulled the trigger." River spoke, there was no guilt or remorse in her tone; it was an objective statement of fact. "Precognition is not needed when one can see the whole of the equation; when one understands the constant, the variables become irrelevant. Heroes have lines and she forced Tracey to cross Daddy's. Morality cannot exist when survival becomes the constant."

Strangely enough, her words made perfect sense to Riddick. Mal had only fired because Tracey had turned to shoot him. River knew Mal would not hesitate to pull the trigger if the choice came down to Tracey or a member of his crew. River simply created a situation in which she could predict the outcome without the need for precognition. River didn't fire for the same reason he would have waited for Mal's call after subduing Tracey had he made the silent takedown. Mal was the captain and Riddick, though it grated on him, had made it a point to follow orders including that annoying little 'no killing' one.

"There is no freedom in death." She quoted his words back to him; River didn't mean for them to escape her lips, nor did she truly understand from where they came to begin with. "The River whispers, faces drowning beneath the surface but she can hear the whispers. They'll come for her. The stars quake and tremble. And they whisper."

"And what do they say, Riv?" Riddick asked, his tone low and patient; anticipation lacing every thought in his mind, fed by her almost whimsical delivery.

"Something wicked this way comes." Her voice was melodic, deceptively sweet.

"Sounds like fun." Riddick rumbled, a hint of a smirk laced through his eyes. "It's us and them, River, and they have no idea who they are fucking with." His voice came almost lazily, as though it was a diverting distraction and not a matter of life and death.

"No." River replied, her voice filled with an uncharacteristic measure of confidence and assurance. "No, they do not."

*T*F*C*

Georgia System

Athens

Stone Ridge Colony

Jubal Early was not pleased for several reasons. The first and most obvious, was the smell of gin and mold which seemed to permeate every surface of the slum bar he found himself in. The second, and more pressing of the two, was that his contact had not a single piece of useful information on his latest marks. _No one_ had any useful information on his latest marks. He'd been back and forth across the 'Verse, turning over every shit rock there was, and still he had nothing. It didn't help that he knew he wasn't the only one looking. Walker and his crew had taken the bid as well and the prospect of losing yet another bounty to that gnarled-faced bastard grated on him in the most irritating of ways. It was like a small shard of glass inside his boot, slowly scraping away at his flesh. He threw back the last bit of his coffee, or whatever the odd murky substance he had been given could be called, and left a tip for the bartender that was equally as shitty as the drink had been. He turned on his stool to stand and found himself face-to-face with one of the last people he ever thought he'd see again.

"Hello, Early." The dark-haired woman smirked as she slide into the stool beside him. "Small 'Verse after all."

"Some would argue different." The bounty hunter muttered as he eyed her carefully. "Thought you were dead, Gina. Or are you still using 'Orina' these days?"

Gina's smirk only deepened as she tutted at the dark-skinned man. "Should know me better than that, Jubal."

"You're like a cockroach." There was an odd mixture of begrudging respect and abhorrence in his words. Gina and her now deceased husband had started out on the same side of the line as he was until almost eight years ago when they'd decided more money could be made on the opposite side of it.

"Good to see you too." She rolled her eyes and waved down the bartender; ordering two whiskeys, she slid one to her reluctant companion.

"You know I don't." He replied, pushing the drink back towards her.

"Live a little, sweetheart." She retorted, throwing back her drink in one easy shot.

"This as random as it seems or am I losing my touch?" He asked, cutting right to the point.

"Believe or not, Jubal, you're the last person on the face of this 'Verse I'd ever willingly look for." She snorted. "Jonas is probably rolling over in his grave 'cause I didn't shoot you down the moment I set eyes on the back of your greasy head."

"Why didn't you?" He asked curiously. "Have to say, if our positions had been reversed this, conversation wouldn't have taken place."

"Looking for a crew and a ship. Got a score to settle and since I just happened to see none other than my old friend Jubal Early sitting here, I figured I might consider a partnership."

"I don't work for free." Jubal replied, his deep, rich voice increasingly filled with wariness. "And I certainly don't work for you."

"Didn't think you would, but there's a little something in there for you, too. See, when I hooked up with this crew, I didn't think they were anything special. Turns out they weren't as dumb as they looked. Still haven't figured it all out, I mean how they knew and everything, but that's not the point. After they turned on me and I took a bullet in the shoulder escaping from our old friend Haymer's boys, I ran across a wanted bulletin and something in my head clicked."

"And I bet that hurt." Jubal grunted. "You have a point here, Gina?"

"Point is, one Richard B. Riddick is crewing aboard said ship and, last I checked, that bounty on his head was a pretty bit of shiny."

"You really must take me for a fool. Riddick's dead. Everybody knows that."

"How many other silver-eyed convicts are running around the 'Verse, Jubal?" She asked. "He set up his own death. Make a few calls; I'm sure you'll find somebody that'll tell you Riddick's working again."

"And again, Gina, you must really take me for a special kind of fool. Even if you are telling the truth, you got a real long history of turning on your partners and leaving them to rot."

"Some would say the same about you." She retorted.

"I don't have time to chase ghosts. I have an active bid right now."

"And I see you're having a whole lot of luck with that." She smirked, reaching for his rejected glass of whiskey and taking a sip off of it. "Grabbing Riddick would make your career, Jubal." She tempted. "Who's your fish anyway?"

Jubal was reluctant to reveal his targets' names, though given his utter lack of information, it didn't matter much. If he hadn't found anything, he doubted Gina, with her seduce them and then kill them tactics, could either. "River and Simon Tam." He told her, pulling out two slightly crumpled and worn pieces of plasti-film.

Gina's eyes widened almost comically as she choked on a sip of whiskey. "_Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi_ (explosive diarrhea of an elephant)!"

"You've seen them!" Jubal demanded on her look, grabbing her arm almost violently.

Gina merely chuckled as she recovered. "Oh, Jubal, I do believe I've just gift wrapped the biggest score of a lifetime for you."

"They're on the same ship?" Jubal asked incredulously. "Riddick _and_ the Tams?"

"Easy, boy." Gina purred as she yanked her arm free. "Fifty-fifty split on this one. I can give you the ship, the crew, everything; all you have to do is track them."

"Bartender, another round for the lady." He called out without allowing his eyes to leave Gina's; he eyed her carefully for a moment, "You fuck me on this, Gina, and I'll personally arrange a reunion between you and Jonas."

"Just trust me, Jubal, and, before the month is out, you'll own your own moon." She offered him a small, seductive, dangerous grin in reply.

*T*F*C*

Red Sun System

Outside monitored shipping lanes

ETA to Greenleaf: twelve hours

Breakfast was quiet. The usual death threats and monastic humor absent; the banter reduced to, "_pass the salt",_ accompanied solely by the scrapping of metal chopsticks against tin plates. The last forty-eight hours hung like a tangible weight in the air; those not affected by it kept their peace, if only for the sole sake of not provoking those who were. Unfortunately, in the Black there was little time for grief and even less patience for it. Greenleaf was less than twelve hours out and the job ahead was one which could afford little distraction. It was Riddick that broke the silence and broached the topic that should have been on the forefront of everyone's mind but wasn't. His patience had come to end.

"Been thinking, Mal-," the convict began as he studied the coffee-like substance in his cup, "-not real sure about Mr. U's idea to use the cover of one of the resorts."

"You got someplace in mind already, Riddick?" Mal asked.

"Wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't." The convict replied. "While the rest of you were handling the loose ends-," Riddick choose to be tactful, though later he would wonder exactly why he had even bothered, "-Riv and I were-," he paused to allow a slight smirk to spread across his lips, "-calculating."

"Calculating?" Zoe arched her brow.

"You know, when Riv says that I almost feel safe-," Wash added, "-but coming from you-," he pointed at the convict with his chopsticks, "-well, it scares the bee-jeebies outta me."

"Considerin' we got four fugies on board, clean scans or not, I'd feel a whole lot better stayin' the hell away from a resort that's probably just full of the purple bellies' fan club." Jayne grunted around a mouthful of noodles.

"Could you be any more disgusting?" Simon made a face at the merc though his remark was duly ignored.

"Well, let's hear it; considerin' the last time I didn't listen to my psychic, I nearly got my head blown off." Mal nodded, leaning back in his chair. River's head tilted nearly imperceptibly to the left, almost simultaneously with Zoe's own. There was something different in Mal's air and countenance. It was as though his usual air of arrogant confidence was absent; as if there was a noticeable chip in his tarnished armor. It went unremarked on as the crew scrambled to clear a space for Riddick and River's map.

"There's a mining settlement about twenty kilometers from the rainforest at the base of the Tibertian mountains." He leaned over the map and magnified the satellite image of the mining settlement, focusing on the various military crafts docked at port. "They're moving and lodging troops though here, I'll bet my entire cut. Figure it might be better to stick as close to the truth as possible. We land there under the guise of looking for second-hand equipment for the settlement on Haven. Blend right in during the day and hit the facility at night."

Jayne pushed away his plate to lean over the map; he zoomed out of the settlement and rotated the image to refocus it on the trail leading down the mountains and into the jungle. "Noticed this the last time I looked over the satellite images. You see this trail?" He asked but didn't waste the time waiting for an acknowledgment. "Well, it's been a good couple of weeks since the Alliance chased out them science boys and the jungle ain't real forgivin'. Which means these trails should be half gone by now." He snorted a bit. "Can almost see the blow-back on the trees from hovercrafts."

"Inara?" Mal asked. "You think you can still do what you got to?"

"It won't be a problem." The Companion replied, the smile on her face absolutely anticipatory. "Mining settlement or resort."

"Anybody got an objection?" The captain asked next.

"Seems solid to me, sir." Zoe nodded her approval.

"So no beaches and feather beds than?" Kaylee shared a look of mourning with Wash.

"Beats the hell out of Slam." Jayne grunted.

"Little Bit, you've been real quiet and this is yours and Riddick's plan." Mal prompted.

"The black market on Greenleaf is responsible for nearly sixty-seven percent of the income of its populace. We will blend in easier in a mining town than a resort for which Mother is poorly attired for."

"Hey now!" Mal objected in feigned indignation.

"She has a point though, Mal." Inara interceded gently. "I love _Serenity_ but the truth is, if we were to dock on the resort, she would stick out like a sore thumb and draw more questions than might be advisable. The resort Mr. Universe suggested is called Eden and I've been there before. They don't even accept hard currency; it's all Alliance credits."

Mal tried to sooth his own ruffled feathers to see the logic of the point. "Right then, the mining settlement it is. Save us from havin' to take the risk of crossin' the water anyhow." He took a sip off his coffee, wishing it was something stronger. "How's this affect the rest of the plan?"

"The probability of success increases by nearly sixty percent." River answered for Riddick.

"Kaylee, you got them schematics?" Mal asked. "You tried talkin' to me 'bout usin' EMPs instead of wirin' it to blow right before Womack showed his ugly mug. There's only twelve hours left between us and Greenleaf and we got to get these details down now. Still a lion's share of work left anyway we go."

"Yeah." She pushed herself away from the table to grab her schematics from the alcove in the corner. "So's this is what we're lookin' at folks." She said grandly as she spread the large prints across the table and the crew scrambled to clear a place. "This place is a little less than two square kilometers surrounded by a high voltage fence. There's two ways in and out; an east and west gate with security booths and barriers. Good news is nobody's home and they're payin' us to rob 'em so we don't have to worry 'bout any of that. More shiny news, surface power's been dead for weeks." She began optimistically. "Bad news is, as a security failsafe, once surface power's down the blast doors leading to the underground only reopen with dual pass codes and two biometric scans. Codes we got, biometric I'm gonna have twenty seconds to override."

"I'm assuming just cutting your way through is not possible?" Inara asked.

"Not with a week and equipment we don't have." Jayne answered. "Hell, I don't think a rocket launcher at close range would crack through them babies."

"And you're sure you can do that then? Bypass two biometric scans in twenty seconds?" The Companion argued.

"'Course she can-," Jayne retorted, offended for his girl, "-what the hell kinda question is that? She could do it one-handed and blindfolded."

"It's a dual pass code Jayne." Zoe deadpanned. "Need two for that."

"Not iffin' you got nimble fingers."

"Did you just even hear yourself say that?" The first mate arched her brow.

"Kaylee-," Mal interrupted before an argument he was too gorram tired for could break out, "-can you do it?"

"Sure." The mechanic shrugged.

"Let's pretend you didn't just shrug after that. Can we do that?" Wash asked.

"No." She said more firmly. "I can do it." She added though who she was trying to reassure more, herself or the crew, she wasn't quite so sure about.

"Next, then." Mal nodded for her to continue.

"Like she was sayin', above ground-," Jayne picked up where Kaylee hesitated, still a little stung over the insinuation there was something with wires and bits his girl couldn't handle, "-this place is a little less than two square kilometers, but that's only above ground, once you get below the surface it ain't even half that but it's four levels." Jayne shuffled through the stack of digital sheets to find the satellite images of the surface. "We'll be comin' in from the east gate; since they was kind enough to leave it open for us when they marched those science boys out. There's two main buildings-," he traced a line with his finger as he spoke, "-past the landing zone, communications dishes, and equipment sheds. The buildings are windowless and connected by this greenhouse courtyard built with reinforced, bullet-proof, and damn near blow-up proof glass. Only one way in and that's through the front door here."

"And we got that code and Riddick's already burned the electronic cards usin' that data Mr. U uploaded us." Kaylee picked up as she slid the blueprints back over the satellite map. "The building we come in through is all storage, absolutely nothing for us to care about, but we got to hoof it across to get to the greenhouse entry which'll get us into the second building where the blast doors and elevators to the lower levels are."

"Those satellites' got power still?" Zoe asked. "If the surface's down?"

"Yup, accordin' to the electrical they're backed by the underground back-ups. They're powered down but they got plenty of juice. Signal disruptor will get plugged into one of those babies and it'll keep the Alliance from getting vid feed when they scan from above. We'll just be a glitch in their systems." Kaylee assured her.

"What about the door to get inside those buildings?" Book asked. "If the surface power is down, won't they be down?"

"Doors are backed by the fourth floor generators and'll work 'til we trigger the EMPs. The only reason the blast doors sealed themselves like they did is 'cause it's the first stage of the lockdown protocol meant to protect the facility against an assault. It also works as a bunker, since the first underground floor is all the residential stuff to protect the staff from being taken as hostages."

"What's housed in the second building?" Simon asked.

"Basic labs, nothin' special, but we're being paid to blow this place completely, so we still got to stop long enough to drop a boom in both buildings." She replied. "There's two shafts behind the door, and the underground is runnin' off auxiliaries. Since we decided to use the EMPs, instead of just blowin' the whole place to _Huangquan (Chinese mythology, the underworld/hades/hell, locations specific) _our job got a whole lot easier."

"You sure you can wire those to remote detonate?" Mal asked skeptically slightly unnerved by so many alterations to a plan he'd thought they'd been settled on days ago.

"Can a Senaga ninety-eight suck a cow through a straw?"

"Uh…"

"Ain't got peaches to worry 'bout, Cap." Kaylee rolled her eyes. "Not on that account anyway."

"Well, what do I got to worry about?"

"Part of the reason we want to use the EMPs is 'cause this place is built to last. The concrete of the underground structure is thick and reinforced; built to withstand missile strikes and complete with an outer layer of bio-gel that shields it from external EMPs. Building underground in a rainforest ain't 'xactly easy what with all the groundwater and runoff from the mountains during the rainy seasons."

"Only way to bring it down completely is a demolition grade implosion, thing of that is, once again, couldn't do it with a week and equipment we don't have, so the blast itself is gonna be messy, but usin' the EMPs to kill the auxiliaries will knock out their fire containment systems. We'll be able to bring it to rubble, but not the kind of rubble that can't be dug through. So's the EMPs will make sure whatever we don't blow doesn't have a chance in hell at ever runnin' again." Jayne finished for her.

"Zo, you remember Three Hills, the third year in?" Mal asked as he thought it over.

She nodded slightly. "Lost twenty men when that building went, mission was a total failure 'cause we didn't know about the failsafe in the security." Zoe answered. "Blew the building to bits, but the armory bunker didn't so much as even get scuffed."

"New Dawn wants a scorched earth, between EMPs and the explosives there won't be a bit of plastic useful to the Alliance or anybody else for that matter." Riddick said.

"See it done." Mal nodded.

"First set of generators we really got to worry about, will be on the first level-," Kaylee picked up again, "-alls ya got here is the residential stuff, showers, housing, the armory-,"

"Bet they got all manner of shiny toys in there." Jayne grinned at Riddick.

"Don't even think about it Jayne." Mal warned.  
"But…"

"Jayne." Mal warned again. "Go on, Kaylee."

"Uh, right… so the generators are housed here-," She pointed to the northwest corner of the underground facility, "-right next to the armory."

"See, Mal, all convenient-like even." Jayne argued immediately.

"You ain't taking an auxiliary set. You got more experience with explosives than all of us combined; you're taking the main power station." The captain countered.

"Aw, hell, that ain't hardly fair." Jayne complained. "Who gets to take out that one?"

Mal grinned cheekily at Jayne. "That would be Kaylee and I know you don't wanna risk her getting stuck 'cause she was tryin' to clean out the armory for ya."

Jayne leaned back in his chair, his muttered Mandarin more than audible.

"Anyways-," Kaylee chirped in, "- next level down is your primary research labs, nothing of interest here 'xcept for the generators housed in a maintenance room on the east side of the floor. Straight shot to maintenance right from the elevators. Easy peasy."

"Riddick, that's your floor." Mal nodded to the convict and Riddick took a moment to check the location of the maintenance room.

"Next will be the third level and the testing labs. You got the last set of back-up generators here and the secured lab where our samples are." Kaylee continued, she tapped the sheet a few times and rezzed the testing level. "Lab on one end, auxiliary generators on the other."

"Doc, you're coming into the lab level with me, you'll know what the hell you're looking at. You ready to pull this off?"

"More ready than the first time I broke into a lab and this time I don't even have to worry about guards." He joked, finding it strange he could even joke about such a thing now.

"While you're pulling the computer files and grabbing the samples, I'll take the generators and wire the explosives. Means Jayne's on the fourth floor."

Jayne growled something that vaguely sounded like, "Not by choice." But otherwise held his peace. "Won't matter where the hell I set the EMP down there, last level is less than a quarter of the size of the rest of the building, alls I gotta do is wire the charges. Leave the left elevator shaft be." He warned the others. "I'm going to set a charge in there. Take the one on the right here to get back out, keep the doors on each level open on the left side, I'm gonna take out the car and let the blast funnel up that way."

"Here's the thing-," Kaylee interrupted, "-main power is down, and the secured lab won't open running on auxiliaries. So's Jayne's gonna have to reboot the main power from the fourth floor master systems before you can get into the vault. The EMPs will blow that out fine too, we just gotta get it started again."

"Right then-," Mal said slowly, "-Zoe and River you'll be set up in those guard towers, won't be able to get a signal that far underground from Wash and Book if trouble comes our way, need you to be our eyes. Anything happens, and I mean anything Little Bit, and you brain radio Riddick there and get us out."

"You don't want her in the labs." River stated plainly.

"You wanna be there?" Mal challenged.

"No."

"Then what's the problem?" Mal asked heatedly.

"Say what you mean." She replied vaguely.

"You straight, Bit?" Mal asked curiously.

"Repetition is irksome." She replied quietly before standing from the table and turning to walk away.

"Ain't done here, Bit!" Mal tried to call her back.

"Brain radio." She snapped before leaving, ignoring his order.

"Riddick?" Mal turned to the convict for answers.

"Ain't that hard to figure out, Mal." He rumbled, more than a little annoyed himself at the captain. "She saved your ass on the bridge last night; bullet would have gone straight through your throat instead of ringing in your ears. Less than five minutes ago you asked her if the plan was solid. On her yes, you agreed to dock at the settlement. Then, the first thing out of her mouth that you don't understand and you're asking if she's straight."

Mal groaned, running a frustrated hand through his hair and avoiding the eight pairs of glaring eyes aimed in his direction. "Aw, hell, anybody got a gorram apple?"

*T*F*C*

ETA to Greenleaf: nine hours

The corners of Riddick's lips ticked downward almost imperceptibly, a low growl vibrating from his chest as he stared at the images on the digital map rolled out on the crate between himself and Jayne. The merc grunted in acknowledgment of his growl.

"It's almost fascinating really." Wash mused; pulling down the mask that protected him from the fumes of the paint sprayer he was using.

Simon pulled down his mask as well and glanced away from the mule and over his shoulder to the men in question. "It's like watching two pre-humans try to build fire." He joked, and despite the whispered tone of the remark, Jayne's head snapped up to glare out the both of them.

"He's seen us!" Wash yelped, accidentally pulling the trigger of the sprayer and blasting the grating with a shot of shiny steel-grey paint.

"If you don't move, they won't be able to track us." Simon whispered conspiratorially.

"How 'bout if you don't move I'm gonna rip off yer arms and beat ya to death with 'em?" The merc barked.

"Never does get old, does it?" Simon asked Wash as he replaced his mask and went back to work.

"Is it even medically possible to beat somebody to death with their own arms?" Wash asked bemusedly. "I mean, blood loss would kill us first, right?"

Riddick continued to ignore the two men; however Jayne's patience, which had already been sorely tested the last few days, snapped completely as he shoved himself up to his feet and stepped forward. "How 'bout we find out?" The merc snarled.

"Baby, what I tell you about provoking the killers?" Zoe chuckled as she and Mal entered the bay to check on the progress of the Greenleaf preparations.

"Only do it when you're within range to shoot if need be?" Wash answered innocently.

"Zo, you don't get yer husband outta here right this gorram minute, I'll be making ya a widow." Jayne snapped as he retook his makeshift seat.

"Really shouldn't have to keep remindin' ya'll 'bout that no killin' rule." Mal interceded before things actually did get bloody. "My mule's only half-done so I'm a bit confused as to why your traps are runnin' at all."

"But they were just about to discover fire." Wash complained, to which Zo and Mal exchanged a confused look but didn't bother asking for elaboration. The pilot grumbled under his breath before indignantly tugging his mask back up and turning back to his work.

"These the Greenleaf maps?"Mal asked, coming around to stand just behind Riddick.

Riddick nodded as he rotated the angle and increased the magnification.

"Kinda nervous this whole thing's ridin' on 'Nara." Jayne spoke up uneasily. "We don't get that comm.- link, we're screwed."

"She'll get it." Mal assured his merc. "You ain't ever been on the receivin' end of those wiles."

"Ain't real hard to pull one over on you, Mal." Jayne cracked a small smile.

"You lookin' to piss me off today, Jayne?" The captain retorted.

"No more than usual, Cap." The smile twisted into a half-cocked smirk.

"We got the recon points?" Zoe asked, refocusing the conversation.

Riddick nodded and circled four points; each one a half of a kilometer from the edge of the quarantine zone. "There's checkpoints on each side of the zone; from what we can tell they're patrolling the borders hard but, as for the interior, my money says they're not exactly letting the grunts trudge through whatever the hell they're looking for in there."

"Riv and I will take the southern and western checkpoints." Zoe said leaning over the map and tracing a trail. "We'll be able to scout out an emergency evac point in the river basin here just outside the quarantine zone."

"The river's about two klicks from the New Dawn facility, that's Plan B." Mal said.

"Width of that, it's a real risky Plan B." Jayne grunted.

"That's why we got ourselves a Plan C." Mal replied cheekily.

"Wouldn't need a Plan C if we had a decent Plan B." Jayne complained.

"You're still bent over that armory ain't ya, Jayne?" Mal retorted.

"Isn't anybody disturbed over the fact that we have a Plan A, B, _and_ C?" Wash asked.

"I'd say we're prepared." Mal replied indignantly. "And why the hell are you focusing on us when you still got a gorram mule to finish?"

"You know, captain, you might be nicer to the only person on this ship in possession of an apple." Wash replied smugly and his wife turned away and cleared her throat in an attempt to stifle her laughter at Mal's expression.

"How in the Hell did you get an apple?" Mal asked incredulously. "We're in gorram space!"

"I have my ways."

Jayne chortled. "He traded Kaylee the last of her stash for his titanium-coated socket set."

Zoe lost the ability to control herself and outright laughed as Mal's expression turned to indignant once more.

"Wash, give me that gorram apple." Mal ordered.

"Hey, I traded a good socket set for a lousy bruised orange and soft apple." Wash replied, turning back to the mule. "Never know when you'll need a bit of leverage with the psychic."

"Wasn't a request." Mal informed him.

"I might need it." He protested.

"Zo, inform your husband if he does not hand over that goddamn piece of fruit so I can go grovel for forgiveness from the Bit, I will toss him out of the airlock."

"Thought there was a no killing rule, Mal." Jayne pointed out grudgingly.

"I'm the captain, don't have to follow the gorram rules." Mal snapped.

"You space me and who's gonna fly, Mal?" Wash replied a bit too smugly for his own good in Mal's opinion.

"Me." The captain retorted.

"Oh God!" Wash paled. "You can have it! Just, for the love of geese, don't touch the nav controls!"

*T*F*C*

ETA to Greenleaf: six hours

River and Kaylee sat hunched together over the mess table wiring the remote detonators to the rigged EMP flashers. The atmosphere was appropriately tense given the fact that one misplaced heartbeat could signal a very hot and uncomfortable end for the entirety of the crew. Kaylee had wisely glazed over that risk when describing to the captain what needed to be done. It was fortunate however one of the said "technicians" was a mind-reader; so when Inara's unsuspecting voice suddenly rang through the mess from behind them, River was able to grab Kaylee's wrist and steady it before the cataclysmic could occur. The two shared an exhale before Kaylee shakily looked over her shoulder.

"What was that, 'Nara?" The mechanic asked.

"Hmm?" Inara looked up from the kettle. "Oh, tea, would either of you like a cup?" She repeated pleasantly, oblivious to the fact her polite inquiry had nearly spelled the end for them all.

"No…no thank you." Kaylee declined, turning her focus back to the canister in front of her.

"River, how about you, sweetheart?"

"Please and thank you." River accepted as she deftly twisted off her last bit of wiring and closed the casing on her last canister. She warned Kaylee before the kettle went off, preventing yet another cataclysmic disaster, and munched her apple as she watched Kaylee twist off the last wire and reseal the final canister.

"Easy peasy." Kaylee giggled nervously, the tension of the last hour draining from her body almost immediately as she cracked her knuckles.

"You know-," Inara mused, with a sort of wry smile, "-if anyone had suggested a year ago that I would be brewing tea less than a handful of feet away from a table full of explosives, just a few hours before committing what can and will be considered treason, I might have laughed in their face."

"Guess it's kinda like I never thought I'd be grateful for growin' up with nuthin' but brothers." Kaylee replied as she and River began to carefully stow away the canisters in a metal case.

River frowned as she Read the flashes of memories which circled around the mechanic's head. "Simon didn't teach me to build bombs." Her frown abated somewhat as she added. "I can, however, make aspirin from tree bark." Simon had taught her how to when she was five after a summer chemistry seminar he had been forced to attend by their father.

"Difference 'tween Core and Rim." Kaylee shrugged with a little laugh. "'Course, my brothers woulda prolly blown themselves up iffin' they'd tried to pull a bit of work like this off." She said with more than a little pride. "Though Tommy's got a bit of a knack for anythin' electrical." She added thoughtfully. "At least I know they'll like Jayne." She said happily as she brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Well, that is something." Inara replied optimistically.

"You nervous?" Kaylee asked as the Companion brought her and River's tea to the table.

"For what, dear?"

"For your first real big role in one of our capers. It's your first job as real crew." Kaylee explained excitedly.

"It's hardly anything I haven't done before." Inara replied lightly. "You both will be in much more danger."

"You ain't gonna… you know…." Kaylee scrunched her face.

"Oh-," Inara laughed as she caught Kaylee's meaning, "-no, no, not at all. Sex is not necessary when a simple seduction will suffice."

"There's a difference?" Kaylee asked and, despite herself and her embarrassment, River was more than a little curious herself.

"Of course there is-," Inara replied, mildly shocked by the question before she remembered that she was not among apprentices. "Seduction is enticement and temptation. It's the snake that convinced Eve to taste the apple, not the apple itself. Seduction is an art form."

River frowned slightly at this revelation, tuning out the conversation her two friends carried on around her. She understood the metaphor, that was not where her confusion lie, it was more over the fact that Riddick did not think about seduction. He thought about sex. Often. Seduction seemed like a lie to her, to entice but not provide. It was a game. That was how Inara saw it and she had learned, the hard way, that Riddick did not overly approve of games; ones he didn't create anyway. It didn't take her long, however, to realize that, despite the woman's claims, Inara was not trained in the ways and actions of love. She enjoyed sex not for the lasting connection but for pleasure and comfort. She held affection for a few of her clients, but love for no one; save perhaps the captain though River wasn't sure if that was something the woman was willingly to admit to just yet. It was only recently that she realized her entire existence was a lie and truly River could not fault her for her trepidation.

River pushed herself deeply into the woman's mind, further and deeper than she had ever allowed herself to go, realizing as she sorted through the broken pieces and fragmented convictions, that Inara felt nothing like what she felt for Riddick, or Kaylee for Jayne, or Zoe for Wash, for any of her clients. She allowed Inara's words to reach her but she let them drift away as well. Instead, she dug for the factual information she required, rather than the Companion's highly debatable "lessons". She was so absorbed and, quite frankly, utterly shocked over certain techniques or "pleasures" as Inara referred to them inside her head, that she failed to register Jayne's presence hovering just outside the mess hatchway.

"Lurking is creepifying." River announced loudly.

"Wasn't lurkin'!" The merc defended himself as he cleared his throat and shifted his weight uncomfortably. "No need to stop tellin' those whorin' stories on my account."

"Jayne!" Kaylee admonished.

"What?" He shrugged.

"Did you need something, Jayne?" Inara asked, more amused than annoyed.

"Uh…oh yeah, Kaylee, iffin' yer done the wirin' of 'em EMPs, could use yer help in setting the trigger switch on the explosive charges, can't use nuthin' electrical 'cause then the EMPs will just make 'em worthless. So's I popped the bells off the timers but I can't figure how to make 'em trigger right when they go off."

"That's it, Jayne?" Kaylee asked. "Ain't hardly nuthin' at all." She said as she stood and adjusted her coveralls. "All's we got to do is use a mechanical flip switch. Timer runs out instead of bing, you get a boom. Easy peasy."

"Girl, you are somethin' else." Jayne grinned. "Come'on."

"You know-," Inara mused aloud to River after Kaylee departed happily with Jayne, "-I really do think I was wrong about them."

"And so much more." River replied simply as she hopped off the table and picked up the box of EMPs to bring down to the bay and seal into the arms locker. Inara opened her mouth to ask River what she meant by that, but River beat her to it; Reading the woman's question before the first syllable could form on her lips. "Don't ask questions you're afraid of the answers to." River said as kindly as such a statement could be said; she wasn't trying to be cruel, merely returning the courtesy of honesty and openness that Inara had granted her. "I have emblems to paint." She added as though she had not spoken her last two statements.

"Well…yes, have fun." Inara answered vaguely, more unnerved by River's assertions than she was willing to admit.

*T*F*C*

ETA to Greenleaf: two hours

"Still praying, preacher?" Riddick smirked contemptuously as he passed through the mess on his way down to the bay to load the Mule.

"For the protection of our crew, always Riddick." Book replied calmly and without looking up from his hands and the tattered Bible in them. "I believe River said it best when she said, '_he gives it a name. He calls it a Bible and it becomes his symbol. It becomes his word and law and it becomes power'_. It doesn't matter what you believe in, Riddick, as long as you believe in something. You and Mal both-," he continued as he finally looked up to acknowledge the convict's presence, "-always assume I'm talking about God and religion when I speak on faith and belief."

"Save your breath, Book, that fuck upstairs doesn't want to hear my name rolling off a preacher's lips. Don't know if I believe in Heaven, but I've spent a lot of time in Hell; gotten used to it by now."

"We'll see about that, Riddick." Book mused. "Forgiveness comes when you ask for it."

Riddick barked out an almost sadistic chuckle. "We're killers, Book, you and me, and nothing's gonna change what we did. There's no forgiveness for what I've done." He added darkly, the reference to Sigma not lost on Book. "Not looking for it either." He turned to leave the mess; he had shit to do and honestly had no idea why he was still having the conversation.

"River's a killer." Book pointed out, freezing the convict in his tracks. "Should God condemn her?"

Riddick paused in the doorway, not bothering to look back. It wasn't necessary, the threat and warning in his tone was more than explicit. "You hear her scream at night? He already has, you stupid fuck." His tone was barely controlled as a cold and bitter anger vibrated on every word. "Put her through her first set of pain threshold tests when she was fifteen. Forced her to make her first kill with a fucking pen. Where was your God then?" He slowly turned his head to meet the eyes of the shepherd. "Fuck your God, Book. When you meet him, tell him I said that."

"God and salvation come in many forms, Riddick." Book replied; even though his words were drowned out to his own ears by Riddick's heavy step as he stomped out of the mess, he knew Riddick had heard him.

Riddick did hear him, but it was Shirah's voice that echoed in his head.

_She will be your salvation._

*T*F*C*


	73. Interlude 12 Greenleaf II

A/N: In the opening of the Interlude entitled "Riddick", I referenced a job on Greenleaf which had gone to shit that Riddick was pissed over. I never did go into details on that job and there is a half finished side-story which goes along with it but the point is that I'll be referencing it here.

*T*F*C*

The mining settlement, officially designated as GL-ST3 and known informally as Middle Town by those who populated it since it sat directly at the middle point between the jungle and the actual mines, seemed slightly off to Inara. The Companion prided herself on being able to read people and places, despite River's earlier assertions, and was more unnerved by the fact that she couldn't quite put her finger on what was so wrong about the place than she was over committing treason in the near future. She pushed it to a far corner of her mind as she kept pace with the long strides of the captain as he walked beside her. Mal, at least, didn't seem to be bothered by any of it. He moved confidently through the dusk encrusted streets, sidestepping the occasional drunk and pushing through the intermittent crowds with relative ease.

Mal however, was not as at ease as he appeared. He hadn't needed River to point out that sixty-seven percent of Greenleaf's money came from the black market; everyone knew that. _Serenity_ had made more than a few runs on this planet in the early of days before Amnon had gone completely legit. His confident stride was more out of necessity than anything else. He, in fact, had both an itch behind his ear and a sick pit in his stomach over sending Inara in to do what they had planned. He blamed it on the fact that he'd counted over twenty Feds milling about off-duty as they made their way from the docking yards to what could be equated as the downtown section of the settlement; though the honest truth of it was, the thought of her crossing that line to get the job done made him physically ill. To add to his general unrest, one of Jakob's boys had been following them since they'd left the yards.

A few months back, what should have been a cake trade-off had turned into an all-out firefight. Despite that, and Riddick's bad temper which had accompanied the fall-out of the job, Mal had thought it had resolved itself quite nicely. He had gotten paid and Jakob had gotten the goods. Apparently, Jakob wasn't as forgiving over being shot at as Mal himself was. In all fairness, Jakob's boys had shot first, and, again in all fairness, they had shot because Mal had refused the new price which was offered for the goods. Technically, if anyone had been wronged it had been him and _Serenity;_ however, judging by the second man that had joined their first tail, Jakob didn't feel the same way. The captain was mentally swearing a tirade of epic proportions in his head as he kept one eye glancing in the reflections they passed to keep track of their tails. It was quite possibly the first bit of half-decent news he'd had in the last thirty-six hours; that their tails were at least shit. He hoped it was that anyway; that the tails were just lousy and it wasn't because they wanted to be noticed.

If they wanted to be noticed, it was because they wanted to talk, or shoot, or maybe just beat the ever-loving daylights out of him. He couldn't decide which was worse. Half the teeth in Niko's head, Jakob's second, were rotted through and the stench of his breath was possibly worse than being shot at. At least being shot was over quick. The other, more pressing, debate in his head was whether or not to alert Inara. He really needed her to get the job done tonight. The whole plan was riding on her ability to pickpocket. In retrospect, it might not have been one of the greatest ideas of his life. He needed her focused, not jumping over shadows. It was more than likely this whole job would get them killed or pinched as it was. It was the sudden appearance of Jakob himself on the street corner ahead of them that made the decision for him.

"This place is as good as any." Mal said as he stopped Inara with a hand on her arm. He wasn't exactly sure which place he was yet referring to as he whipped his head around in an attempt to find a suitable bar. Book would have called it divine intervention that, at that very moment, two drunken soldiers stumbled out of the bar just across the road; though Mal himself thought of it as Lady Luck finally dealing him something decent to work with. "You ready for this?" He asked as he gave a slight jerk of his head toward the tavern in question. Another nameless building, its only identifiable feature being the neon sign which crackled and fizzled disinterestedly above the bar, stating the obvious word 'BAR', written in Mandarin characters, though a few of the lines were partially faded, making it slightly questionable.

Inara squared her shoulders, whatever trepidation she might have felt hidden behind a well-practiced and often used air of poise and confidence. Her jaw angled itself somewhat arrogantly; the traces of _Serenity's_ trademark smirk just barely visible around the edges of her lips. "Are you?" She questioned back, her left eyebrow lifting slightly in challenge.

"Just find a group of boys. The more there are, the less liable they'll be to notice you've taken something when you're gone." He ran a nervous hand through his hair, refusing to allow his eyes to dart to where he knew Jakob was standing. A fleeting thought crossed his mind: how, in a small town full of Alliance soldiers, could one of the planet's biggest smugglers be standing out on the street in the open like he owned the place? Mal mentally snorted as he told himself not to tempt fate with the question; he was, after all, standing right on the same said street.

"Just keep your distance-," she reminded him pointedly, "-unless you'd like a replay of Persephone."

"Doubt these boys can sword fight any better than I can." He answered almost offhandedly and, had Inara not been so wrapped up in what she was about to do, she would have noticed the tensing of his body; the almost nervous energy which coursed through his veins. "I'll be a few minutes behind ya to watch your back. Just don't be takin' any kinda risk you ain't got to."

"Careful, captain-," Inara let the words roll off her tongue with a sultry sort of easiness as she turned to walk across the street, "-I might start to think you care." She teased.

"And ain't that just the gorram problem?" He muttered miserably to himself, too low for her to hear as he watched her disappear into the bar; for the briefest of moments the street lit up as the doors opened, light and noise spilling out into the otherwise depressing avenue before cold reality crept back in.

*T*F*C*

"And behold the wonders of space which we are so blessed to look upon." Wash announced, his one arm gesturing out towards the desolate docking yard just beyond the viewfinder as he plopped down somewhat disgruntled into his chair on the bridge. Less than five minutes ago, _Serenity's_ four gunhands had disappeared into the jungle, two to a bike. Team Lucy, comprised of his wife and, thankfully, River, and Team Loose Goose, Riddick and Jayne. Now, well, now he got to sit, and wait, and stare out at the same docking yard he'd seen over a hundred different times on dozens of different worlds; in the same gorram chair he spent, what River had calculated to be seventy-nine percent of his life in, while a perfectly good feather bed sat not sixty kilometers away fluffing the head of some undeserving Alliance loyalist.

"Aw, it ain't so bad-," Kaylee piped up cheerfully as she dropped her tool box with a loud bang against the grating, "-got a bit of time to tweak the bits, in case there's a darin' rescue that needs to be done." She gave a little shrug. "Don't usually get the time to prep for that, and hey, who knows, this could be the crappy little town wheres you're a folk hero."

Wash merely snorted as he continued to glare petulantly out the viewfinder.

"Nothing really does turn it off does it?" Simon asked as he leaned against the rail on the bridge, trying to somehow see River still.

"Nope." She beamed up at him before dropping onto her butt to pop open an access panel. "And 'sides, ain't like you two got anythin' special to worry over. Zo and Riv are together."

"Careening into a jungle at speeds upwards of a hundred and sixty kilometers per hour." Simon deadpanned. "They could have at least stolen helmets too."

"You're saying-," Book began, blinking back his amused confusion, "-you're more worried they'll crash the cycle, than that they'll be discovered by Alliance military while staking out a highly secured quarantine zone?" Book asked skeptically.

"Huh." Simon shrugged, an odd sort of bitter smile pressed against his lips. "I suppose we've been running from them for so long now that that part of the job doesn't seem so unusual or dangerous anymore." He slowly shook his head, a small chuckle feebly falling from his lips. "What is the Old Earth saying? _C'est la vie _(such is life, French)."

"Have a little faith, you." Kaylee chided as she pulled herself out of the panel. "_Serenity_ won't let nothin' bad happen to any of us anyhow."

"They're not on _Serenity_." Simon pointed out.

"Don't matter none-," Kaylee shook her head knowingly, a playfully secretive smile on her face, "- _Serenity_ never leaves ya, not once she's in your bones."

*T*F*C*

"Malcolm Reynolds." The captain fought the urge not to cringe as Jakob's voice hit him from behind. The voice was expected; the right hook that followed as he turned his head was not and sent him almost immediately to his knees. Jakob bent down slightly, a malicious grin breaking out across his face. "Knew you'd be dumb 'nough to come back to my rock one day. Just didn't think you'd be dumb 'nough to waltz in through my hometown, boy." He chuckled as he not so affectionately tapped the captain on his cheek.

"Jakob." Mal greeted tersely after spitting a wad of mucus and blood onto the cracked cement. He debated a moment the wisdom of standing up: it was three on one, in the middle of a street, on a rock he was about to pull one of the biggest jobs of his career on. He could little afford the confrontation that would undoubtedly ensue should he attempt to fight back, nor did he want to put Inara any further at risk then she already was. "Seeing as how you let my girl walk into that bar 'fore you spoke, I take it you ain't lookin' to kill me-," he said with a degree of forced boredom, "-so, you want to make your point?" He risked a cheeky smirk, though he didn't stand, the effort on his part wasn't needed as he found himself being hauled up onto his feet by Jakob's boys.

"Yer girl?" Jakob snorted in amusement. "Ain't a body gonna take her for a space dog's." He actually chuckled. "But it does make this little meetin' all the more interestin'. We're gonna take this little conversation someplace a bit more private. Got too many goddamn purple bellies crawlin' all over my town to be operatin' as we do, but you owe me a bit of coin, boy, and I mean to collect what I'm owed. I'd take it as a personal favor if ya didn't fuss too much, got a feelin' you ain't wantin' to draw the Fed's attention anymore'n I do. 'Course-," he turned to grin at his boys, "-you could always turn down my offer, but then I'd have to kill you and go have words with yer girl." The large, scruffy faced man jerked his head toward a dark alleyway; gifting Mal with one more tap against his cheek before turning to head down into it.

Mal shrugged off the hold of one of Jakob's boys. "Can walk my damn self." He snapped, mentally cursing every god he could think of and throwing himself in there for good measure as well. He hadn't even realized he'd referred to Inara as his girl until Jakob had pointed it out and now he'd quite possibly squared himself in to an even shittier corner because of it. Even worse, Inara was on her own.

*T*F*C*

River felt the shift; her whole body tensed with it, somewhere, along a finely woven thread there was a sharp yank. She felt the echo of it ricochet around her mind. It couldn't be traced, the distance was too great but the tone of the cord was familiar; Daddy was in trouble again.

"It's Mal, ain't it?" Zoe asked her voice no higher than the rustling of leaves in the wind.

River nodded in the affirmative.

"He dead?" She asked almost nonchalantly.

River gifted her with _T__he Look._

"He'll be fine." Zoe smirked back. "Never been a job where he didn't find himself a spot of trouble. I'd even lay a twenty piece sayin' he went lookin' for it. Could be he decided to start a fight as a distraction or could be he opened his mouth."

"He requires so much looking after." River slowly shook her head.

"Honey, all men do." The first mate rolled her eyes as she pulled a folded piece of plasti-paper from her pocket and a mini torch; holding the torch between her teeth she aimed the light for the map in her hands. "Brush is too thick to take the bike any further; we'll hoof it from here, then come back around and swing wide with the bike to the next checkpoint. The basin will be our last stop." She doubled tapped their location on the map, marking their position for reference. "We clear?" She asked, tucking away the torch and the map.

River tilted her head to the left; her eyes rapidly twitching as though she was quickly surveying the terrain around them, but Zoe knew better and waited patiently. "Nothing." The Reader responded after a few silent moments. "Not in the immediate vicinity."

"You want point?"

River blinked, taken aback by the question. "Me?" She asked, in what was quite possibly the least intelligent question of her life.

"You see another person with a brain radar in their head 'round here?" Zoe replied as she turned to shoulder her pack.

"No-," River grinned broadly, "-no, I do not."

"Then lead on, girl. We ain't got all night."

*T*F*C*

"Fucking bugs." Jayne growled as he slapped the side of his neck. "Goddamn jungles."

"You ever stop bitching, Jayne?" Riddick snapped as he adjusted the small pieces of electronics in each ear. One he was using for himself and Jayne in case they decided to separate and the other for the ship. They were emitting an annoying hum; something they shouldn't have been doing for all the coin they paid for them and Riddick made a mental note to revisit those boys should they ever find their way back to the Red Sun station. The hum fell in direct contrast to the incessant buzz of insects which surrounded him. To say it was distracting was an understatement; to make matters worse, he couldn't hear River inside his head. There were some vague impressions of the Reader drifting around, enough to know the cord was still solid and she was alive but nothing else. It ate at him. He didn't like the idea of her being out there without him, and he couldn't check on her through the comm as often as he would of through their minds without looking like a complete gorram fool. He wasn't the doctor. He dropped his pack on the ground in front of a massive buttress root of one of the tall trees which broke the canopy after briefly digging through it to remove a pair of capture-capable binoculars. "Going up for a look." He jumped slightly, latching onto a handhold.

"Trails into the quarantine zone should be 'bout less than a klick." Jayne grunted without sparing the man a look as he got comfortable, resting Vera on one of the roots and magnifying his scope to focus in on the checkpoint. He lit one of his cigars one-handed, one eye still glued into the scope; counting off a total of six guards and one non-com, a sergeant by the looks of his uniform.

_Oh this is gonna be all sorts of interestin'._ Any merc worth his guns knew Greenleaf's number one cash crop was the _gou shi_ that got smuggled out through the jungles and the boys guarding the checkpoint seemed to know it too. There were two towers, a heavy gun on each one, spotlights, and every last one of the soldiers was decked out in full gear. He did find it odd that none of them were wearing gas masks. The merc had a real good feeling that the runners in this jungle knew damn well there wasn't any kind of terraforming leak. Quarantine zone wasn't large enough for that for one, and two, there just wasn't any rutting way anyone would be dumb enough to walk into a poison trap like a terraforming generator leak without gas masks, and those soldiers weren't wearing a single one. He was a little pissed now that they'd wasted the coin on them at the space station.

"You seein' this, Riddick?" Jayne spoke through the comm.

"_Seems an awful lot of boys to be guarding a quarantine zone. No gas masks either."_

"Anything else goin' on?" Jayne asked, though he was actually more concerned over how much it would cost to get a scope for Vera that had capture capabilities. He found it actually a bit weird he'd never gotten around to getting one before. Of course, none of the jobs he'd actually worked with Vera ever before had required him to just look and not shoot.

_"Can see the satellites of the New Dawn facility from up here, still a good fifteen kilometers out. No way to tell how heavily they're movin' through the interior."_ He reported back as he removed a small recording device from one of the pockets of his cargos.

"Riv'll sniff that out." Jayne replied. "Got six and an officer at this post, but it looks like it's the heaviest used, comin' in from anywhere else might look too suspicious."

"Wash-," Riddick spoke through the comm as he powered up the cam, "-we good?"

"_Firstly, that's Papa Goose to you, and yeah, your images are comin' in clear as day. Bring it a few degrees to the right and give me a thirty-percent magnification."_

"Firstly-," Riddick's voice rolled through the comm with the same level of threat that would have been in his tone had he and Wash been face-to-face, "-you're a grown ass man, pick a better goddamn call sign and I _might_ use it."

Wash waited a beat before responding. _"And?"_

"And what?" Riddick barked back in a harsh whisper.

"_And you said firstly, that implies there's a secondly in there somewhere."_

Riddick didn't dignify that with a response other than a very dangerous growl which crackled back over the comm at the pilot.

"_And it never does get old."_ Wash replied a bit too cheerfully Riddick felt as he adjusted the angle on the cam.

A few dozen kilometers away and more than several dozen meters up in a tree, River and Zoe lowered their binoculars to exchange an eye roll as they listened to the bickering over the comms.

"Think we can keep these channels clear, boys? Mayhap we won't find ourselves in Slam then?" The first mate barked in a whisper.

From Wash, a chastised _"Yes, ma'am,"_ answered her back, she didn't expect nor did she receive a reply from Riddick.

"He doesn't like to be apart from his." River spoke softly without meaning to as she absentmindedly handed Zoe the cam to place. She couldn't make out Riddick's thoughts but his unease was more than apparent despite the distance.

"Which one are you talking about?" Zoe asked as she zip-tied the recorder into place.

River shrugged after a half of a second's contemplation.

"Suppose I should feel lucky Riddick ain't taken a swing at him yet. I love that man to death but there just don't seem to be a filter from his brain to his mouth sometimes." Zoe chuckled lightly as she pulled the last tied firmly into place. "Give me a go on that, baby." She radioed in.

"_Why do I even bother with call signs if my wife won't even use them?"_ Came back as a reply rather than the affirmative Zoe was looking for.

The first mate sighed deeply as she shook her head. "Papa Goose this is Lucy, eyes are open."

"_Roger that, open eyes, sightline is good."_ Came back a much more chipper reply.

"You have nothing to fear." River informed Zoe as she swung the binoculars around her neck to keep them out of the way as they climbed down. "Riddick actually enjoys the banter, though he is loathe to admit it."

"Riddick also enjoys gutting people." Zoe snorted and River didn't need to see the eye roll to feel it.

"Still, he will not gut Wash. He is unsure as to his own capabilities of handling Mother and does not trust Daddy not to kill us all." River said matter-of-factly.

"Well, that's something, sure would hate to have to kill him back." Zoe joked as she landed cleanly on the ground; though, as she turned to face River who had landed just behind her, she froze. River had one of her stilettos out; the metal caught a shaft of moonlight which broke through the canopy of trees and glinted lethally. Before Zoe could form the question in her mind, the blade left River's hand. There were very few moments in the first mate's life where she felt time slow down, most of which had happened in the war, and none of those moments had scared her more deeply than the one she was living through now. Reality and time seemed to collide violently together as River's blade embedded itself deeply into the trunk of the tree directly behind Zoe, just a handful of inches from her face and close enough to feel a slight breeze as it whizzed by. Slowly, Zoe turned her head, a lungful of air rushing out the breath she didn't know she had been holding as she locked onto the scaly, ebony skin of a massive snake, its head pinned to the trunk by River's blade.

"The Black Mistress, a distant relative of the Black Mamba, brought to Greenleaf originally by scientists to test the viability of an universal anti-venom derived from a new species of flower which evolved after the introduction of terraforming gases." She stated mechanically as she crossed the distance between them and reached up to yank the blade from the snake's head. She studied the milky white substance which coated it and secreted from the dead squamata's fangs; both of which had been retracted and ready to strike. "They are notoriously aggressive with humans."

"Uh." Zoe swallowed hard.

"Trust her." River merely replied as she wiped her blade clean on her leather pants. "Poor creature." She cooed as she turned her attention to the snake, whose lifeless corpse had unraveled from the branch it had been suspended from in life and piled at the base of the tree. "Like so many others, your only crime was to be born. You acted as only you knew how. I am sorry you died."

Zoe, for her part, was still attempting to digest that she had almost died. She had survived the war without so much more than a handful of scars and then subsequently survived six years of following Malcolm Reynolds around the 'Verse, to have had it almost all end, because of a gorram snake. A bite she would have never seen coming.

"There is no need for the gift of an apple. She was happy to avert her painful demise." River assured the first mate who was cautiously toeing the massive snake, her own blade now out, as though it might reanimate itself at any moment

Zoe looked up and cleared her throat. "Painful?" River opened her mouth to begin a long lecture on the effects of the neurotoxin inside the venom of the snake but Zoe stopped her before the first syllable could be uttered. "You know what? Never mind. We got a job to do." She shook herself physically, as if she could shake off her near-brush with death. "Papa Goose-," She tapped her ear piece, "-Lucy is on the move."

_"Roger that Lucy."_

*T*F*C*

Every ounce of Inara's confidence both true and feigned dissipated instantly as she stepped into the somewhat rowdy bar. Music piped out from what sounded like a decades old speaker system and crackled intermittently, drowning out the volume of the large vid-screen which hung just above the main bar scrolling the planet-wide news. She gave it a second glance; the top story seemed to be the quarantining of several sections of rainforest. Apparently, the Arethian jungle wasn't the only one on the planet being targeted. The claims of terraforming leaks were being substantiated by the news reports though there was something in the man's expression as he read off the story that said he wasn't quite buying it. She caught herself before she became too lost in her own thoughts, having realized she had already drawn the attention of a few eyes. She had dressed down slightly from her usual attire and, though she was positive she still screamed Companion, the much more revealing cut of her dress and the simpler style of her hair she thought indicated she was of a much lower status and perhaps class then a Core Companion.

Inara wasn't crazy enough to walk into the bar as herself and, briefly closing her eyes, recited her chosen alias over in her head. The change in her posture and poise was almost instantaneous as she reopened her eyes; allowing her new persona to wash over her, she scanned the bar. Mal had instructed her to find a large grouping of soldiers; inside the bar there was no absence of purple to deter her. It was, however, her own disinclination to being pawed at and groped by a group of men who felt entitled to her services because they served the "greater good" that had her bypassing them and moving on towards the main bar. She positioned herself within hearing distance of a uniformed officer who sat off by himself. Here was one instance where moving through higher society clearly paid off; she could tell, by the color of his uniform, a sort of grayish-green, and the patches on his left shoulder that he was not regular Alliance military. He was an officer and, even better, a science officer. Inara ordered a cordial from the bartender who eyed her skeptically before pouring the brightly colored liquor from a dusty bottle.

"Don't get much of yer type in these parts." The bartender remarked as he set the glass down in front of her.

"I don't suppose you do." She replied with a bit of feigned disdain. "My patron had business to attend to and it was so dreadfully boring I had to escape."

"Pretty things like yerself should be careful where they go lookin' for fun." He retorted. Personally, the man couldn't have cared less about the high-class whore seated at his bar, what he did care about was drawing the attention of the Alliance whom had overrun this town because some empty-headed Companion had gotten herself assaulted in his establishment.

Inara's head ticked slightly to the right, an irritating habit she was well aware she'd developed from River. "Don't be ridiculous I am quite safe here." She gestured slightly to the uniformed men scattered about the room.

The bartender made a vague hffrumpping noise that was somehow laced with obvious contempt. "'Til you step outside."

"I arrived here perfectly safe on my own, thank you." She replied heatedly as she smoothed the fabric in her lap, her uneasiness not entirely feigned.

"He's absolutely correct you know. These streets are not safe after dark." Inara turned her head slightly to the source of the voice. "Forgive me for interrupting-," the officer at the bar straightened himself and Inara could tell immediately she had made the right choice. It was in his posture, the tone and enunciation of his words; here was a man that was 100% Core, manners polished and refined by the best schools Alliance credits could buy.

Inara managed a look of relief, "It's no bother at all-," she glanced down at the insignia on his arm, "-Sergeant?"

He cleared his throat, "Staff Sergeant Filkins, but please call me Franklin, formalities can become tiresome quickly." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but make the comparison to a snake at the almost serpentine twist of his lips as he offered her his hand.

Inara shook the proffered hand, using the guise of daintiness to cover up her disgust at touching him. She knew him, before he'd finished his introductions, here in front of her was another Atherton. "Saffron-," she smiled invitingly, "-Saffron Reynolds of the House of Indora."

"And as lovely as your namesake as well. The saffron flower is quite a pretty little thing; it has a bright purple blossom which grows very low to the ground."

Inara forced her smile to brighten as she played the game. "Not very many military men would know of such a small insignificant flower."

"Then they are fools." He chuckled as he indiscreetly slid over onto the stool directly beside her. "Though they are also grunts." He looked around the room distastefully.

"But you, sir, I can tell are not just a grunt." She replied teasingly, one eye darting to the doorway inconspicuously as she wondered just where the hell the captain was.

Filkins preened slightly at this. "That I am not. Military research, I graduated top of my class from the military academy on Ariel." He bragged shamelessly and Inara had to fight not to roll her eyes.

"It is a relief to encounter a bit of civilization on this planet." She said graciously.

"I would have to agree." He tilted his own glass towards her, a brandy snifter; she could smell the sickly sweet liquid from her seat. The glass was nearly empty and Inara saw her opportunity.

"Perhaps, since I have been abandoned for the evening and, as you have pointed out, it's not quite safe for me to be on my own here you could join me for a drink and then I could impose on you to escort me back to my private shuttle." She offered; her tone suggestive, hinting at the promise of something more.

"I would be honored." He accepted, the serpentine expression returning to his face.

"Lovely." This time Inara did not have to feign her smile in the slightest. "Would you be so kind as to find us a table? I find it to be a bit uncomfortable to be under such scrutiny." She let her gaze briefly flick across the room, where more than a few lecherous glances were being aimed in her direction.

"They really are a bunch of savages this far out, are they not?" Filkins mused contemptuously as he followed her gaze. He finished off his drink and signaled to the bartender who had moved off once the two had begun to converse. "Allow me."

"No-," she said, sweetly allowing her hand to cover his on the bar, "-it is the very least I can do. If you'll just find us a table, I would be more than happy to bring the drinks."

"A very wise man once told me never to turn down a drink offered by a lady." He gave her a look which made her feel both dirty and cheap at the same time. "I shall secure us a table." He made a rather exaggerated bow which Inara assumed was some attempt at chivalrous flirtation but just came off as being ridiculously pretentious and off-putting.

She allowed her expression to falter only once his back was turned as she waited for the bartender. Internally, she was shaking her head in amusement. In truth, she hadn't been entirely sure how she was going to pull her part of the job off; that was, until River had pulled her aside just before she had left with Mal and slipped two small white tablets into her hand. The young woman had answered her questioning look with a dismissive wave, muttering something about not liking not being able to see the variables. When she had tried to question her further River had merely replied, "When one knows the constants the variables are irrelevant."

At that point, Riddick had not-so-helpfully translated. "She doesn't know what's going to happen but now she knows you have that."

Seeing as how the evening was playing out, Inara couldn't help but wonder if River was being completely truthful about her precognitive abilities or if she was really just analytical enough to be able to decipher all possible outcomes.

She ordered the drinks, dropping the two white tablets inside the brandy snifter from inside her sleeve and swirling the glass as she walked to help them dissolve. She risked one last glance toward the door before she reached the table Filkins had secured for them in a somewhat private alcove, slightly shielded from the sightline of the doorway. She only hoped whatever was keeping Mal, River had planned for as well.

*T*F*C*

If Mal had thought Jakob's "talk" had meant the end of violence against his person, he had been very wrong. Apparently, Jakob was very much less forgiving over being shot at than Mal was. It wasn't until Mal spit out one of his back molars did the overly large man call a halt to the beating.

"Now, I think this makes us square over that gun fight." Jakob informed him as he crouched down to hover over Mal's kneeling form. "Just ain't right to walk into a body's house and try and call the shots."

"You tried to screw us!" Mal accused, his lower lip stinging violently where it had been split open. "Deal was a thousand a crate, not eight-fifty."

"Business is fluid, Mal, you should know that." Jakob replied easily as pushed himself up from his crouch and begin to slowly pace in a short line in front of him. "You got your money in the end anyhow and we woulda been good, 'xcept you tried to sneak back on my rock. You really think I don't own the docking yards this close to the jungle? Minute yer crap-ass Firefly touched down I got a wave. 'Magine my surprise that Malcolm Reynolds had the balls to show up in my hometown. Might even have left ya be if I wasn't concerned you was thinkin' on encrouchin' on my territory. Word is, now you're playin' the big leagues. Workin' with the big dogs." His conversational tone dropped low and dangerous. "That don't happen on my rock. Not without my say so."

"Ain't lookin' to cut in on your business Jakob." Mal attempted to placate him. "Got one job and then I'm outta here; ain't got any plans to be found in Red Sun after this ever again."

"That'd be real smart, Mal, old-boy. Heard tell you pulled one over on Yuri. Heard tell you managed to get 'round his guard dog Womack."

_Oh, you've got to be ruttin' kidding me?_ Mal groaned inside his head. _Suppose to be a big, huge 'Verse! Just how in the ruttin' hell does news travel that fast?_

"If you know that, you should know I ain't dumb enough to set up shop someplace I ain't welcome."

Jakob snorted at that. "We're smugglers, Mal, ain't welcome nowhere. Not by the law anyways. And as to you not bein' dumb 'nough, well I hear stories they say otherwise to that."

"You got a point, Jakob? 'Cause otherwise I'd rather go back to your boys usin' me as a punching bag than listenin' to you ramble on all night long."

"You got balls, Mal, real ones." Jakob chuckled. "And you're gonna use those balls to do me a favor and we'll be even squared on that last job."

"Thought you kicking the crap outta me made us even." Mal retorted.

"Think of it as insurance." Jakob grinned, an expression which made Mal altogether nervous.

"What kind of insurance?" He asked suspiciously.

"The kind that makes sure you don't find yourselves landlocked and pinched by the Feds."

"Ain't done nothin' wrong here." Mal contested.

"Yet. You ain't done nothin' yet, Mal. Now, there's a question to whether or not you're as dumb as you look but I ain't. I know for a fact them drug companies are tryin' to smuggle their research out of the quarantine zones. Had more'n one offer to do it ourselves, but we ain't lookin' to get ourselves dead. We're running a nice, smooth operation here and ain't lookin' for the complications. These purple bellies everywhere, they complicate things. So here's what you're gonna do. Tomorrow, few of my boys are gonna come by your ship with a couple of crates. You're gonna take them crates to Fanty and Mingo on Beaumonde. I know you know them fellas. Money's already changed hands you just bring them the goods."

"You might not think that's as good of an idea as it sounds when you learn where my crew stands with the creeper twins." Mal replied, trying to buy himself sometime to figure a way out of the deal.

"Then it's a win-win. Their boys were supposed to have this cargo delivered by now but they got pinched on their way in. It's their buyers that are chompin' at the bit and their asses on the line. You run this job not only do I let you off my rock without a peep to Yuri, but you mend your bridge with them and you got plenty of work comin' in."

"Don't need the two-bit jobs they're runnin' these days." Mal retorted smugly. "Like you said, I'm runnin' in a whole new league."

"Oh, you need this job, Mal." Jakob assured him. "You take it or I let my boys take out a kneecap or two while I wave Yuri." The larger man shrugged. "Your move, boy."

*T*F*C*

Inara employed a considerable amount of skill keeping her smile firmly in place. Filkins was an arrogant, conceited, toadying, loyalist whose parents had secured his position and fed him his entire life with a silver spoon. He was every reason she had left the Core. The only thing she could appreciate was the fact that he seemed to enjoy his brandy and not only had he quickly finished off the first drugged drink but had ordered another as well. That appreciation, however, was dampened somewhat by the most common affliction among young, wealthy, privileged, Core-bred men; grabby hands and self-entitlement. It fleetingly occurred to her that Inara Serra would have rejected this man's request without a second thought; Saffron Reynolds, though, allowed his hand to stray along her thigh underneath the table, even if Inara Serra was already mentally scrubbing the places he touched, clean.

His eyelids were beginning to droop and his speech, which had blathered on incessantly and only left room for approving nods, was beginning to slow and slur around the edges. Inara discreetly checked a small timepiece; she'd been inside the bar for a little over a half hour now. It had taken a good ten minutes or so to attract Filkins' attention and he had polished off the drugged drink after another fifteen. Mal was supposed to have followed her in after no more than five.

"I thi-think…my dearr, I haave had a bit too mush to drink." Filkins blinked at her bleary-eyed, swaying slightly in his seat.

Several different possible scenarios ran through Inara's head but it was her hesitation, however, which provided the solution. As she debated her next course of action without the captain, Filkins blinked once, examined his glass, and promptly fell forward banging his head against the table top.

Inara took her opportunity without hesitation. She quickly slid her hand into his pocket beneath the table, relieving the staff sergeant of a thin black leather card case, his security clearance, which disappeared down the sleeve of her dress to the same inside pocket she kept her timepiece in.

"Franklin, darling-," she cooed sweetly as she passed her hand alongside his temple and grazed it down his neck, her fingers discreetly snaring the wireless earpiece. Her other hand reached around his side giving the appearance she was attempting to sit him up straight, while in truth, deft and practiced fingers unclipped his comm. It too disappeared down the kimono sleeve of her dress albeit a little less gracefully and much more awkwardly than her other booty. She almost lost the comm unit entirely when she removed her arm and had to resort to feigning rubbing the side of her neck to keep it in place.

She held her hand there, as though she was at a loss at what to do next, and it wasn't entirely feigned. She spied another officer just a table away and caught his eye with all the appearance of a damsel in distress. "Excuse me, I am so very sorry to impose-," she called to him lightly, an amused smile twitching at her lips.

"Ma'am…miss…" The younger soldier stood awkwardly, much less used to being address by a Companion of any status.

Inara's smile only deepened. "Do you know this man?" She asked, still holding her neck and praying to Buddha that the unit wasn't protruding awkwardly.

"No, but my unit just arrived today." The younger soldier frowned slightly, noting the way she was rubbing her neck. "Did he hurt you?" His voice was much stronger this time, fed by the possibility of chivalrous fury.

"Oh, no-," Inara covered quickly, "-I supposed I just strained myself when I tried to catch him, I believe he's had a bit too much to drink. I must say I find his behavior more than a little disturbing considering his rank."

His frown deepened this time as he eyed the man at the table. "I'll see to him, ma'am." He nodded tersely. "Mayor, Jones," He whistled slightly to the two men he had been drinking with and ticked his head back towards Filkins. "'Nother one of them science boys that can't hold his drink." He chuckled slightly alongside his two companions before turning back to Inara. "Can we see you somewhere, miss?"

"No, I'll be fine." Inara assured them with an enchanting smile, and she made a point to appear as though she was noting their names on their uniforms. "I will be sure to inform my patron of the three young men who came to my aid however." Using her free hand she removed a few slips of paper money and placed it on the table. "Your next round is on me gentlemen, thank you again."

She managed to make her exit after turning down their offer once more for an escort, assuring them her shuttle was not far and her indentured man was waiting. Once free of the noise and the heat of the crowded building she inhaled her first true breath since she had entered and dropped her arm, catching the comm unit which tumbled out of her sleeve with her hand and tucking it away more securely in the belt of her dress. The relief which washed over her features, however, was quickly replaced by anger as she scanned the streets looking for the man who was supposed to have been watching her back. She didn't have far to look; a whistle caught her attention and she whipped her head around to see the vague shadow of a man in a nearby alleyway.

Inara wasn't an idiot. Any woman knew you didn't just follow random whistles into dark alleyways. However, the irritated, "For Christ's sake it's me woman!" which followed, clued her in to the identity of the shadow man.

"Malcolm Reynolds-," she began in a heated whisper, that was until the light of the streetlamp caught the captain's face and her admonition ended with a horrified gasp.

"Just a couple of bruises woman, my good lucks ain't suffered yet." The captain shrugged off her concern.

"What in the 'Verse happened to you?" She demanded.

"Had a run in with an old not-so-friend. Didn't think it was a good idea to walk into a bar looking like this, draw the wrong kind of attention." He tried to explain.

"Why am I not surprised?" She huffed as she turned from the mouth of the alleyway and back onto the street. "Do you have friends left anywhere in this 'Verse?" She accused as he caught up with her.

"I got plenty." He retorted. "Just not so many in Red Sun as its turnin' out."

"In case, you're wondering I got what we needed." She replied archly. "No thanks to you."

Mal grinned broadly, wincing as pain laced from his busted lip. "Never doubted your wiles for a minute, woman. Jayne did though."

"Don't change the subject Mal." She snapped. "What did they want?" She eyed him sideways. "Not that I don't see the satisfaction that could come from roughing you up a bit."

"That hurts. Really, really hurts." Mal placed a hand over his wounded heart.

"Oh please, Mal." She rolled her eyes.

"Just got to carry an extra bit of cargo is all. Turns out Tracey's ghost is already chasin' us." The captain admitted, rushing his words out together.

"That was less than three days ago." Inara nearly cried out in frustration and disbelief.

"News travels quick when you nick the kinda money we did."

"We didn't 'nick' anything, Tracey did." Inara pointed out.

"Yeah and now Tracey's dead so's he can't be held accountable, but we can." Mal explained, not too pleased with the facts himself. He realized, belatedly and with no little amount of incredulity that it had been one of the few situations where he should have taken Jayne's advice. He just really hoped the merc wasn't feeling up to an I-told-you-so-speech.

"So we do this job and Yuri is off our back?" Inara asked anxiously.

Mal had to repress the urge to preen a bit at Inara's use of the word "we", because the fact of the matter was, she really wasn't going to like the answer to that question. "No." He muttered.

"What was that?" Inara demanded halting in her tracks.

Mal released a long suffering sigh as he gently took Inara by the elbow and got them walking again; he had no desire to be seen on the streets at the moment, not with the way he looked, and especially not with the way he looked and Inara walking beside him. "You remember the last time we were here?"

"I remember everyone avoiding Riddick for a few days afterwards, yes." Inara replied cautiously.

"Well, job didn't go so smooth, we got paid, and they got their cargo but not at the price they wanted and not until after a bit of a gunfight."

"A bit of a gunfight?" Inara scoffed. "How do you have a bit of a gunfight?"

"You wanna hear this story or not?" Mal retorted.

"By all means." She assured him, her acerbic tone not lost on Mal at all.

"Man that was on the other side of that job's called Jakob, and well, hell, he wasn't even supposed to be on this part of this gorram rock! How the hell was I supposed to know that this was his hometown?"

Inara's only reply to his apparently rhetorical question was an arch of her brow.

"Anyway-," Mal said clearing his throat and straitening his duster, "-somebody on his payroll flagged us the minute we landed, and we just had the misfortune to cross paths. He knows 'xactly what we're doin here and he knows we pissed Yuri off somethin' fierce. He can't get his goods off world with all the Alliance crawlin' everywhere so we've got to do it for him and in return he don't call Yuri and he don't tip off the Alliance."

"And just how does he know what we're doing here?" She asked, accusation dripping off every word.

"Don't look at me-," Mal said, defensively holding his hands up, "-really ain't all that hard to figure out. You heard River, this planet's all about its black market. Hell, some of these boys even work for the drug companies on the regular so's they can avoid taxes. Ain't a single body on this rock is buyin' the terraforming leak story."

"There was a news report on in the bar, even the anchor didn't look as though he bought it, and did you know, this rainforest isn't the only one on this planet they've quarantined?"

"Ain't surprised." Mal shrugged. "And it ain't our business to find out either. Got enough on our plate as it is as far as the Alliance is concerned."

"You can't tell me you're not even slightly curious?" She asked; her anger at the captain not entirely forgotten or forgiven, but for the moment at least set aside.

"Not in the slightest." Mal said firmly, and it was the absolute gorram truth. He knew nothing but trouble came from digging into Alliance secrets. It was Alliance secrets that were burning up River's brain after all, wasn't it? No, sir, he had enough to worry about, what with Yuri and Womack on one side, Walker and every other bounty hunter in the 'Verse on the another, and even still the good old Hands of Blue that kept River up and screaming some nights, lurking somewhere in the shadows. Malcolm Reynolds could live the rest of his life without another gorram conspiracy or secret, thank you kindly.

He tapped his earpiece, which had remained remarkably intact and inside his ear throughout the ordeal with Jakob. "Wash."

A clearing throat crackled back over the comm.

"Sonofabitch." Mal swore. "Papa Goose."

_"This is Papa Goose. Over."_

"Got a full basket of eggs and headed back to the farm." Mal, replied rolling his eyes.

_"Roger that, Lucy and Loose Goose are still frolicking, but the air is clear."_

"You really want me to tell the boys you said they were out frolicking?" Mal couldn't keep the chuckle from escaping.

_"That's why you, sir, are on a separate frequency."_

"Roger that, Papa Goose, had a bit of a pinch, but one thing at a time first, ya'll just keep your eyes open nice and wide."

_"We expecting company?"_

"Not 'til the morning, just keep your eyes open."

_"Roger that, Papa Goose out."_

"Mal-," Inara called his attention softly.

"Yeah?" He asked, slightly distracted by the delicate hand resting on his arm.

"I don't want to seem paranoid, but I think we're being followed."

"Yup, that would Jakob's boys." Mal sighed dramatically before throwing a cheeky grin and wave over his shoulder. "Ain't nothin' to worry over, they're just makin' sure we don't jump early."

"It never does go smooth, does it?" Inara asked her voice full of amusement despite everything.

"Nope, truth be told, these days, I'd be worried if it did."

*T*F*C*

Five hours later…

"I know you're tired-," Mal began as he stood at the head of the mess table, the rest of the crew gathered around in their usual places, some looking slightly worse for the wear then others, "-but we still got a helluva twenty-four hours ahead of us. So let's be quick and catch some rack, we got visitors in the mornin'."

Several heads popped up, instantly more aware then they had been. "You wanna say that again, Mal?" Riddick asked.

Mal cleared his throat and rocked back on his heels. "Well, ya'll remember that job we had here last?" Jayne and Riddick swore in almost perfect unison, while Wash just let his head thud against the table, and Zoe and River exchanged a knowing look. "Jakob's got wind of us and Yuri's put out the word already. 'Parently Womack don't waste time runnin' back to tattletale. Only way we're gettin' off this rock without alertin' Yuri or the Alliance is to carry a load of goods out to Beaumonde."

"Guess that explains why your face is all prettied up like that." Jayne chuckled.

"Ain't so bad." Mal said defensively even as he flinched from the stinging in his lip.

"So's long as it ain't the creeper twins, it coulda gone worse, sir." Zoe said. "We just stay the hell out of Red Sun from now on after this."

"Well…" Mal shrugged.

"Aw, hell." Jayne groaned.

"It is the creeper twins, sir?" Zoe asked, with an arched brow.

"Hey it ain't all bad. Turns out, it's their boys that messed it all up, so's at least we get to ride in all smug-like and pull their asses outta the fire." Mal hid his own reservations behind his own trademark arrogant smirk as he took his seat. "Ya'll know how much I love a good old fashion 'screw you' moment. But we can't change it anyhow; it's just got to be done. So let's move on, I want reports."

"Inara got 'xactly what we needed, and even a little something special." Kaylee beamed at the Companion. "We're already patched into military frequencies and whoever's runnin' bridge shifts just has to take note of shift changes, clearance authorizations, all that good stuff." Kaylee pulled out the thin leather card case from her coveralls. "But she also got us this." She handed it over to Jayne. "Just need ya to do a little bit of creative forgery on it."

"What's it?" Jayne asked as he opened it.

"It's a security clearance badge." Inara answered, a bit of well deserved smugness evident in her tone.

Riddick held out his hand to Jayne to inspect the badge himself and nodded in approval. "Mid-level, but not bad. It'll get us across the border without question; comm was good, this is better."

"Staff Sergeants' too." Jayne grunted. "Didn't see nobody higher than a sergeant out there tonight. Up to core-boy here now to see us 'cross the line."

"Are you questioning my ability to play the role of a pretentious, cold-hearted Alliance officer?" Simon quirked an eyebrow. "How do you think I got into the lab to break River out?" He leaned back into his chair with an uncharacteristic amount of smugness and stroked his mustache.

Mal sputtered out a half-chuckle which was echoed by several other crew members, before recomposing his face and clearing his throat once more to get the attention of the crew back on task. "Right then, so we know we can get across the line; tell me, what else we find out tonight?"

*T*F*C*

Riddick dropped down into their bunk behind River; Mal's remark about no one ever using the gorram ladders cut off midway as the convict uncaringly pulled the hatch door closed behind him.

"Our shift's in four hours." He looked at his watch and then called for the lights to dim to remove his goggles.

"Three hours, fifty-seven minutes." River replied absently as she peeled off her muddy boots. "I despise the jungle." She added after accounting for the condition of her new jacket as well.

Riddick unclipped the back rigging for his ulaks; not bothering to remove them from their sheaths as he rested it on the table beside their bed. "Coulda been worse, coulda been another dust rock. Least I don't have a fucking headache." He said; the vague traces of exhaustion in his voice and body would have been invisible to anyone aside from River; who no longer even needed to be able to Read him to know it. "Been better if we drew last or first shift." He dropped onto the bunk next to her.

"You smell." She wrinkled her nose.

Riddick barked out a chuckle as he toed off his boots, "You're not reeking of roses yourself there either, princess."

"She is aware." She made another face as he pulled her down completely onto the bunk and tucked her into his body not bothering to undress any further.

"I don't give a shit." His chest rumbled against her back with a yawn as he buried his face into her hair.

"Nor I." River admitted, her own exhaustion seeming to increase tenfold as Riddick's body heat permeated her skin.

"You see this Jakob fuck coming?" He asked though the question was somewhat muffled and at the moment he really couldn't bring himself to care either way.

"Not omniscient." She omitted the pronoun because she was just too tired to worry about it at all.

"Think he'll be trouble?"

River exhaled deeply, her frustration and anger boiling over as she pulled herself out of Riddick's embrace to look at him. "What is so difficult to understand about the _fact_, proven and solidified that she is not omniscient and she does what she can but they always want more!" She punctuated her statement with her fist, which hit a rather confused and now pissed Riddick squarely in the chest.

"What the fuck, River?" He barked at her. "Fucking hell, I didn't ask if he _was,_ I asked if you fucking _thought_ he was. Goddamnit, girl, I know you can't _see_ shit."

In the near darkness of their bunk River blinked at him, feeling immediately guilty. "Sorry."

"Damn it, girl." Riddick half growled as he pulled her back down to him. "You really need to stop fucking hitting me."

River couldn't help herself, she laughed.

"Oh, go the fuck to sleep." Riddick snorted. "Got four hours before I have to be awake again."

"Three hours, forty-eight minutes." She corrected, snorting her giggle into his chest.

"I have killed people for less than the shit I let you get away with. Painfully." There wasn't a single hint of a threat in his tone; in fact, it was more of a groan almost than anything else.

"Empty threats." She nearly singsonged at him.

River should have been prepared for what came next; after all, not even she could get away with saying such a thing to Riddick, of making a direct challenge. Her squeal of surprise was drowned out almost entirely by his growl as he rolled them, taking them entirely off the bunk and into a crumpled heap on the floor. He was careful enough, however, to make sure he landed first and didn't crush her though he rolled them immediately again to be on top.

"Don't make threats, _xiao emo_ (little demon), should know that by now." He rumbled dangerously as his lips found the hollow of her collar bones.

"_Xiao emo_?" River asked curiously, not sure whether to be amused or upset over the title.

"Not an angel." He informed her in between nips at her throat as his hands began to trace their favored trails along the lines of her body. "God's not looking to me any favors." He reached her lips and to her utter disappointment he only hovered there. "The devil now, me and him are old friends." He nipped at her lower lip as he adjusted his weight to situation himself more comfortably. "You know what Shirah said to me-," the seductive playfulness was gone from his manner replaced by a heated intensity that held River motionless, "-kind of like the idea of my own personal salvation-," he continued as he toyed with a lock of her hair, "-didn't think I did before but then Book said something to me earlier today." He lowered his head; his lips only a hair's breath away from her ear as his rough voice caressed her skin, "Tell me what he said to me, River." It wasn't a request, and as River complied without question he closed his eyes to savor the now comforting sensation of River sifting through his thoughts and memories.

It took River less than a minute to pluck the words from Riddick's head as they drifted on the surface almost as an offering; though it took her another moment to make the words leave her lips.

"God and salvation come in many forms, Riddick." She recited perfectly, managing to even mimic the tired, pitying tone the preacher had used.

"So tell me, River-," he nuzzled his nose against her neck breathing in deeply her scent, buried even as it was under layers of jungle and mud and sweat, before lifting his head to find her eyes in the shadows of their bunk, "-you gonna save me?"

"No." She answered without hesitation; her lips quickly silenced his question, and his surprise at her initiating a kiss herself drove it from his mind entirely until she broke it and spoke again. "You don't want to be saved."

Riddick smirked, the expression nearly boarding on an actual smile as it curved around the corners of his lips. "What do I want then?"

"You want to not be alone." Her voice was quiet, laced with a deep reverence and understanding. It was the one thing that did claw at Riddick's humanity, a hollow echo even the thing that itched him from beneath his skin couldn't ignore. He didn't want to keep living just not to be dead. It wasn't enough anymore just to survive as a 'fuck you' to those who wanted him gone.

"And?" He asked simply, knowing she didn't need the rest of the question to understand.

"It's us against them." She said softly using one of his favorite generic replies, her fingers ghosting around the lines of his face as it hovered above her.

"I told you once; there wasn't any freedom in death." He said as he slid his arms beneath her and lifted them both back onto the bed and off of the cold grating. "I was wrong-," he continued once they were resituated, River tucked firmly into his body, "-there's no freedom for us in death, but if we're the ones dealing it, there's plenty of freedom there."

"You shouldn't say such things. The merchants of death are the ones who come."

"And there it is." Riddick exhaled deeply, tightening his grip on River and misunderstanding entirely. He assumed mention of the merchants of death meant she was drifting, and he didn't want to have this conversation any longer if she wasn't all there.

"I understand. We kill them first and we are free." River assured him, carefully sorting through her thoughts. The merchants of death haunted her, the faces in The River whispered incessantly on them, the ones that come and blacken the sky, and The River showed her things in her nightmares, and things which bled together with vague memories and traces of Shirah and whispered words. Then there was the number eleven, the one that haunted her, the one that meant everything and nothing. She didn't have the words to make him understand her fear of them, just as she couldn't bring herself to speak on the Blue Hands. She had learned through harsh lessons it was best to keep the things she didn't understand to herself, she only made herself seem crazy when she tried to translate them to make sense to the others. "I am here with you." She said pointedly. "The whispers just never stop. You know that." She attempted to make him understand.

"These 'merchants of death'-," Riddick began, realizing it was useless to try and ignore her warning and pretend like it had never been said, "-I'm guessing they're not the Alliance or the Company?" He asked, to which she nodded slightly against his chest. "The enemy of the enemy is my friend. Maybe they're not on the list of people we should be running from, maybe River, they're the ones that can bring the Alliance down and all we have to do is lead one to the other and then slip between the cracks when the dying starts."

"It never goes smooth." River merely replied.

"Well, they're not at our door yet. Sleep, girl." He pressed his lips against the back of her neck. "Got four hours."

"Three hours, twenty-two minutes."

"Oh, fuck you smart-ass."


	74. Interlude 12 Greenleaf III

Morning came, much to the general dismay of the majority of the crew, all too quickly. Once upon a war, Malcolm Reynolds had been accustomed to as much as forty-eight straight hours without sleep. That was more than six years ago now. As it was, on this particular morning, Mal was the furthest thing from fully on his game; not even Zoe's patented kick-you-in-the-balls coffee seemed to be working its magic. It was an almost brutal reminder of the fact that he was not quite as young, fast, or as good as he had once been. In retrospect, he was probably much better off than most men his age given all the time spent in cryo throughout the war. He had to reckon he was at least a bit younger than he should have been.

"Three hundred and seventy-five days." River answered his thoughts absently aloud. "By universal time; though admittedly such calculations are unreliable given the numerous unknowns." She added as an afterthought. It was a testament to the state of the crew that no one thought so much as to question her; they merely ran through their thoughts again, checking to see if her statement ran concurrent with anything in their heads and then returned back to their food.

"Was hoping for a bit more-," Mal half-yawned as he shook the sleep out of his head. "But I'll be damned if I ever willingly plug myself into one of them things again."

"Cryo?" Zoe cracked her eyebrow microscopically, to which the captain replied with a vague nod. "Hell with that." She snorted. "Cheap shit they used in the war kept you sick for hours. Lost more'n a few that way, couldn't get their heads straight before the dyin' started."

Riddick kept his own thoughts on cryo to himself. The little known fact that he didn't go completely under had worked to his advantage too often to advertise it.

Mal fought back the urge to yawn again as he rolled his neck and checked his pocket watch. "Got less than an hour before Jakob and his boys show up. Kaylee, you and Wash head out soon as you're done breakfast. Take your time, check a few yards, but don't grab anything too heavy. Not sure what Jakob's got and, in case we need to clear off this rock quick, not gonna wanna overburden ourselves with weight we don't need to be haulin'."

"We gonna charge it to New Dawn?" Kaylee asked.

"Nah, use ship coin, those boys are bound to mess themselves when they get our equipment bill as is." Mal shook his head. "Be a good cover to have cargo around the ship anyhow if it takes us some time to make our way back to Haven. Bit, if you're done, you head on up to the bridge and give the preacher a break on his watch. Jayne and Riddick, you're with me and Zo when Jakob rolls in; and Doc, you and your sister, stay outta sight." He added pointedly. "No need to give Jakob anymore'n then what he's got."

"Can we really trust this Jakob?" Inara asked anxiously. "If he's turned on you before, how do you know he's not setting you up now?"

"We don't." Riddick answered for Mal, his tone cutting.

"But we ain't got the choice either." Jayne added, shooting the captain a look.

Mal graciously allowed the look to slide, it was better than the all out I-told-you-so rant that he deserved. "He don't got a reason this time to turn on us. He's already been paid for the goods he has and everyday he's stuck sitting on them is another day he runs a risk he don't have to take. Planet's just crawlin' with Feds."

"So we get pinched instead. Marvelous plan, Captain. Bravo." Inara retorted sarcastically.

"Well, look at you-" Kaylee teased, though her usual upbeat tone was a bit muted given the dark circles under her eyes and the late night spent working on the Mule, "- one job and you're already throwin' around words like 'pinched' and 'turned'. Proper criminal now." The mechanic added with an approving nod.

"And givin' lip to the captain." Mal muttered just under his breath. "Ain't a point in arguin' on what's already been decided. Got enough to deal with as it is. Ya'll got jobs, now git." He jerked his head towards the door rather than bother with raising his voice. "Let's everybody just keep their traps shut and let this go easy." He warned unnecessarily.

It only took a hard look from Zoe and a kick under the table from Kaylee for Jayne's mouth to clamp shut as he opened it to shoot out a remark regarding whose mouth it was that usually got them into trouble.

*T*F*C*

"River?" Simon ventured cautiously as he stepped onto the bridge to find his sister at the co's station; eyes wide and staring out into nothing. "River?" He pressed again after what Simon considered to be unbearable silence broken only by the intermittent crackling of the military frequency they were monitoring.

River blinked, reality seeming to reform as her brother's voice reached her; the sound echoed oddly in her mind, as though she was hearing it in the present, while recollecting the moment as a memory. "I am fine." She assured her him in response to the tumult of thoughts and anxieties now rapidly scrolling through his.

"What were you looking at?" He asked curiously, trying to find the hidden mystery in the bulkhead River had been staring at.

"Something you cannot _See_." She replied dismissively as she swiveled in her chair and reached up for one of the drop-down monitors, as she simultaneously scratched a note with a stylus on one of the portable cortexes.

"I thought you couldn't _See_ either."

"Because she cannot _See_ now does not mean she cannot remember what was _Seen."_ She informed him as she began to rapidly scroll through some kind of listing; much too quickly for Simon to even have a hope of trying to read what flashed across the screen.

"So you're looking for something to jog your memory?"

"Perhaps hers, or perhaps another's." She shrugged.

"River, _mei-mei,_ I'm sorry, I don't understand." His voice was patient, the condescension and indulgence which would have accompanied such a statement in months past entirely absent now.

"And neither does she. Therein lays the complication." The note of frustration in her voice was easy to miss; for Simon, however, it was the slight crinkling of the space between her eyebrows that was the indicator. It was a habit their father had had as well.

"I'm not sure if you should be looking to remember, River." He began slowly. "There's a reason your mind has made you forget."

River's fingers paused in their incessant motion, her entire body swiveling in the chair a moment ahead of her head as she finished reading a bit of information before directing her full attention to her brother. "That is a reversal." Her hands folded neatly into her lap after pushing away a stray braid, indicating she was deeply interested in what he had to say in way of explanation.

Simon exhaled before dropping into a crouch in front of River's chair and taking her hands in his. "There are a great many things now that the same could be said for, I suppose. I know I wanted you to remember, River, but that was before I knew just what was done to you. It never stops, I understand that, and, like you said, it isn't yours to carry and you shouldn't have to carry the weight of it all." His words became edged with anger before fading back into gentleness. "They're not your secrets, River, and if you can stay like this-," he smiled briefly, albeit sadly at her, "-there's been moments here on _Serenity_ where-," his voice died as he searched for the words.

"Where she has been the girl who wanted to dance." River finished for him.

"Yes-," his smile grew slightly, the sadness replaced by gratefulness, "-maybe you're right. We can't walk up the downslide, but we can go forward and maybe that means leaving all of that other stuff behind in the dust. We can make a new life out here. I think a life of crime and debauchery suits me well." He managed a chuckle at her gifting of _The Look._ "Okay, well maybe not so much debauchery-," he corrected with a slight groan as he pushed himself to his feet, "-but my mustache is rather diabolical, don't you think?"

"It marks him as the greatest criminal mastermind of his age." She affirmed playfully, though her tone and posture shifted quickly into that of guilt. "Last night you dreamt of Lara; of apron strings and blue-eyed babies."

Simon cleared his throat and shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"She pushed it away before." River shuddered slightly. "I have no desire to see _that_." The look of relief which crossed Simon's face could have been considered comical.

"River, I-,"

"It's not safe, Simon." River cut him off. "It will never be. If nothing changes they will hunt her across the Universe, they will not stop. She is their dirtiest secret."

"You don't know that, River." Simon argued.

"I can feel them, Simon. I can feel them looking." She remarked, her voice cracking with paranoia around its edges. "There is no rest for the wicked unless she closes their eyes for good."

"River, you're not wicked." He said in exasperation. "Nothing, nothing in our lives at this moment in time is your fault. Anyone on this ship will tell you that. And whose eyes are you talking about anyway?" Despite his best efforts, there was little Simon could do to control his frustration. "The Alliance? Blue Sun? River, despite what Riddick may think or believe, you can't simply slaughter your way across the 'Verse."

"I have no plans to 'slaughter my way across the 'Verse.'" She retorted a bit condescendingly.

"Then what are you planning, River?" He asked impatiently, not realizing he had begun to pace slightly.

"You cannot begin to understand, Simon." She spoke quietly, pulling and twisting at her own fingers. "To know things, but not to know. To see things that aren't real, but they are…somewhere else… sometime else. Everything, everyone... it never stops, and none of its mine."

"River, I-," Simon started but immediately stopped, what could he say? "Tell me what to do."

"You saved her, Simon. Your job is finished now."

"And I suppose I should graciously step down and allow Riddick to protect you now?" He couldn't help the jealousy and bitterness which crept into his tone.

"Riddick doesn't protect me." She answered wryly.

"Does he know that?" Simon snorted as he crossed his arms.

"He doesn't protect me, just as I do not save him."

"Try that again River?" He requested tiredly as he dropped into the pilot's chair. "Maybe it's lack of sleep, or maybe stress, or maybe you really are that much smarter than me, but I just don't understand."

"I don't need to be protected, Simon, and he doesn't need to be saved."

"Then what is it?" He almost demanded, but checked his tone at the last second.

"The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems."

Simon flinched, not physically, but his mind recoiled from such a statement even though it wasn't the first time he'd heard her make the declaration.

"That is why she needs him and he needs her. We understand without judgment. There are over ninety-seven different ways she could kill you now aboard this bridge. You wouldn't have the chance to make a sound and you would never see her coming." There was not the slightest implication of a threat in her tone; she recited her words as though she was a teacher giving a lecture. "Right now you are afraid, not of her, but her words send crawlies down your spine and darken your eyes. Fear feeds insanity. It feeds the rage."

"River-,"

She, however, did not give him the chance to continue. "Had I said those things to Riddick, he would have challenged her to name the ninety-seven ways, he would have told her that the loose grating below your feet was not truly viable given the time it would consume and erroneous movements needed to pry said grating panel completely loose and should only be considered were you already on the ground. He would have further remarked that taking the fight to the ground would give you the strength advantage and negate her speed and agility advantage."

"River-,"

And again River continued, this time, however, she picked up the portable cortex, making notes of a security clearance being given over the stolen military comm as she spoke. "He would also state that suggesting the electrical wiring as a makeshift garrote is fundamentally flawed as it would then disable the ship, making an immediate escape an impossibility."

"River-,"

"Furthermore-,"

"_**River.**_" Simon snapped, a bit more harshly than he intended. "I get it, you can stop now."

"To everything there is an equal and opposing force, without balance there is chaos."

Simon snorted. "I get it."

"There will never be another, Simon." She assured him, setting down the cortex screen and turning her full attention back to him.

"But now there is a Riddick." And with that one sentence he realized he had officially completely resigned himself to the fact.

"And a Lara." River giggled.

"Who's currently, what? Four systems away?" He held out his hand to stop River. "I really don't need the exact distance _mei-mei,_ thank you. Let's face it-," he exhaled deeply as he ran his hand through his hair, "-we're wanted criminals and we'll be running forever. Don't look like that-," he shook his head at her fallen expression, "-I don't blame you at all and you know that." He looked at her pointedly as he tapped his temple. "Facts are facts, but who knows? Maybe one day soon the Browncoats really will rise again and we won't have to worry about the Alliance. Civilizations rise and fall all the time."

"It is _Dao._" River replied, and there was something in her tone which unsettled Simon to the very root of his being. He waited to see if she would elaborate, but she did not; instead she returned to her rapid perusal of the information scrolling along the drop-down monitor, seeming to forget his existence entirely.

Simon might have been offended by dismissal evident in her actions, though he was not. He knew his sister, and he knew this conversation had been beaten to death a thousand ways, a thousand different times ever since she'd first begun to regain some sort of clarity. Her dismissal, however, didn't drive him from the bridge either. Instead he watched her, intrigued beyond all measure by the ever so slight curl to the left side of her lips and the matching barely there tick to the opposite eyebrow. What did she know? Or, he supposed the more accurate question would be, what could she _feel_ coming? And just how long did they have before their little delusion of normalcy collapsed entirely?

*T*F*C*

"Niko." Mal nodded tersely at the lanky younger man as he stepped into the bay via the access door in the raised airlock ramp; followed closely behind by a single man Mal recognized from the previous night, rolling a trolley stacked high with three somewhat medium-sized crates. For a brief moment, Mal considered letting his boys have at the two men, the gaping hole in his jaw where the missing molar used to reside seconding the idea before logic and reason annoyingly crept back in.

"Mal." Niko returned the nod, thankfully keeping his revolting smile to himself, though the smell that escaped his lips on the single word was enough to make Riddick's lips curl slightly in revulsion.

"This it then?" Jayne asked darkly, eyeing first the crates and then the slightly bigger man carting them.

"This is it. Don't look. Don't ask. Just get it the Hell off our rock." Niko sneered, this time his mouthful of green-black teeth proudly on display.

"Didn't have a mind to." Zoe countered succinctly.

"Good." Niko nodded. "Boss says you got 'til dawn to pull whatever job you're thinking of runnin' 'fore he comes here personally to escort you off our rock."

"Jakob's got a lot of funny ideas in his head." Mal replied easily. "Not planning on anythin' special here 'sides pickin' up some equipment for a mining settlement."

"And my old lady is Miss Red Sun." Niko snorted, ending it with an unhealthy sort of chuckle which turned into a revolting coughing fit. The crew of _Serenity_ took a collective step backwards as spittle flew from his lips and splashed against the grating.

"Door's that way." Jayne grunted, his upper lip curling. "Case you forgot already."

Niko snapped his head around to glare at the merc before turning back to the captain. "'Til dawn, Mal." He warned again before ticking his head at the other man he had arrived with and taking his leave.

"Riddick?" The captain asked almost immediately after the hatch had slammed closed behind the two men.

The convict was already standing in front of the crates, inhaling deeply. "Drugs." The word rumbled out thick with disgust and contempt. The odor tingled the membranes in his nostrils faintly, dulling his olfactory senses ever so slightly. "Something chemical, designer." He added, his lip ticking up in a sneer.

"Just stow 'em." Mal barked, seething. "Goddamn it to hell. Can't ever catch a break, can we?" He demanded of his first mate as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Believe you told me once it's cause we're special, sir." Zoe drawled.

"Special's one way to put it." Riddick muttered to Jayne as the two men began to haul the crates over towards one of the hide-y holes in the bulkhead.

"Heard that, Riddick." Mal retorted.

"Wasn't trying to be quiet about it, Mal." The convict rumbled lazily in reply as he easily hefted up one of the crates.

"Yeah, didn't much figure ya were. Ain't payin' you to talk-,"

Riddick cut him off, boredom chief in his tone. "Paying me to look mean and not to kill shit, yeah, I've got it." A part of Riddick held a deep-seated issue with the fact; it was that same part of him that still really thought he was capable of killing them all if it meant getting his and River's collective ass out of the fire. There was, however, a much larger part that had decided recently that living on _Serenity,_ despite the sometimes almost gross ineptitude of certain people, really wasn't all that bad; at times, when he was feeling uncharacteristically generous, he could even admit to himself that he didn't have any plans of leaving. After all, his shit was here anyway.

"Then we don't need to go over it again." The captain affirmed. "Zo, let's raise Mr. U. Have him set the drop with the New Dawn boys on Beaumonde. Kill two geese with one stone, maybe take a few days to stop in and make ourselves a nuisance at the Cobbs'." He added tiredly.

"Really?" Jayne perked up immediately, nearly dropping the crate he was carrying.

"Suppose to swing back weeks ago anyhow to let the Doc check in on your brother and the gravy ain't half as good without the fried chicken to go with it. It's a damn crime to put that on the chicken-flavored protein." Mal waved him off as he and Zoe headed up to the bridge.

"Means you get to meet Ma now, Riddick." Jayne grinned proudly. "She was a bit sore over you not turnin' up for dinner."

"Or we run into that bitch Orina-Gina-what-ever-the-fuck her name really was again." The convict countered.

Jayne's grin immediately broke into a scowl. "You think she got outta that trap?"

"Cockroach like her don't go down so easy. Shoulda killed her when I had the chance."

"That whole no killin' rule's becomin' a bit of a bitch." Jayne snorted in agreement.

"_Becoming_?" Riddick scoffed.

"Yeah, well." Jayne rolled his eyes as he sealed the panel on the hideaway. "Might as well pull the other shit out now." He grunted slightly as he pushed a large crate sideways off of a floor panel, and finding the uneven seam with his palm as he crouched down, popped it open. "I fucking hate purple." Jayne growled as he hefted out the crate containing the Alliance uniforms they had obtained on the Red Sun station.

"All I see." Riddick answered almost reflexively, and not knowing entirely why.

"Really?" Jayne asked.

"More or less." The convict shrugged as he slid down into the compartment to reach the smaller cases at the bottom.

"Huh." Jayne looked almost thoughtful for a moment before he checked his watch and spoke again. "Ain't that a bitch? How in the Hell do you manage to wire anythin' if you can't see the colors?"

"Different shades and tones." Riddick explained.

"Weird."

"Never saw any different." Riddick pulled himself back out of the compartment and slid the panel back into place. "Wouldn't fix it if I could. You know what scares most people?" He asked as he slowly straightened himself.

"Reavers?"

"The dark." He rumbled.

"Hell, Riddick, I ain't scared of the dark." The merc snort almost indignantly.

"The dark gets to everybody, Jayne-," he chuckled lightly, but the sound was dark and off-putting all the same, "-first thing you learned to be afraid of as a kid; it stays with people. Trust me." His expression was one of malicious amusement that vibrated in a particularly unsettling fashion in his voice as he continued. "They always scream louder in the dark."

"You're one real creepy-ass guy, Riddick." The merc replied slowly as he regarded the convict.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Jayne." Riddick's head cocked oddly, his tone shifting to light and easy with a disturbing amount of alacrity given his previous statements.

"So's long as you're on my side, you can take it however the hell you want."

Riddick's chuckle scraped against the air. "Got shit to do, Cobb."

*T*F*C*

The next several hours aboard _Serenity_ passed in a maelstrom of activity which, at times, such as when Mal attempted to discuss flight maneuvers with Inara, or when Wash informed the crew of their call signs, tinged on the border of all-out violence. Mal relented finally and was forced to call a meal break after having to dodge a wrench lobbed at Jayne by one incredibly frazzled mechanic. The meal, while less violent than it's preceding hours was not wasted on idle chit chat either; time checks were run through, maps and schematics studied, statistics and probabilities provided by their resident genius were debated and, when the last dumpling disappeared, they fell back into step directly with the jobs they'd broken from before.

The crew of _Serenity,_ albeit slightly reckless at times, had more combined military and tactical experience then most Rim security forces could boast, and it was evident in every action of the day. Nothing was overlooked under the analytical eyes of the two former Independents, two ex-Rangers, career mercenary, trauma surgeon, and slightly unbalanced government mind-reading assassin; and on the off-chance something was, there was always Plan B, and even after that, the appropriately crazy and potentially suicidal, break-glass-in-case-of-emergency-Plan-C.

There were however a few crew members who felt the 'B' in Plan B, stood for bullshit back-up plan and it was precisely that debate which had earned Jayne the wrench that had been aimed for his head. As a result, the equipment for Plan C was obsessively checked and rechecked by River, whose own calculations on the probable success of Plan B were, as Jayne had eloquently stated, "All sorts of forebodin' and ominous."

Nevertheless, two hours after full dark, the airlock ramp of _Serenity's_ bay began to lower; inside her breast, two hover-cycles revved, flanking either side of the cargo mule, and the outer locks released on the shuttle. At precisely 2300 hours, the computers in the security tower of the docking yard for GL-ST3 underwent a scheduled maintenance; shutting down vid feeds, sensor logs, and lower orbit radar. Despite the fact that not a single tower controller could remember being informed about said maintenance, it went unremarked upon; since the influx of Alliance military had begun such things were not entirely uncommon. Five minutes later, when the system rebooted, _Serenity's _ramp was resealed, the ship absent one shuttle, and her population reduced to two.

*T*F*C*

Sergeant Louis Raleriz leaned lazily against one of the metal barriers barring the jungle trail as he slapped a bug feasting on one of the few exposed areas of skin his gear allowed for. He was sweltering under the weight of it and mentally swearing a tirade in his head. He hated this rock. His last posting on St. Albans had been heaven compared to the god-forsaken jungle he found himself in now. He'd thought freezing his balls off was bad. As it turned out, sweating them off while trudging through a rainforest full of shit that wanted to eat him and his boys for breakfast and plants that oozed shit that burned through skin on contact was worse. He lit a cigarette, hoping the smoke would discourage the less determined of the bloodsuckers as he glared hatefully into the quarantine zone.

Raleriz knew what they were telling the public was shit. If it hadn't been blatantly obvious by the lack of gas masks they were provided with, the fact that they'd been stationed with heavy guns on the towers would have made it more than clear. You didn't use heavy guns to protect an uninhabited, quarantined jungle. It didn't bother him overly much. He didn't expect those on high would come out with the truth to their grunts if they weren't telling the public. He was a soldier because it paid well, not because he gave a shit about what the military did. He was more pissed over the fact that their deployment period had been left open-ended as a result of whatever it was they were doing than over being lied to and the assumption he was too stupid to know.

_"Hey, Sarg-,"_ his ear piece hissed and crackled and he looked up at his corporal on the tower.

"What's it, Tollen?" He asked gruffly.

_"Got a cargo mule and two escorts rollin' in." _

Raleriz dropped his smoke, crushing the butt with the heel of his boot. "Private." He barked at one of the men manning the comm booth.

"Sir?" The younger soldier appeared in the doorway immediately.

"We got any resupply comin' through?"

"No, sir." The private answered immediately. "Not 'til the morning, sir."

"For fuck's sake, Lee, drop a sir or two, will ya? Nose is so far up my ass it's brown-tipped." Raleriz grunted.

"Yes, sir." The private stammered.

Raleriz repressed his groan and simply shook his head. "_Chun hun_ (moron)." He muttered before radioing back up to the towers, "Eyes open boys and keep the lights on them. If this is some brass comin' through let's not step in any shit we don't have to."

_"Amen to that, Sarg."_ Tollen replied before shifting the light on his tower to follow the incoming vehicles.

Raleriz eased his way around to the other side of the barrier as the cargo mule slowed to a stop, two hovering cycles accompanying it. Fleetingly, it struck him as odd the military had deployed bikes like that out in the jungle, but the thought was immediately dismissed as he snapped fully to attention when he noticed the ranking on the one uniformed officer.

"Sir." Raleriz saluted.

The officer saluted him back briefly, though his expression was more than slightly contemptuous. "Move the barrier." He ordered succinctly.

"I'm sorry, sir, but this whole area's quarantined off. I'm going to have to inspect those crates and radio in your clearance before I can do that."

The officer removed a leather card case from his pocket and handed over an ident card. "That card says you may not open those crates."

Raleriz took the card, fighting back the urge to knock the pompous little _hundan_ into the next system with the well practiced control of a career soldier. He ran it through a handheld scanner. It flashed a level five clearance, high enough to have to forgo the inspection. "Private!" He barked without letting his eyes leave the cargo mule. He didn't give the boy a chance to run through another chorus of 'sirs', however, as he tossed him the ident card. "Get a one-ten on Staff Sergeant Filkins." He ordered as he eyed the officer's escorts. "Nobody informed us of any deliveries tonight." He didn't bother with the sir, which should have been technically placed after his last statement. This boy might have been one up on him in rank but Raleriz had at least five years on him in age and he was one of the science geeks. They could preen and puff all they wanted, but none of Raleriz's superiors would come down on him for dropping a sir even if the little shit did bother to file the complaint.

"And they wouldn't have." The officer replied dismissively, looking more annoyed at the delay by the second.

Raleriz set his jaw, keeping it firmly shut, averting his glare wisely from his technical superior and choosing instead to glare at the man's escort. Again, something itched at the back of his brain; something was off. Firstly, there were the bikes; even the cargo mule looked a little too new and clean for the jungle. Secondly, the name Filkins tugged at something, but the face of the man in front of him wasn't ringing any bells; and then there was the escort, it seemed to be an awful lot of firepower and muscle for the two crates strapped onto the back. They weren't in standard jungle gear either. They were grunts alright but they were outfitted in urban-ware; carrying an array of weapons, none of which were standard issue. He caught his question before it flew out of his mouth; getting away with dropping a sir was one thing, interrogating a superior officer was another.

*T*F*C*

_"Green Camp, this is North Tower post requesting clearance authorization into Alpha zone. Card clearance sierra, one, nine, whiskey, zulu, three, seven. Level five. Over."_

"Show time, preacher." Wash breathed out in a tense whisper as his eyes ticked to the comm unit.

Book took a deep breath himself before clicking on the unit and responding. "North Tower, this is Green Camp, stand by for authorization. Over."

"_Roger that Green camp. Over."_

The preacher and the pilot stared at each other silently; ticking off the seconds together in their heads. After a full minute, Book once more clicked the unit back on. "North Tower, that is a green light on clearance sierra, one, nine, whiskey, zulu, three, seven, level five. Entry is a full blackout. Over."

"_Blackout? Roger that Green Camp, North Tower out."_

*T*F*C

"He's clear, sir." Lee's irritating voice came from behind Raleriz.

"Sorry for the delay, sir." The placating smile on the sergeant's face cost him a little bit of something as he handed the card back and barked out the order to move the barricades. His eyes did not leave the mule, however, until the jungle swallowed it entirely. The itch in his brain turning into a slow gnaw as he swore he heard a barking laugh echo back through the brush.

"Lee, you log that?" He called over his shoulder.

"Can't, sir, Green Camp ordered a blackout." The private shook his head.

"A blackout? You can't tell me that little shit warranted a blackout?"

"HQ called it, sir."

"Tollen." Raleriz barked over his comm.

"_Sarg."_

"You still got eyes on those fellas?"

"_Jungle ate 'em, Sarg."_

"Shit." Raleriz muttered.

"_Somethin' off, Boss?"_

"If it is, it ain't our problem, he had the clearance." Raleriz radioed back, and even though he said it, the gnawing in the back of his skull didn't seem to want to listen.

*T*F*C*

"Too easy." Riddick's voice hissed across the crew's comms as Jayne pulled ahead of the mule and he decelerated to fall into rear guard.

"Core-boy, you get a drink on me." Jayne's grin could almost be heard through the quiet static of the radios. "Thought he was gonna knock you." The merc chuckled quietly.

_/It's the mustache./_

River's comment whispered through Riddick's mind and the convict couldn't repress the barking laugh that burst out from his lips.

"Let's not go crackin' the champagne yet, boys." Mal warned. "Keep your game faces on; we're far from in the clear." He craned his neck around to see the doctor seated behind him. "Nice work though, Simon, we'll make a proper criminal of you yet." He nodded in a sort of official-captain-y way which loosely translated into, '_you did good kid'._

Simon grinned in response, more at the irony of life than the compliment; though the latter wasn't lost on the doctor either.

"Did real good, Simon." Kaylee's disembodied voice echoed oddly over the comms.

"The greatest of his age." River's voice followed, echoing in the same odd way as Kaylee's did.

Simon looked over his shoulder at the two crates behind him, his grin faltering slightly as the mule rocked and a chorus of echoed 'ows' , accompanied by River and Kaylee's own particular brand of inventive Mandarin crackled across the comms.

*T*F*C*

The ground team rolled in past the abandoned guard towers of the New Dawn facility without incident. The grounds of the facility were dark; the only illumination coming from the lights of their transports, the full moon above the cleared grounds, and the faint dotting of LED lights marking the landing zone. Their, so far, good fortune did nothing to alleviate the tension set in each member of the team. Riddick could smell the swell of adrenaline in the air; it radiated from their pores, mingled with sweat and anticipation. Big damn heroes or not, the crew of _Serenity_ were criminals because they liked to break the law; because they got off on the danger and the rush of it all. The only exception being possibly Simon, and though crime might not have been the doctor's particular forte, it suited his analytical nature as well as his own almost compulsive need to prove himself to be smarter and more capable than those around him; a side effect of growing up a Tam.

The mule stopped only long enough for Zoe to crack open River's crate, free her partner and jump from the side. The two women headed for the satellite dish on the north side of the facility; neither pausing for so much as a glance backwards as they did so. Mal continued on with the mule, flanked by the bikes towards the main building; Simon helping Kaylee out of her crate as they headed further in.

The convict and mercenary were the first off their bikes. "Cobb." Riddick half-grunted, his graveled voice a barked whispered in the near darkness of the yard.

Jayne didn't even turn his head in acknowledgment as he held out his hand; catching the convict's goggles, his other arm never lowering his gun as he slid them on. As the lights on their transports were killed, the welder's goggles calibrated to his vision, lighting up his world in shades of garbled greens.

"Shiny." The merc grinned as he and Riddick flanked the mule while Mal and Simon worked with Kaylee to prep their gear. "Got to get me a pair of these."

While Simon covered their transports with the camouflaged tarps stowed in the side compartments of Riddick and Jayne's cycles, Mal slipped open the newly installed hidden compartment underneath the Mule revealing the EMPs, explosives, and the cryogenic cylinder needed to transport the samples in; Kaylee quickly rechecking each pack to make sure it held the right tools for the right crew member.

Zoe and River halted in front of the large portable satellite dish. Without prompting, River removed a compact power-driver from the pocket of her cargos, dropped to her knees and set to work at opening the control panel. It was the work of a matter of a minute to bypass the security code and even less time for River to re-triangulate the dish. She motioned to Zoe with her free hand; her eyes not leaving the monitor which had neatly retracted from the machine as her occupied fingers danced along a numeric keypad. The younger woman smiled deviously as her index finger hovered above the execute key. On her nod, Zoe plugged in a sleek handheld electronic device to one of the lead wires; the touchscreen on the device flashed green and Zoe's responding grin as she reached to tap her ear piece mirrored River's.

"Papa Goose, we're wired."

"_Roger that, Mama Goose."_ Wash's voice chirped back with uncharacteristic professional efficiency; the faint echo of rapid typing the only sound over the airwaves for the next several tense moments that followed before a jubilant, "_Yesssssss! The eyes in the sky are blind. You are free to let the flock fly."_

It was Mal's voice which dominated the waves next. _"Roger that, Papa Goose, sync on my mark. Two, one, mark!"_ On Mal's word, watches and bomb timers were perfectly synched in a move that had been rehearsed time and time again in the last twenty-four hours.

"Let's go." Zoe jerked her heads towards the guard towers as she slung the pack back over her arm.

Across the facility yard, Mal issued a very similar order, right down to the slight tick of his head. "Let's move people; Riddick, point, Jayne rear."

They made it through the main entrance easily, requiring only the one swipe of a forged ident card and the company provided pass code. Kaylee disconnected the door from its electrical lock, guaranteeing them a way out after triggering the EMPs. So far, every bit of their intel had been spot on, the fact didn't give Riddick or Jayne any reason to lower their guns or guard as the five-man team made their way through the warehouse and towards the blast doors.

The only illumination in the windowless building came from the emergency lighting which edged the borders of the walls and floors, casting a putrid red hue across the abandoned equipment. Though the auxiliary generators should have kept the life support ventilation system running, the air held a sort of moldy quality to it; wet and stinking of stale heat. They moved quickly at a half-jog, clearing the distance in a cascade of muted footsteps, eyes never resting; the possibility of an ambush despite their employers and River's assurances of an all-clear, danced around the edges of the three hardened guns.

They moved through the facility with military precision and ease, stopping twice on their way through the first building to place the first of the explosive devices, another one was set in the courtyard greenhouses, and two more planted in the second building.

The crew halted in front of the imposing blast doors; the first of the few true obstacles before them. Jayne, Riddick, and Mal kept their backs to it and guns out as Simon illuminated the panel with a torch and Kaylee pulled back her hair.

"Least we ain't got to cut through it." The mechanic 's voice was the first to break the silence since they entered and it hung in the atmosphere oddly, as though the stagnant air around them had trapped the echo. She cracked the panel in front of her, shoving aside a tangle of wires to reveal two separate numeric pads.

_/River./ _Riddick pressed through his mind on the captain's look.

_/Clear./_

Riddick nodded at Mal, who in turn nodded back at Kaylee. The mechanic cracked her knuckles and brushed a strand of hair out of her face as she held her wire clippers between her teeth, double checking to make sure the small, battery-operated soldering iron sat ready to be grabbed out of Simon's free hand.

"Easy-peasy." She muttered around the wire cutters in her mouth before holding her breath entirely as her fingers simultaneously began the sequences on each pad. On her exhale, the clippers fell out of her mouth and into her waiting hand.

"Eighteen." Simon counted off. "Twelve." He announced his voice cracking slightly as she snatched the soldering iron from his waiting hand. The caustic smell of melting plastic and mirco-wire infiltrated his nostrils as he whispered. "Nine."

"Kaylee." Mal called her cautiously.

"Seven."

"Kaylee…" Mal's voice was higher this time.

"Four."

"Come on, girl." Jayne's voice edged with anxiety.

"Two."

The doors groaned open, the mechanical whirring echoed by five collective exhales followed by an almost manic chuckle from one strawberry-blonde mechanic. "_Ai ya, hwai leh_ (shit on my head)." She laughed harder. "I did it."

"Never did doubt ya, girl." Jayne grinned at her.

"Nice work, Little Kaylee." Mal mirrored Jayne's grin as he ruffled her hair. "We're in." he informed the two other teams over his comms. "Switching to brain radio, next time you here my voice, we'll all either be rich, or headed to Slam." He finished off with a cheeky smirk and though only half of his crew were there to witness it; the other half didn't need to see it to hear it in his tone.

"_Roger that, Flock Leader, we'll honk Mama Goose if we start to feel any heat."_

"Last time you pick the call signs, Papa Goose. Flock Leader out." Mal shook his head, in amusement, or exasperation, even he wasn't quite sure before addressing the crew that was with him now. "Clock's ticking folks, who's ready to blow shit up?"

*T*F*C*

Zoe and River stood at the top of the guard tower of the left side of the gate. Though the two women kept their vigil in silence, their stances and countenances were entirely different. River stood stock still, her head quirked to the right, eyes glazed; while Zoe paced the circumference of the tower platform, her binoculars never long absent from her face. Despite the nighttime hour, the heat of day was still raw in the air, giving an almost tangible weight to the sounds of the jungle it carried on it. From somewhere in the dark came the feral growl of predator and, from someplace else, the incessant screech of monkeys; and from everywhere came the combined melody of hundreds of species of birds backed by the hissing of insects.

The Reader was bored. She understood now, vividly, Riddick's aggravation on Ariel. Monitoring her environment for erroneous thought patterns consumed little concentration given the disproportional ratio of animal to human in the immediate vicinity. At first, being surrounded by the others and the absolute focus they all seemed to vibrate with, she had been able to ground herself solely in the job at hand. Now, however, distanced as she was from it, it seemed to compartmentalize itself on its accord, freeing up a much larger part of her mind to wander.

The noise of the world around them did little to infiltrate Zoe's stoic demeanor and it fascinated her. She wasn't the first mate of a smuggling ship or the wife of a pilot. She wasn't the friend of the woman who stood watch with her. She was Corporeal Zoe Alleyne, born vessel-side and raised on a ship of mercs and space dogs for hire. The younger woman found herself awestruck by the surety in the construction of Zoe Alleyne Washburne as The River flowed around the sharp curves and inclines of the former soldier's subconscious. There was no internal war or conflict in her mind; no shades of grey, nor were there even shades of black and white. There was dead and alive; victim and fighter. There was friend and foe, and there was loyalty. Her entire world was built upon it. Zoe wasn't brave, not in her mind. Zoe had never once seen herself as brave, nor committed an act of courage; she did what needed to be done. No excuses, no explanations, no reservations. She saw a course and never hesitated at a crossroads.

River drifted through her recollections as she absently fingered the laces she still wore; traces of the first mate still colored them, woven into the fibers themselves.

_Boots and puddles of blood, stench and rot, and ever more she trudges onward. One foot, one step, forward. There is nothing to look back at. The past is dead. _ Images swirled in River's head as the thoughts circled and raced.

"How?" The word slipped from River's lips before she could control it.

"How what?" Zoe asked, lowering her binoculars but not taking her eyes from the expanse of jungle before her.

Now that it was asked, River couldn't unask it. "How does one move forward?"

"They don't look back." She answered as she continued her stalking of the perimeter.

"How?" River persisted.

"Find something worth looking at in front of you." The answer was given without hesitation.

"An abstract concept." River mused more to herself than Zoe. "And what do you see?" She asked, following Zoe's path with rapt attention.

"You know what."

"All the same." River countered patiently.

"Freedom, Riv. When I open my eyes that's all I see, always just a step in front of me if I can make it." Zoe haltered her circle. "Keep your head on the job, girl, night's far from done."

River nodded solemnly in contrition and, though she was unable to keep the first mate's words from rippling inside her mind, she redirected her focus back to the task at hand.

"Ugly Duckling, check-in. Jugglers are in place and the flock is movin' south." Zoe tapped her earpiece.

*T*F*C*

Inara frowned at the comm.-link in the shuttle, unable to decide if she was just being petulant or if she really had a valid reason to be miffed over her call sign. "Mama Goose, Ugly Duckling is resting in the nest." She replied back to the check-in request, managing to keep the irritation out of her tone.

*T*F*C*

"So…yeah." Mal shifted his weight as bland jazz music piped out from the speakers inside the elevator. The small space was a stark, sterile white that burned the retinas unapologetically; the five crew members stood out almost offensively against it.

The bland music was suddenly drowned out by the nearly eardrum rupturing echo of Riddick's gun firing in the small confined space.

"For Fuck's sake!" Jayne snapped, tugging violently at his ear.

His statement was echoed immediately by Simon's, "Was that really necessary?"

Riddick merely shrugged as he leaned back against the wall. He had taken back his goggles from Jayne once they had entered the brightly lit elevator and, provided Plan A didn't get shot to hell; he wouldn't have to give them up again.

"You done screwin' around?" Mal glared at him, pulling at his own ear before remembering it was the one that had been fused back on.

"Jayne, just remember, you got to get the main power fired back up before Simon can get into the secured lab." Kaylee said, quickly shooting the convict a dark look as well; her heart had nearly jumped out of her throat when the gunshot rang out. "You got the cage code?" She asked, for what Jayne counted to be the sixty-fourth time since this morning as the car began to slow.

The merc held up his left hand, displaying nine digits. "What?" He shrugged at the collection of looks.

"Real professional there, Jayne." Riddick rumbled as he checked the countdown on his watch.

"Says the man that just shot an elevator speaker." The merc snorted as the car came to a stop on the fourth and lowest level.

The captain discreetly slid his left hand into his pocket as he cleared his throat. "Get your job done and get out. No screwin' around. Timers are all already tickin', and the rest of us will be waitin' on you for the way out."

"Yeah, yeah, Cap, I got it." Jayne grumbled as he stepped outside the car and checked his own watch. He grinned as he gave a cocky salute before sparing Kaylee a look. "Watch yer ass, girl."

"Don't blow yourself up, merc." The mechanic smirked back at him.

*T*F*C*

_ "Green Camp this is Hawkeye, over."_

_ "Hawkeye this is Green Camp, you are clear."_

_ "Green Camp we're having some issues with our satellites, there's some kind of static interference emanating from Alpha zone, over."_

_ "Roger that Hawkeye, we'll run a system's check on our end."_

*T*F*C*


	75. Interlude 12 Greenleaf IV

Mal and Simon stepped out onto the third level and upon, pushing past the single set of doors beyond a short hall, immediately came to a dead stop. Both men did their very best not to retch up the contents of their stomachs at the stench permeating the room.

"Oh… my…. God." Simon covered his nose, an action which did nothing to quell the smell of decaying flesh as he gagged reflexively. "I don't understand." He choked out. "Auxiliary's been on all this time."

"Automatic feeders don't do any good if they run out of food." Mal said with a grimace as he stepped closer to one of the cages to examine it; covering his own nose and mouth with the sleeve of his duster. "You don't think something they were doin' down here got out?" He asked; his eyes reflexively darting around the huge lab as though he would be able to see the microscopic viral strands which could be floating in the air.

"Not likely. That's what the auxiliaries are for." Simon assured him as he forced himself to walk past the cages of dead rats, some of which looked as though their occupants had resorted to cannibalism before finally dying themselves.

"Not likely?" Mal swallowed. "Don't really like the sound of that."

Simon shook his head as they came to the end of the rows of dead animals and another set of doors. "Standard security protocol in any viral lab and part of the reason we have to take out the auxiliary systems before the first explosion; the whole facility is riddled with fail-safes. If ventilation systems had detected an airborne viral leak, they would have sealed off the contaminated sectors from the rest of the ventilation ducts, hermetic, blast-proof barriers would drop and the affected area would be essentially napalmed."

"Napalmed?" The captain faltered a half-step as he eyed a seemingly innocuous sprinkler above him suspiciously. "Never again. Cross it off the list, Doc. Last ruttin' time we go anywhere near a science lab." Mal muttered before pushing through the doors. "You're left, I'm right. In and out. Do what you have to and meet me back by the elevators."

"And I was planning on sightseeing." He replied dryly.

"Surprisingly, Simon, the fine art of sarcasm is not lost on me."

"Which is why I so obliging bestow it, Captain."

*T*F*C*

"Jayne's looking for a capture-capable scope; wouldn't mind an infrared one either." Riddick commented offhandedly as he checked his watch again when he and Kaylee were alone in the elevator.

"He tell you to tell me that?" Kaylee asked one eyebrow cocked.

"Paid me." The convict's lips twitched.

"Figures." She snorted. "You heard the captain. I'm in and out."

"I heard him, same as you." Riddick pushed himself off the wall of the elevator as the doors slid open to his floor. "We both still know you're going to."

"_Bi zui_ (shut up)_._" Kaylee grinned at him. "You blow yourself up, Riv'll be right pissed."

"Capture-capable will have a data-chip port. Measure it against your arm, right size for Vera will run from the tip of your middle finger to mid-forearm." He smirked at her as he stepped out, breaking out into an immediate jog without another look back.

_/River./ _ He checked-in with her as he felt a ripple of unease that didn't belong wholly to him raise the fine hairs on the back of his neck.

_ / Something is changing./ _ The thought seemed distracted.

_ /You want to be more specific?/_ Riddick thought impatiently.

_ /As of yet, no./ _

_ /Find it, River./ _ He pressed.

_/The slumbering giant is stirring. Mumbles in his dreams./_

_ /Think you could filter the crazy out of that?/_

There was a moment's hesitation. _/No./_

_ /Fucking figures./_

*T*F*C*

Kaylee sent the elevator back down to the lowest level as planned before sliding out neatly between the closing doors. Jayne had made her memorize her route down to the step; thanks to River's not-so-helpful-at-times gift for making obscene calculations. She ignored the pecking chatter going back-and-forth between the crew members over the comms.; though she did wince slightly when the captain began swearing profusely after having, what could only be assumed from the broken Chinese, nearly cut off his own finger.

She had stopped at the first of the two pillars she needed to set with explosives when the sudden switching on of all the lights around her caused a small shriek of surprise she choked off with a nervous chuckle.

"Nice work, baby." She congratulated him over the comms. to drown out the sound of her heart thudding in her ears as she secured the bundle to the pillar with a length of Velcro.

"_Say that when we get paid." _ He rumbled back. _"Where you at?"_

"First one's done." She replied already picking up her pack and heading down the corridor leading past the staff quarters.

"_Clock's ticking, girl."_

"Ain't needin' the reminder, Jayne. Got gorram timers already doin' that." She snapped back as she peeked into one of the abandoned staff quarters and immediately regretted it. The sharp tone of her voice ricocheted violently through the empty corridor; it seemed to magnify the eeriness of seeing photos still on the walls and clothes strewn across the floor.

"_Can we keep it focused, people?"_ Mal barked across the link.

"Sorry, Cap." Kaylee whispered as she quickly took her next right and, three steps later, slid a keycard through the maintenance room's door lock.

*T*F*C*

The doctor shifted his weight from foot to foot as he stood in front of the large circular door to the lab-vault. The few moments of forced inactivity allowed him to fully appreciate the depth of his current situation. He couldn't decide if the rolling ball of nausea in his stomach was from the left over smell of dead animals in his nostrils or the fact that he was breaking into a lab deep inside a secured military quarantine zone. His previous face of bravado was now absent given there was no one to wear it for but thankfully the whirring of the monitor in front of him, timed with the echoing metallic clanking which accompanied the turning on of all the main lights and systems, cut off his thought processes before real panic could set in.

He swiped the card first, followed by a pass code which left his fingertips as though he had been typing it all his life. The doctor hesitated briefly, allowing the doors to retract vertically into themselves fully, before crossing the threshold into a small antechamber. The doors resealed themselves almost immediately behind him and, after a single steadying breath, Simon wasted no more time. On the right wall hung several white sterile suits, the doctor grabbed one hastily and zipped into it with practiced ease and less trepidation than when he had been made to wear the EVA suit. A burst of chemical disinfectant came from the ceiling when he pressed the door release and only after it had cleared did the actual lab doors open.

Simon shouldered his pack and stepped inside, the interior lights only fully activating when his foot stepped down onto the first floor panel. There was something almost ethereal to the young doctor inside the sterile world of the vault; in the neat and orderly precision of its layout and the clean metallic gleam of the instruments almost angelic. If Simon had actually believed in a God, this would be his temple.

The left wall of the vault was taken up entirely by seven large and somewhat squat cylindrical cryogenic storage freezers. Dozens of snake-like tubes twisted chaotically from the freezers, while sleek metal piping jutted at sharp right angles in contrast and connected them to even more intricate machinery hidden inside the walls. If their intel was correct, the samples Simon was after would be housed in the seventh cylinder. For the moment, however, he bypassed them. Instead, he carefully navigated his way around the central workstations, pointedly ignoring the incubators to his right, and headed for the back wall and the computer terminals there.

"Alright, Doctor Tam-," he reassured himself as he swiveled into a chair and pulled out the handheld external hard-drive from his pack. "-time to be a bad guy."

*T*F*C*

_Main power, done._ Jayne thought to himself as he slid a pair of wire clippers back into his pocket, adding as he stepped back from the primary auxiliary's system panel, _EMP, done._

"Big ass boom-," He chuckled to himself as grabbed his pack and turned to double back towards the elevators, "-here we come."

*T*F*C*

Kaylee chewed her lip in front of the armory door and checked her watch. Her EMP was in place, one bomb was down, but her other had to be placed clear across the floor still. "What the hell." She muttered softly, checking her watch once more before popping open the locking mechanism on the armory door. She cursed at the shock she took when she pulled the first wire free but determinedly yanked the yellow one next and twisted it with an orange. The clean hiss of the door was more than satisfying, however, and put a cheerful sort of skip in her step as she entered.

*T*F*C*

"_North Tower, this is Green Camp. Come in. Over."_

_ "North Tower clear."_

_ "Hawkeye's reading some signal disruption in your vicinity. We can't source the problem, and our systems are coming up clean, but we got a hot spot on our infrared. Deploy a scouter team to the downloading coordinates. Over and out."_

"Sir!" Private Lee yelled from inside the booth.

"What?" Raleriz barked from somewhere just beyond the tree line where he'd gone to take a leak.

"Sir, Green Camp wants us to deploy a scouter team. There's been some signal disruption coming from the northwest quadrant, sir!" He yelled out into the shadows, not entirely sure where his commanding officer had gone.

"What?" Raleriz demanded again as he stepped out of the bushes still zipping up his fly.

"Got orders from Green Camp to deploy a scouter team out into the northwest quadrant. There's some kind of signal disruption, sir. They couldn't pinpoint the signal but the infrared nailed down a hotspot." Lee stepped out of booth to show the sergeant the printout they had just received straight from Green Camp.

Raleriz's expression went from one of annoyance to murderous as his eyes scanned the sheet. "That's the New Dawn facility. Satellite's running, power's on, only way it'd be putting out that much heat. How the hell did somebody get past the drones on the border? Tollen!" He barked into his comm. "Get your ass down here. Lee and Hauser, you two stay here, everybody else-," he turned to look at the three men manning the barrier, "-on me."

*T*F*C*

"Something's wrong." River's voice sliced violently through the still night, jolting through Zoe's nerve endings.

Her head jerked around immediately to ask. "Trouble?"

The Reader's head ticked almost violently, the residual trembling through her body. "They know we're here." She spun on her heel and moved toward the hatchway ladder.

"River, goddamnit, where the hell-," the question died as her husband's voice burst across the airwaves.

*T*F*C*

"Oh no, oh no! Shit and shit!" Wash swore as he swiveled in his chair.

"What?" Book asked coming back onto the bridge with two cups of coffee in his hands. "What's happened?" He asked again, his voice harder this time.

Wash, however, didn't waste the time to answer the preacher's question. "Mama Goose, this is Papa, come in."

"_Papa, this is Mama. We got trouble?"_

"All manner of it quite possibly-," Wash radioed back, "-they've pinged the disrupter."

"_Ai ya tiana_ _(merciless hell)." _Zoe swore.

"You've got to yank it now before they can trace the booster back to _Serenity."_ He told her quickly. "They get that far and we'll never make it off this rock."

"_Baby Goose is already flying."_

"There's more, they did an infrared sweep and they're deploying a team now. Zoe, you watch your ass out there." Wash ordered, forgoing call signs altogether in the heat of the mini-aneurysm he felt coming on.

"_Got brain radar, baby, you watch your own."_

"They have time, Wash." Book assured the now fully panicking pilot as the man worked two separate cortex screens, bringing up everything and anything he could think of; from the current security alerts planet-wide to the public access satellite maps. "But they won't be coming back out the way they got in." He added as he reached for the comm. "Ugly Duckling, come in."

"_I'm here. What was that about being pinged?" _Inara's voice was rushed, laced with the beginnings of panic.

"Nothing to ruffle your feathers with yet-," Book assured her calmly, for some reason he didn't have time to think about using the aviary-related code Wash had developed, "-I'd stretch your wings though. Plan A's done for."

"_I'll be ready."_

"Mama, come back." Book called her next.

"_We're movin'."_

"Plan B's in motion."

"_I'm preppin' C."_ The first mate responded.

"Best do that." Book conceded.

"Can somebody please tell me why in the hell we even bothered with a Plan B if everybody knows it's crap?" Wash demanded as his eyes twitched across his scanners.

"There's a chance." Book replied, though he sounded far from convinced.

"Yeah-," Wash snorted, "-a thirty-two point whatever-the-hell-it-was."

"Numbers aren't everything."

"River ever been wrong yet?" He challenged.

Book frowned; he didn't have an argument for that. "They'll get out, Wash. Whatever plan they use, Mal always finds the crack to slip through."

*T*F*C*

/_The giant's awake and his hands are reaching./_

"Sonofabitch." Riddick swore under his breath as he yanked the last zip-tie closed, affixing the EMP into place along a piece of plumbing hanging from the ceiling in the center of level two's maintenance room. Despite the cryptic wording, there was no misunderstanding of the warning this time. _/How long?/_

_ /Incalculable./_

_ /Give me a fucking estimate then./_ He shot back as he grabbed his pack and made for the elevators.

_ /Too many variables./_

_ /Narrow it down, River./_

He felt her hesitate as she ran through the odds and factored the possibilities. _/Infrared satellite sweep relayed to the nearest ground team, allowing for a hover transport, estimated time is twelve to fifteen minutes... optimistically./_

_ /I'm not Mal, don't operate on optimistically, River. Give me the reality./_

_ /Ten minutes, maximum./_

"Time check." The convict hit his earpiece.

_ "Three minutes." _Mal answered back first.

_"Done here."_ Simon's voice came next as he cautiously stepped away from the bomb he placed on the center workstation; the ticking of the egg-timer ridiculously archaic in comparison to its surroundings.

_"On my last drop." _Kaylee chirped, the second pillar in sight, with what she hoped to be a capture-capable scope clanking loudly in her pack alongside her tools.

_"Be done when I'm fuckin' done."_ Jayne snapped.

"River says we've got ten." The convict radioed back.

Over the chorus of cussing that responded Jayne's voice rang the loudest. _"I'm up and out in less than three."_

_ "Kaylee, you move your ass." _Mal ordered, _"And Riddick, you get the other girls movin'."_

"Already are, Mal." Riddick grunted back as he jammed a metal extender in between the doors of the left elevator. "Let's go Jayne!" The convict roared down the shaft as he spied the merc crouched on the top of the disabled car two floors below him.

The merc didn't bother to offer a verbal reply; instead, he gifted the fugitive with an obscene gesture before laughing and dropping neatly back down inside the car. It took less than a full minute for the sound of the right elevator starting up to hit Riddick's ears.

*T*F*C*

Mal skidded around the corner of the hall which led to the doors back into the main testing lab just as they were swinging closed behind Simon. "You get everything?" He demanded quickly as he burst through them himself.

"_Cao_ (fuck)!" Simon swore as he spun around; immediately mentally berating himself for being so jumpy.

"I do believe that's the most colorful word I've ever heard you utter, Doc." Mal grinned with a cocky sort of easiness Simon couldn't help but be slightly irritated by as he swung his pack around and pulled out an extender bar to prop open the left elevator shaft doors. "Can't say for sure if that was a yes or a no though." He grunted slightly as he jammed the bar into the door seam, forcing them open. "If ya used it more, there'd be a contextual clue or somethin' I could go off of."

"River teach you that word?" Simon quipped back, the fingers of his left hand nervously tapping against the pack he held slung over his shoulder.

"Yes or no, Doc?"

"Everything." Simon cracked the smallest of grins as the still functioning second set of elevator doors slid open. "Now we just have to get out without getting shot."

"Ain't plannin' on bein' shot, get the hell in." Jayne yelled at them from inside the car.

*T*F*C*

Zoe hadn't wasted time on the guard tower after getting off the comm.-link with her husband; she'd half slid down the ladder, not missing a beat when her feet hit the ground, and sprinted back towards the mule. River caught up with her just as she'd yanked the first of the tarps away from the transports.

"You got it?" Zoe asked and, after a quick nod in the affirmative from River, she climbed onto the Mule and started the ignition sequence.

The cargo hauler's engines came to life and the cumbersome vehicle lifted off the ground as River leaped up onto it, immediately going to work on the rigging which had supported the crates she and Kaylee had hidden in and kicking them clear off the back end of the mule.

"How much time?" Zoe asked as she jumped back off the mule to power up the cycles.

"Not enough." The Reader replied ominously. She looked up briefly, scanning the stars above her as though they were whispering secrets, and for all the first mate knew, they were.

"Get those breathers prepped." Zoe ordered.

*T*F*C*

Riddick was the first out of the elevator, on his signal Jayne and Mal followed him out, both men in combat crouches as they flanked the blast doors while Riddick took center.

Kaylee didn't waste the time to properly seal the doors using the codes which, thanks to the panic which was eating at her skin, jumbled through her head. She rather did exactly what she had been praying not to when they first entered; short-circuited them. The locking mechanism sparked violently as she ripped her hand away, cursing as the blast doors slammed closed. Any relief she might have felt when it worked was quickly dampened by the wholly unexpected shrieking of an alarm.

"Kaylee EMPs now!" Mal barked.

The mechanic fumbled for the trigger switch in the pocket of her coveralls; the only affirmation they worked was the abrupt silence and utter darkness that followed. Almost immediately, several pinpoints of light appeared as the crew turned on their torches.

"We gotta move, Mal." Riddick warned as he tossed Jayne back his goggles. "That'll draw every patrol for miles."

"Already ahead of you Riddick." Mal said as he jerked his head back towards the way they came, starting off at a run as he tapped his earpiece. "Papa, Mama, somebody come back. We're on the move now."

_"Captain, you got heat comin' in from every which way-"_

Riddick snarled; the sound was violent and feral, and nearly drowned out Wash's warning over the comms. as River's mental cry ricocheted violently inside his head.

*T*F*C*

Raleriz halted the hover transport just outside the New Dawn guard towers; his feet hitting dirt before the transport even fully powered down. He lowered his night-vision specs, giving a signal with his right hand for the four men to fall into step behind him. The blaring of the facility's external alarm systems brought them to an abrupt halt as the men instinctively took cover. The pieces that had been drifting around in Raleriz's head snapped together; the sounding of the sirens the catalyst for it all.

"_Green Camp, this is North Tower scouter team. Come in. Over."_

_ "North Tower eyes, this is Green Camp. You're clear. Over"_

_ "Requesting immediate aerial support to northwest quadrant of Alpha zone, code November, Delta, five-eight. Over"_

_ "Roger that, deploying aerial support. Over." _

_ "Be advised, hostiles are dressed as friendlies. One uniformed, four in urban-ware. Over and out."_

*T*F*C*

"Those breathers prepped?" Zoe demanded as she leaped back up onto the mule. "_Ai, tama de wa._ (Oh, fuck me)." She swore, her head jerking up at the sound of the alarm as she grabbed the four slender canisters and slung them across her back.

The siren was cut quickly but, as the sound died the world around River jolted violently, the sudden invasion of aggressive thought patterns nearly overwhelming. "We're out of time." Her voice was eerily calm; her head quirking to the right and one hand drifting to the hated piece of metal at her waist.

"What is it, Riv?" Zoe's arm froze in place as she lifted it to tap her comm.

"Down! Now!" River shrieked as she dropped behind the cover of the rear seat of the mule.

_/__**Riddick!**_/

The former Browncoat reacted instantly and hit the floor of the mule in the front without question; covering her head as the first spray of bullets bit into the metal around her. River's status as a mind-reader was irrelevant; when someone said down, you got your ass down or you got your ass dead.

"River!" Zoe yelled over the rapid-fire on her first free breath.

"Uninjured!" She called back. "Five men, night vision, semi-automatics!"

"Sonofabitch." Zoe swore, reaching blindly out the side of the mule and into one of the utility boxes stashed there. She flicked it open quickly, sending a silent prayer of thanks to anyone who was listening that Jayne never did, as her hand wrapped around a grenade. "Tell me when, Riv."

"Now!" The Reader spat out; anticipating the break in gunfire, as someone harder than herself rippled beneath the surface of her skin.

The second the word left River's lips, Zoe yanked the pin, and risked exposing herself enough to throw the grenade; as three of the five men dove from their cover to escape the explosive blast, River rose fluidly from her cover as well.

*T*F*C*

Riddick's back slammed into the wall; his head ducking out through the open entrance and, in the second he took to scan the area, he knew they were screwed. The mule was less than ten feet from him, River and Zoe were pinned down under the shitty cover the mule seats provided. He could see two bodies down, which he attributed to the grenade blast he'd heard, and, beyond the scattered rapid fire shots, three heartbeats that didn't belong to him or his people, and the sound of shuttle craft coming from the distance. The smell of blood wafted through the membranes of his nostrils; thick and visceral, one of the men still firing was wounded... badly. Jayne's back hit the wall on the other side of the entrance, mimicking the convict's actions, his vision aided by Riddick's goggles.

"Others are right behind me." The merc grunted.

"Baby!" Riddick barked from behind the cover of the wall as he held his shotgun in a low-ready position. "Don't make me come out there and save your asses!"

On the floor of the mule, River swore viciously in Mandarin, cursing at the gun in her hand. Riddick's remark on the uselessness of it when she had first chosen it mocked her inside her head now. The low-caliber handgun was virtually ineffectual against both the armor of their attackers and the protection of their cover; the few exposed areas were proving difficult to rapidly target. She was not Riddick. River could not see in the dark without layering over top of his vision, and tracking their thought patterns was not enough. The three men left were stalling, buying time for the reinforcements she could feel rippling through the atmosphere.

"Talk to me." Mal ordered as he skidded to a halt next to Riddick.

"Two down, three pinning them, and air support on the way. Our transports are all powered up."

"We won't have a chance in hell if don't get out of here before air support gets a fix on us, Mal." Jayne warned.

"Mule won't take much more either." Kaylee added frantically.

"Jayne, tell me you brought one?" Mal asked.

The merc pulled a grenade from the thigh pocket of his cargos. "'Course I did. Call it my own Plan B." He smirked; Riddick's goggles on his face magnified the malevolent uptick of his lips.

"Kaylee, Simon, you two get ready to run." Mal ordered. "Mama-," he hit his earpiece, "-we're gonna try to make a quick and fast exit here. You be ready to take us right through 'em. It's Plan B folks. Ugly?"

"_I'll be ready, captain."_ The Companion's voice was stilted over the comms.

"Good 'cause we'll be comin' in hot as Hell itself. Papa, get yourself in the air now, we'll dock the shuttle in lower atmo and full-burn it the hell off this rock."

"_Just move your asses, Captain. They're calling them in from everywhere. If they're not all on top of you now, they will be any second!"_

"Lob that sucker, Jayne." Mal ordered.

Jayne didn't need any more prompting and he yanked the pin; reaching back to heave it out the door and over the mule.

"Grenade!" One of their assailant's voices warned his comrades and the crew didn't wait for the explosion.

The three guns were the first to step out of the doorway; opening up a round of cover fire and turning the tables on those who moments ago were pinning the two women down. As the grenade went off, Mal was leaping up onto the Mule, Jayne and Riddick their cycles with Kaylee and Simon respectively behind them. While Mal was pulling himself up, Zoe and River fluidly switched places; the young Reader taking up the controls and slamming down on the throttle before Mal had fully situated himself.

"Secure yourselves!" The Reader yelled as she drove directly forward and through the stack of crates the soldiers were attempting to regroup behind. Jayne and Riddick were a heartbeat behind her as she blew through the gate and unexpectedly reversed thrust to come to a stop.

"River, what in the hell?" Mal barked furiously immediately turning and leveling his gun on the gate.

"Cripple their legs and they can't chase!" The Reader hissed at him as she leaped from their Mule to the hover transport the soldiers had abandoned outside the gate. Without the smallest trace of hesitation, she reached under the steering controls, popped free a panel, yanked hard on the exposed wiring, spun, and was back behind the Mule's controls as Mal popped off the first round of fire at the two soldiers who were advancing to give chase.

"Move your ass, River!" Riddick barked as the Reader threw down on the throttle once more; Mal's yelp of surprise as he was thrown slightly backwards was lost over the sudden roar of the Mule's engine as the gate disappeared behind them.

*T*F*C*

"You ever run an ignition sequence, Preacher?" Wash asked desperately.

"I've got it, Wash. Kaylee made sure." Book nodded already moving.

*T*F*C*

As Wash and the shepherd got _Serenity_ in the air, several dozen kilometers away, Inara's fingers began to move as well. The lights of the shuttle illuminated the small mountain outcropping she had stashed herself away on; the jungle loomed ominously before her, the canopy of trees concealing the chaos she knew was brewing just beneath.

"You can do this, Inara Serra." She told herself firmly as she pulled back on the controls and the shuttle lifted from the ground. "The others do things like this all the time and don't die."

*T*F*C*

_Serenity's_ ground team sped through the jungle trails recklessly; Riddick and Jayne keeping the distance between their bikes equal to the width of the mule. Their transports were darkened entirely as they fled down the access road towards the river cut by New Dawn; River navigating the large transport in the darkness by the swatches of glow-in-the-dark dark tape on the rear of the cycles ahead of her.

"_Coming up on the river_." Riddick warned over the comms.

"_Prep C_!" River yelled at Zoe.

"_We ain't even tried Plan B yet!_" Mal protested as the first mate shoved a breather and a pair of goggles at him.

"_Cowboy shit will get you dead, Cap._" Jayne grunted in response over the comms. as Kaylee's hold around his waist tightened.

The night sky above them suddenly lit up a fiery orange-red as several explosions shook the night air. The cacophony of birds, hundreds of them, taking flight at once as the trees they were roosted in trembled from the earth, the tremor nearly overpowering the cough of the Mule's engines. The captain threw back his head and laughed as he tugged his goggles on. "Least we know 'A' worked half-ways!"

The bend in the path was rapidly approaching; where the road itself curved to run alongside the river; the Reader accelerated in time with Riddick and Jayne, needing no verbal cue as the sounds of rushing water hit her ears.

Plan B was to jump the river with the transports in the hopes they'd lose any tails behind them and throw off the reinforcements who would assume they would still be on the east side of the massive river. There was one fatal flaw in that plan. All of the transports were land-speeders. The Mule and the hovercycles kept aloft by a steady stream of microscopic particles pushed against suitably dense materials to gain lift. Unfortunately, their hover-jets were not rated for a material less dense than dirt; even running on fine sand could at times give them problems. The cycles, carrying the two least capable fighters and the reclaimed goods were guaranteed to make it across on speed alone. The sheer bulk of the mule, however, made River's chances less than favorable and with nearly a half of a kilometer of water to cross, the Reader wasn't taking any chances as she allowed the first mate to sling the air canister across her shoulder and attached a rigging to the belt loop of her cargo pants.

_/Gun it when I say./_ Riddick pressed against River's mind. His thoughts laced with a combination of denied anxiety and absolute focus. _/Now!/_

River flicked the newly installed switch just beside the steering column; the occupants of the mule were slammed backwards by the force of acceleration as the two bikes ahead of them roared forward, leaving the safety of solid ground first.

Seconds later, as the spotlight of two Alliance scouter-craft found them, the cargo transport left land; a massive spray of water drenching the riders as its thrusters spewed it in their wake.

*T*F*C*

"_Unidentified Craft, you are approaching a controlled military no-fly zone. Adjust course immediately. Lethal Force is authorized." _

"Oh, hush." Inara rolled her eyes at the speaker as she throttled up. "We both know you're all busy chasing Mal." As if to mock her, the shuttle's proximity alarm screamed. "_Ai, gou shi_ (oh, shit)."

*T*F*C*

The hover cycles cleared the river easily; skidding around to an almost simultaneous halt to await the mule still only halfway across.

"They're not gonna make it!" Kaylee cried as the thrusters sputtered; the body of the mule jerking violently sideways.

"Cover fire, Jayne!" Riddick barked, jumping off his bike and swinging up his shotgun.

Jayne hadn't needed the prompting. Already off his bike, he brought his Lemat up first popping off a quick succession of shots; two of which blacked out the spotlights on the scouter craft hovering over the river.

"Plan C!" Mal yelled as the mule spun; a wave of fire from above ripping into its side. The three occupants of the mule took only a second to pull up their breathers before leaping together into the waters. The scouter opened fire again; slicing through the murky water and hissing across the skin of River's thigh and calf.

A snarl broke from Riddick's lips as pain ricocheted through his head. Heat laced through his veins, familiar now and empowering as, in one fluid motion he swung the shotgun by its strap around him and drew his more accurate ten millimeter auto combat pistol. Every nerve ending was alive as he pulled the trigger, feeling the ripple of the recoil down to his toes. The first shot pierced through the skull of a starboard gunner; the next four went into the starboard thruster and the scouter spun wildly, skipping once over the surface of the river before careening into the eastern shoreline.

_/River!/_

_/Fine./_

_/The fuck you are!/I _Riddick snarled back.

_ /Run now!/ _River screamed in his head as the remaining scouter turned its attention to the crew standing on the western shore.

"Time to move, Cobb!" Riddick barked, turning on his heel and hoping back on his bike.

Jayne was only a step behind him, as two gunners detached from the scouter ship on all-terrain vehicles.

Below the surface of the tropical river, Zoe fumbled on the nozzle of the fourth canister; finally cracking it; the propulsion yanked her forward, towing along behind her, Mal and River all connected by riggings on their belt loops. Just as he was yanked forward, the captain, silently cursing the failure of Plan B, triggered the remote detonator for the explosives they had planted in the Mule just in case. Half a minute later, nearly a quarter mile away, all three felt the pressure wave from the destruction of their ever faithful and beloved Mule.

T*F*C*

"_Plan C!"_

"Ugly!" Wash yelled over the comms, his face pale and heart thudding in his ears.

"_I'm on my way, Papa."_ Inara radioed immediately, an odd terseness in her voice.

"I can't get them on the comms. The water must have shorted them out, there's heat flying in from everywhere. You're gonna have to run hard and fast!"

_"Already doing that!" _Her voice shrieked back this time, her note of panic not lost on the two men in _Serenity._

"_Shang-dee duh dan_ (God's eggs)!" Wash swore, throwing the comm-link away from him. "Shit!" Added after the whole ship jerked with the movement.

"You're no good to them like this, Wash." Book warned from the co's station; having come back up to the bridge after getting _Serenity_ into the air.

"I'm fine." He laughed. "Great." There was a chuckle. "Last night my wife almost got eaten by a snake and now she's swimming in a river full of them." His giggle bordered on maniacal. He took a deep breath and rolled his neck, shaking himself. "I'm fine. Just start praying, preacher."

"Snakes?" Book cracked an eyebrow. "You're worried about the snakes?"

"Oh, I can panic about the Alliance too but then, well then, I'd probably have a full blown aneurysm and crash this ship." The eerie calm of his voice was betrayed by the pallor of his face and the rigidness in which he gripped the controls.

"You worry on those snakes, son."

Wash didn't even spare the man a snort before picking up the comm. "Ugly, how many you got on you?"

"_One very determined little…Ai di yu_ (oh, hell!)"

"Stay with me here, Ugly, Plan C is in full swing. You gotta lose him; I can't get in that jungle."

"_Mothership flying is not appreciated!"_ The Companion snapped back.

"That's real good, Ugly. Biting retorts keep me going too." Wash radioed back. "What are you doing?" He asked Book as the preacher reached forward and grabbed the stolen military comm.-link from Wash's console.

"I'm going to give our crew a little bit of breathing room is all." The older man smiled, his thin lips pressed together in an expression wholly uncharacteristic as he click it on. "Green Camp, this is Hawkeye-,"

*T*F*C*

Riddick and Jayne sped through the jungle; leaving behind the trails and weaving erratically through the brush as Simon and Kaylee held on for dear life. Bullets ate into the trees around them as they tilted full throttle towards the beach and emergency evac point one.

"_We're dead once we leave these trees!_" Jayne snarled through the comms., swearing as he heard a round whiz too close for comfort by his ear. He didn't dare risk trying to steer one-handed as he shot; not at the speeds they were moving and not with Kaylee on the cycle with him. The only reason he hadn't hammered them into a tree was solely thanks to Riddick's borrowed goggles.

"Gonna try something real stupid once we get clear, Jayne." Riddick rumbled back, ignoring the panicked yell from Simon behind him.

_"Music to my ears."_ The merc grunted.

"You gun it the minute we break through." Riddick ordered.

*T*F*C*

Inara flew the shuttle low over the trees, almost skimming across the surface of the canopy; she banked hard at a near suicidal speed; the portside wing dipping below the surface of the trees as she did so. She didn't waste a moment yanking up on the controls and shot straight into the air; throwing the shuttle into full burn the moment she was clear of the trees. Her knuckles were white on the control yoke as the anti-gravity generator strained itself with the sudden acceleration in the gravity well. She could feel the g-forces rising as she shot into the upper atmosphere, hiding herself in a massive cloudbank. Quickly leveling out, she breathed a sigh of relief as the gravity was restored to a comfortable level.

"There we go, just a little bit of breathing room." She smiled to herself, her brief victory bittersweet. Sweet, because she was still alive, and bitter, because unfortunately the captain with all his 'helpful' pointers, had not been present to witness it.

*T*F*C*

When the last of the boost from the busted air canister gave out, the submerged crew risked breaking the surface of the water.

"_Duh liou mahng nee… ta ma de tyen-shia suoyo de run di gai sai_ (son of a bitch…fuck everybody in the universe to death)!" River hissed out between a clenched jaw as she ripped her breather off.

"Plan didn't go that bad." Mal whispered back, forcing a small laugh as they swam/dragged each other to the shoreline.

"My leg." She bit against the inside of her cheek.

"River, you get hit?" Zoe asked as she hauled herself out of the water; unclipping herself from the line to help the younger woman out.

"Grazed." She replied quickly, tearing off the bottom of her shirt.

"How bad is it?" Mal asked, finding his handheld torch in his pocket and flicking it on. "Goddamnit, girl, why didn't you say something?" He demanded as Zoe crouched on River's side and cut open the side of her cargos.

"We were underwater." River shot him _The Look._

"Coulda tugged on me or somethin'!"

"River, can you hear anybody?" Zoe asked, taking the shredded piece of fabric from River and wincing a bit for the girl herself as she roughly tied it off around the larger gash across her thigh. She tore a piece off from her own shirt to bandage the one farther down on her calf as the Reader's eyes glazed over.

"Not here, but soon. Ground patrol, six men on foot, night-vision specs. Hover boats are being dispatched upriver; air patrols are sweeping by quadrant."

"The others?" Mal asked quietly.

"Alive, being pursued. Riddick is calculating, all will be well."

Zoe snorted. "You put weight on that leg?"

"She will." River replied mechanically, her eyes still distant and glazed.

"Didn't ask if you would. Asked if you can, Bit." Mal corrected as he and Zoe helped her stand.

The younger woman instinctively recoiled from the pain, nearly biting through her lip before she shrugged both the first mate and the captain away. Her muscles went rigid and then relaxed as she stepped down fully on the injured limb. "She's fine." Her eyes flashed, the shift behind them imperceptible to Mal and Zoe though it would not been missed by Riddick, as she took several steps, not faltering once to prove her point.

"Time to move then." Mal nodded. "I ain't gettin' back in the river. Swear to God a fish down there took a snap at me. How far are we from the basin?"

River's head ticked. "Less than three kilometers, accounting for rate of propulsion and the speed of the current."

"Time to run?" Mal gritted out.

"Time to run." Zoe nodded, ringing out her hair.

"River, where's that ground team?"

"In the Path of The River."

"The river or, _The River_?" Mal asked. _The Look_, this time came from both Zoe and River. "Well, how in the Hell am I supposed to know?" He huffed, checking his .38.

River's eyes landed on Mal's gun. "She killed. She apologies for violating the rule."

Mal actually chuckled a bit as shoved a few strands of wet hair away from his face. "Comes a time in every man, or Bit's, life where they gotta decide if they're gonna be nailed to the cross or be the one doin' the nailin' and I'm 'bout done with gettin' hung."

"Other words, Riv-," Zoe smirked, "-somebody tries to kill you, you got full permission to kill 'em first."

"Or me; somebody tries to kill me, you kill 'em dead first. Seriously, I'm captain and all." Mal added with a cheeky grin. His grin faltered, however, as a broken branch caused all three of them to spin, guns leveled and ready to fire.

"Reptile." River informed them after a moment.

"We got to move." Mal whispered. "This ain't the place to be gabbin'."

"Um, sir." Zoe cleared her throat.

"What? We got to move, Zo."

"Just thought you'd like to know you got a thing." She gestured to his neck.

"I got a what?" Mal scrunched his face.

"A thing, sir." She made a face of her own this time as she gestured.

"What?"

"A leech." River rolled her eyes as she reached up and pulled the small blood-sucker from the captain's neck.

"Oh! Oh, for the love of-!" Mal yelled at no one in particular, though he did keep the volume to a heated whisper. He made an inarticulate sound in the back of his throat as he gagged and shook the willies off his skin. "That's it, were gettin' the hell outta here, and goddamnit, captain's got first dibs on showers." He shuddered again. "Christ, I can feel 'em all over me."

"They probably are." River let the small vampiric creature twist and struggle as she dangled it from her fingertips; an odd and unsettling look highlighted by the faint moonlight on her face.

"Quit it." Mal slapped it out of her hand. "Let's get the hell out of here."

*T*F*C*

Riddick scooted forward on his bike as the tree line came into view. "Doc, get ready to steer."

"What!" Simon screamed back at him.

"Just keep it straight and your hands on the gorram throttle!" Riddick roared.

The convict's cycle broke through the tree line first; Riddick cut the steering viciously, spinning it and throwing it into reverse, it shot backwards as Jayne sped past him.

"Now!" He roared again.

Simon's hands reached forward and grabbed the handlebars as Riddick brought up his 10mm ACP once more; steadying it with both hands. As the universe shrieked violently around the riders, for the Furyan it slowed; the veins beneath his skin lighting up a brilliant cerulean. Simon forced himself to ignore the display as the cycle raced backwards along the coast. The vibration of Riddick's snarl moving through his own chest as he strained to hold the bars steady around the firing convict.

Riddick's vision narrowed; each heartbeat exploded inside his ears as he fired. His first shot ruptured a jugular, finding its mark in the crease of flesh unprotected by the rider's gear. His second trigger pull followed immediately, his eye honing in on the fiery trail of the round as the metal tore through the visor of the second rider's helm to implant itself into the bridge of the nose of its target and shatter the bones of his face.

It was over in less than ten seconds. The explosion of the second cycle as it crashed into the beach accompanied by Riddick's barking laughter as he reclaimed the steering of the bike.

"Uh…" Simon stammered.

"Yeah, glowing, Doc." The convict rumbled as he decelerated slightly, spun the bike and shifted out of reverse. "You're not running tests."

"_Hey, Rick!_" Jayne's voice filtered through the comms as the merc pulled up alongside them.

"Glowing, yeah, I know."

The merc barked out a laugh. "_Who gives a shit! That was the _tama de you guangze_ (fucking shiny)! My turn next time."_

_"The Hell you will!"_ Kaylee yelled at him, thunking him on the back of his head_. "Lookin' a bit pretty there, Riddick." _She added, eyeing the convict riding alongside her and Jayne. "_Why in the Hell are you glowin'?"_ She demanded.

"Long story." Riddick actually chuckled, the adrenalin in his system still burning through his veins as traces of River's pain ate at his skin. He hit his earpiece. "Papa, where the fuck are you?" He barked.

_"Comin' in now!"_ The pilot radioed back. "_Whose idea was it to light a beacon?"_

_ "What beacon?"_ Jayne grunted as back draft from_ Serenity_ rushed over their heads.

A giggle escaped Kaylee, followed by a chuckle, immediately followed by all out guffaw. _"Ain't a beacon-,"_ she gasped for air, _"-it's Rick!"_

"I will shoot her." The convict half-growled as the ship dropped altitude in front of them, the ramp lowering.

_"Told you before, glowin' just ain't manly-like at all."_ The merc replied; popping a wheelie on his cycle as Wash decelerated the ship in front of them.

_"Wait? Why's Rick glowing?"_ Wash radioed back. "_What the hell was in that lab?"_

"Just hit the fucking brakes." Riddick retorted.

_"Your wish is my command, oh Radiant One."_

*T*F*C*

"Green Camp this is Sweeper team nine, check-in."

_"Sweeper team nine, check-in clear."_

"Sector's quiet, Green Camp, crossing into twelve on the grid."

_"Roger that Sweeper nine."_

"Goddamnit!" Private Morris slapped a bug feasting on his neck. "How fucking long we gonna be out here trampin' in the gorram bush?"

"'Til camp says were clear, Morris. Shut the hell up. Ain't one of us wanna listen to you bitch." Lucas snapped at him, mentally groaning over the fact that he'd been stuck with the whining little shit as his partner yet again.

"Your mom wasn't complainin' last night." Morris chuckled.

"Fuck you, Morris. What are we, sixteen?" Lucas snapped his head around to the private when there was no quick retort in reply. "Morris?" He halted in his step. "Quit fucking around!" he hissed into the darkness as he took a few cautious steps towards where Morris should have been. "Mor-," The name never fully left his lips as he felt one hand clamp over his mouth and the final kiss goodnight of sharpened metal as it parted his throat.

Zoe let the body collapse at her feet. "You boys were always shit in the brush."

River rose from her concealment not five feet from Zoe. She twirled the same stiletto which had saved the first mate's life the night before between her fingers; in contrast to the milky white venom of the snake, the fluid it dripped with now was nearly black in the darkness, Morris' blood.

"Where's Mal?" Zoe whispered.

River didn't need to answer, a yell and the rapid responding gunfire as small bursts of light lit up the jungle did that well enough for her.

"Guess." She deadpanned.

"Man never did learn the meanin' of the word stealth."

*T*F*C*

"Whew!" Jayne coughed as he helped Kaylee up from the ground. You got all your bits, girl?"

"I thin-," Her words died off into a small cry as Jayne yanked her out of the incoming path of Riddick's cycle; it skidded sideways, the metal screeching against the bay floor.

"Fucking hell!" Riddick snarled as the light of the bay seared into his retinas. "Jayne, goddamnit, give me my fucking goggles!" He barked as he shoved himself out from underneath his bike carelessly; not even sparing a glance for it or, for that matter, the young doctor who was still attempting to see if all of his limbs worked.

"Riddick, you're…well…you-,"

"Fucking glowing. I know that, old man-," Riddick snapped as Jayne tossed him his goggles and he pulled them back on. "Where the fuck is River?" The convict snarled the second he could fully open his eyes again.

"We don't know." Book informed him carefully. "We lost contact when they hit the water, they should be making their way to the rendezvous point to meet Inara. Is everybody alright?" He asked as he raised the ramp.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Simon yelled, no longer caring whether or not all his bits worked as he shakily pushed himself up. "Riddick, she's… do that thing!"

"She's alive, Doc." Riddick rumbled, "Hurt, but she's movin'. That's all I can tell you." The fact that it was all he knew frustrated no one more than the convict himself.

"Least yer startin' to tone down a bit." Jayne offered as he frowned at a nice sized gash along his arm.

Riddick half-snarled at him before he stomped his way over to the bridge access ladder.

"She'll be fine, Simon." Kaylee tried to reassure the doctor. "She's with Zo and Mal. Ain't nothin' gonna be able to touch 'em. You can bet on it. They'll be back 'fore you can spit. Well, not that you spit." She added somewhat feebly.

"I know she'll be fine." Simon assured himself, staring up at the hatchway that led to Shuttle Two as if he could will it back into place; its occupants safe and unharmed.

"You still got the goods?" Jayne asked him.

"Jayne!" Kaylee admonished.

"What? I didn't just get damn near blown the hell up for nothin', did I?"

"I've got it." Simon shoved the pack at the merc. "Money doesn't buy back the dead." He gave the merc a cold, hard look before following Riddick up to the bridge.

"Real nice, Jayne." Kaylee glared at him.

"Oh, don't fuckin' start, woman. It's been a helluva night. We all know they'll get back just fine. Alliance been tryin' kill Mal and Zo since the war started and that girl blew through Niska's men like there weren't even nothin'. Everybody's gettin' their panties bunched for nothin'. You'll see."

"You heard Riddick though. She's hurt." Kaylee snapped at him.

"Aw hell, bein' shot's just one of 'em rites of passage 'round here. You said it yerself, girl, ain't nobody gets kilt here. _Serenity _won't let it happen."

"One word and I will punch out your gorram liver." Riddick growled at the pilot, whom immediately and wisely chose to clamp his mouth shut. Riddick faintly glowing wasn't as amusing as he'd thought it would be; the pilot rather found it to be unnerving as all Hell.

"Humor's how I deal." He chuckled nervously instead.

"How long?"

"Inara had to run to lose her tails, but I just heard from her and she's on her way to pick them up now, should be hitting the basin in-," he checked his watch, "-one minute and twenty-nine seconds."

Riddick quirked his head around.

"My wife's down there too, Riddick." Wash replied, his eyes not leaving the skies. "Welcome to my world."

*T*F*C*

Inara allowed herself to breathe as she circled the river basin once. Her scanners were clear and though several warning alarms where screaming at her, in typical _Serenity _fashion, she ignored them. It had been a ridiculous game of catch-me-if-you-can for awhile; she'd thought for a moment, when she'd first hit the clouds, she'd lost her tail. Riddick had a rather crude saying she was now a firm believer in; assumptions were the mother of all fuck-ups. Instead of losing her tail in the clouds, she'd picked up another two. It wasn't until she'd fled into lower atmosphere that she had lost them; one being fool enough to try to follow her that high and dropping right out of the sky as a consequence. There was a fire beginning to rampage to the west of the basin and she wondered briefly whether or not it was the New Dawn facility or the idiot that had tried to follow her up.

The thought startled her; the callousness of it, though thankfully she didn't have the time to dwell on it as a flashlight broke through the canopy; the beam of light flashing erratically.

"Patience, Malcolm Reynolds, is a virtue."

*T*F*C*

"Get us the hell out of here, 'Nara!" Mal yelled the minute he fell into the shuttle. The captain inhaled deeply, savoring the faint traces of _Serenity _as he closed the door on the jungle; nearly collapsing against it.

"Why thank you. I'm lovely this evening as well." The Companion replied dryly. She hadn't bothered to fully land the craft and the shuttle took back to the sky with all the eagerness of her occupants.

"River, let me get a look at that leg." Zoe ordered immediately.

"She's fine." River answered as she dropped into one of the seats along the wall. In the light of the shuttle, however, her appearance told another story entirely. The young woman's lips were a sickly bluish hue and her skin, usually a luminescent alabastor, was an almost translucent mockery of it. When they had first come out of the water, the first mate had cut a rough line down the side of her cargos to get a look at the wounds. The lines of the fabric were now caked in mud and crusted over with blood; bits of foliage and dirt inside of them and matted into the raw tissue.

"Let her look to it, Bit. That's an order." Mal said as he lifted a lid on one of the secured crates and tossed Zoe a silver package. "Get her warm, Zo, ain't hardly got 'nough meat on her to keep a rabbit through winter." He scowled as he got a look at her leg for himself. "How in the hell were you running on this?" He demanded. "Your brother's gonna kill me and rightly so." He grumbled reaching above her head to the first aid storage and grabbing the bottle of disinfectant.

"Pain is merely a neurological response to stimulation of the somatosensory system. It can be shut off." She replied, her voice eerily devoid of all emotion as she regarded the wounds with an unsettling amount of disinterest. "Simon will repair it."

Her statement didn't so much as phase the captain. "Be that as it may, you let Zo do somethin' for it before your brother or Riddick sees it." He handed the bottle over to Zoe and turned to the cockpit of the shuttle, dropping unceremoniously into the co's seat.

"You even think about taking control and I will cut off your fingers, Malcolm Reynolds." The Companion stated pleasantly.

"Easy, woman, just going for the comm." The captain held up his hands defensively before reaching for the link.

"Papa, come back."

"_Oh thank God!"_ The pilot rushed back. "_Everybody alive?"_

"And kickin'." Mal replied with a sort of snort and sideways glance at Inara. "How 'bout on your end? We got our goods and all heads?"

"_The flock is all accounted for."_

"Good, you got our beacon?"

"_You're less than five minutes from us."_

"Why don't we make that two and a half and you come and meet us so's we can get the hell of this rock?"

"_Roger that, Cap."_ The grin on his face was more than evident in his tone. _"Two and a half it is."_

*T*F*C*

Blue Sun System

Mr. Universe's Moon

Headquarters of the 'Verse

"Can you people do a job without a planet-wide manhunt?" Mr. Universe chortled at the screens in front of him. His fingers began to move furiously across two separate sets of holographic keyboards; he caught a ship registration number as the vessel blew out of atmo and deleted the signal before it ever made it to the ground. Immediately his fingers froze over the rezzed keys.

"Is something wrong dear?" Lenore's mechanically melodic voice came from behind him. "My sensors indicate an irregularity in heart rate."

Mr. Universe turned from his monitors to reassure his wife, the smile on his face absolutely gleeful. "Nothing at all, love. I've just realized someone can stop the signal, and that someone is me." He preened.

"That's nice." She replied in her usual sweet monotone.

"Yes-," he agreed thoughtfully, "-I suppose that really means I am God." He turned back to his dozens of monitors, their images reflecting back through the irises of his eyes, gleaming off their bloodshot whites.

"Of course you are, dear."

"Of course I am." He repeated, his fingers taking up their previous occupation with renewed vigor. "And all the 'Verse is my toy." His index finger punctuated the statement, firmly hitting the execute key. Across the known universe, the navigation satellites which tracked all incoming and outgoing traffic around Greenleaf's orbit, as well as the several dozen space lanes which lead to and from it, simultaneously died.

*T*F*C*

_Serenity_

Dead Space

Simon clipped the last of the surgical string away from River's stitches; ignoring the overly large felon whom hovered over his every action. "River?" He ventured cautiously. His sister had said very little since returning to the ship. She'd managed to make it out of the shuttle unassisted, only faltering when Riddick was within reach to grab her. Much to Simon's annoyance, he hadn't let go of some part of her since.

River slowly turned her head to focus on her brother. "She killed five men tonight." Her tone was indifferent, her eyes were glazed more so than their usual. "A sixth will die from wounds sustained."

"I thought we did this earlier today?" Simon asked uneasily as looked down under the guise of clearing away his instruments. "You know the thing where you try to terrify me into not loving you or something."

"Lay off it, Doc." Riddick warned.

Simon ignored him. "You shouldn't have run on that leg _mei-mei_. The water was bad enough. I need to give you a shot of antibiotics and I want you in the infirmary tonight so I can watch for signs of infection. No arguments." He added firmly, expecting a battle; to his distress, River offered none. "_Mei-mei?"_

"She heard you." River informed him. "She wishes to bathe."

"The stitches shouldn't get wet, but I'm sure Inara or Kay-,"

"I'll do it." Riddick rumbled.

"I don't th-,"

"Good night, _ge-ge."_ River cut him off.

Simon opened his mouth to argue, though the words died as a pained exhale. It wasn't worth it. He'd already lost this battle. "I'll be back in an hour." He dropped an affectionate kiss on River's forehead. "For the record, I don't care if you have to kill five hundred men to make it back home alive. Just promise to always come back home." He whispered.

"I promise, _ge-ge._" Her voice was no louder than his, and she held his eyes for a long moment before he turned away and exited the infirmary; closing the doors behind him.

Wordlessly, Riddick lowered the blinds and dimmed the lights low enough to remove his goggles. The silence between them remained as he filled a shallow container with steaming water from the infirmary sink.

"Everything you think is wrong." River said quietly as she watched him cross the room back towards her and set the dish on the rolling table.

"That so?" he arched his brow.

"At the moment."

"Why don't you enlighten me than?" He asked as reached down to her boots and retrieved the stilettos stashed inside each one before pulling off the boots themselves. "You look like shit by the way."

River scowled at him.

"Won't ever lie to you, Riv." He smirked. "One of the only people in the 'Verse I won't."

"Jack's the other."

"Fucking women." He snorted slightly as he pulled his own larger bowie knife from his hip and, rather than jostle River overly much; he cut the remaining way up her cargos on her injured side before doing the same to the opposite. River tightened her hold on the blanket around her shoulders, trying to not shudder from the cold as Riddick helped her get rid of the filthy fabric. "Really didn't think, the next time I saw you completely naked would be cleaning up your bullet wounds." He chuckled humorlessly. "God's a real dick."

"Grazes." She corrected, shuddering this time from the heat of his fingertips as he slid off her panties and, despite her pale coloring, blushing violently.

"When it takes a chunk of your flesh outta your thigh, it ain't a graze anymore." He reached behind him on the counter for another blanket; forcing every thought out of his head except for the task at hand. _Take care of River._ "One on your calf ain't so bad." He pointedly adverted his focus to inspect her lower leg as she peeled off the fabric of her shirt. "So you gonna tell me what I'm wrong about?" He asked as he dipped a hand towel into the steaming water and began at her injured calf.

"I'm not regressing."

"Didn't say you were."

"Didn't say it was said." She countered.

"Not just about pronouns, Riv." He rumbled as he circled the warmed cloth around her knee, the memory of when that knee was last wrapped around his neck flaring vividly to the surface of his mind without his control.

"I am aware." She repressed the urge to hiss with pain as Riddick's hands moved up her thigh, distracting herself with the myriad of other sensations his skilled fingers were creating.

"I killed a few myself tonight." He offered. "Any ideas on what the fuck I'm supposed to say about glowing in the dark?"

"Kaylee thinks it's pretty."

"Oh, fuck you." He dipped the towel back into the water, shifting the cloth in his hand so the soiled part did not touch her again. "I watched that bullet split the plastic of his visor. Shouldn't been able to see like that. Never been able to see or aim like that."

"Furyan."

"Just a word, River, doesn't mean shit to me."

"It should." River shrugged, leaning back against the table as Riddick ran the rough fabric across her stomach; tracing the contours of her ribs with his fingers beneath the barrier of the towel.

"It hurt any?" He asked distractedly as his eyes followed the towel up between the valley of her small breasts, the blanket still shielding them from his view completely.

"No, Simon gave her a shot for the pain. He wanted to make her sleep." She whispered as one of the calloused pads of his fingertips grazed the curve of her breast and his other hand gently pulled her arm from the blanket. "He wants her to forget." She added softly as the warm cloth caressed her skin and she let her heart and lungs fall into time with Riddick's.

Riddick said nothing as he tossed the towel into the sink and folded the blanket across her chest to keep her warm after tucking her arm back in. He grabbed a fresh cloth to wash her neck and face, his lips grazing just over the hollow of her throat, the one place on her body he had staked as utterly his. He inhaled deeply, hovering where he could feel her life pump through his lips as if to reassure himself she was alive, and he nipped at the freshly clean skin there. Relief rumbled through his chest as he forced himself away to walk around the table to her uninjured side, repeating the motions once more.

Neither spoke again; River preferring to lose herself in soothing sensations of Riddick's fingertips. Constructing walls inside her mind to keep out everything else; allowing his mind to shield hers as she burrowed herself within it. She had killed. Willingly, consciously, and without reserve; she had molded herself in the image of Zoe Alleyne. She did not like it. The coarse laces scratched against her skin now, where they once sat as a comfort; she left them there still, even absent the comfort, they served a purpose.

_Boots and puddles of blood, stench and rot, and ever more she trudges onward. One foot, one step, forward. There is nothing to look back at, the past is dead. _

She wore than now, not as Zoe Alleyne had, but as Zoe Washburne; and she understood.

Riddick's silence came from habit. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd told Inara he'd spoken more on _Serenity_ than he had anywhere else at any other point in his life. The silence was as natural for him as the darkness; the repetitive motions of his hands as soothing as shaping a shiv. He didn't want to think about the white hot panic that had torn through his mind when River had mentally screamed at him after getting pinned outside the lab; nor did he want to think about the fear which had nestled into the base of his skull and festered with every passing second after he'd felt River get hurt. Even less than those things, did he want to think about her naked skin, and the soft breathy sighs escaping her lips; lips he wanted to kiss until they were raw and bleeding and skin he wanted to taste every inch of. He stopped the rumble from building in his chest, almost thankful for the timid knock on the door when it came; almost.

"Busy." He barked.

"I've brought some clothes for River." Inara's voice drifted in through the seams of the door.

Riddick made sure River was covered entirely before calling for the Companion to enter.

"_Mei-mei-,"_ She smiled at the younger woman, "-how is your leg, sweetheart?" She asked maternally as she placed the small bundle of clean clothes on the counter and, ignoring Riddick's mercurial glare, took a place beside the bed.

"I am well." River yawned slightly, oblivious to much else besides the sudden disturbing absence of Riddick's hands and the odd sort of fuzziness to everything around the edges. The fuzziness she could explain, Simon had wanted her to sleep and so had given her well above the recommended dosage of painkillers; the absence of Riddick's hands, however, she could not.

"I thought you two would like to know, that's assuming the mind reader had other things on her mind-," she teased as she brushed a piece of River's hair from her face, "-while everyone is quite curious as to why our resident escaped convict glows blue, they are otherwise unscathed and we have set a rather long and backwards course to Beaumonde." She cracked an amused and expectant eyebrow at the convict in question.

"They're fine with a mind reader, but a man glows blue and everybody wants a fucking answer." Riddick snorted.

"I'm sure it can wait until morning." Inara replied smiling. "Sleep well _mei-mei."_ She rubbed River's arm affectionately.

Riddick lifted his eyebrow at River after the doors closed behind Inara.

"She is pleased she did not die." River shrugged.

"You or her?"

"Both."

"You do realize it's fucked I have to ask that right?"

"Entirely." River yawned again.

*T*F*C*

Endnote: Yes, that was a bit of a convoluted quote from Edge of Darkness said by Mal regarding the cross thing. Again I want to thank my beta Thug-4-Less, he held my hand through every single word of this update and I must credit him with all the technical jargon related to weapons, as well as some extra tech-y bits with Inara's piloting and the mule. Speaking of Inara's mad piloting skills, for those of you wondering where they came from, there is a deleted scene from the movie _Serenity_ which she does display them and I drew from for inspiration.

Am I done here and ready to head on to Heart of Gold? No. LOL. Actually coming up next is hopefully my first mini-episode, The Days Between. Think of it like the season teasers for Tru Blood, or even the web promos down for Chronicles and Serenity. And on that note, so SQUEE new information about the next Riddick movie has been released, where apparently we meet other elementals aside from Air. A word of warning, whatever their planning probably completely screws with my plot-line and destroys my connect-the-dots sequences, so, we're going to ignore every bit of teaser information that comes out. :D

Much luv, I hope you enjoyed and thanks so much for hanging in there. The first installment (and one of three) of The Days Between is already completed, and unless something major comes and earthquakes through my life I hope to have the whole of it completed by the end of the weekend. I am babysitting tonight, so no hope of work getting done on that front, but tomorrow is all mine and I plan on working on it from the moment I open my eyes to the moment I pass out from a caffeine crash.

'Til after now.


	76. The Days Between I

An:

Welcome to our first mini-episode!

The Days Between is meant to bridge the gap between the end of Interlude 12 and the beginning of Episode 13 Heart of Gold.

I'm going to be jumping around a bit since we have some time to cover here and covering every single moment, would, I'm afraid, become repetitive and tiresome.

The main goal of this series of installments is to hang with our crew during some downtime, so I'm going to put a major fluff warning here.

That being said, I do so hope you enjoy.

Thank you so much to my beautiful reviewers your words are like my crack and make me do happy dances. Thank you all, really, so very, very, very much. **Ya'll Rock :D**

Bibirijks, Dessel Ordo, Rachet, KuMardagg, Dherea, Alexydra, duogemstone, librarywitch, chakra, BooklvrAnnie, bklyangel, CeruleanKitten, Amethyst246, AnFan-n-more, Mrstrenznor, & Zen007

And of course, to my fabulous beta, without whom this story would be a an absolute mess, much love bro :D

_***None of it is mine, and I'm not making a dime***_

The Days Between

*T*F*C*

_Serenity_

Dead Space

0500 hours UT (universal time)

(Four hours clear of Greenleaf)

Despite Simon's insistence that River remain in the infirmary overnight, he was no match for the combined persuasive ability of the convict and the Reader; though their particular form of persuasion consisted of threats against his bodily person and threats against his mental well-being as River recited a list of pranks she had played on him in their younger years that she would be more than willing to revive should he continue to argue. The young doctor had wisely bowed out. He did, however, win a concession over which room they stayed in and the compromise of River's old bunk was where they spent their night.

Riddick did not sleep; despite the exhaustion which laced every muscle and bone in his body, he remained awake as he carefully monitored River's temperature for any fluctuations which might signal an infection brought on by the naturally contaminated water of the river. Inara hadn't brought River her own clothes, instead she'd given her a silk robe and slip from her own wardrobe and the contrast of the cool silky fabric against his own weathered and scarred skin and rough cotton blankets was a luxurious pleasure. His calloused fingers caught on the rich fabric and Riddick had to wonder if it was River's fault he could find a metaphor for them somewhere in that. He'd been listening to her rantings for so long now, they almost bled together; Blue Hands, merchants of death, Red and Blue and Purple, the number eleven, Reavers, even once the Underverse and the ghosts of men. Secrets, blood, lies; they all circled around the girl in his arms. It was hard to reconcile the fact that perhaps the fate of the universe rested on what River knew. He didn't really give a shit about the grand scheme however, the 'Verse could circle the drain and burn for all he cared; but if unlocking the secret of what was burning up her brain meant she wouldn't have to carry the weight of it anymore... if it meant that she could fully reclaim her sanity or at least find a sort of peace, was he willing to risk going after it? Was he willing to risk knocking on the Devil's door?

It seemed like the day he boarded was lifetimes ago. He'd just been looking for a ride to the next rock until a crazy naked girl popped out of a box and everything went to Hell. The crazy naked girl with the nice legs who carried a gun and ran three kilometers with a chunk of flesh missing from her thigh; the crazy girl in his arms calculated at the rate of a supercomputer and had an uncanny ability to process all possible outcomes of a situation in milliseconds. She was inside his head and under every inch of skin. The crazy naked girl had a name, River, and even in his mind he couldn't think it without a wave of reverence and devotion.

The ship that was just supposed to be a ride someplace had become more than that and the crew more than just people he was catching a ride with. He liked the smell of _Serenity_ almost as much as he liked River's scent; he found the sounds of her engines and machinery as soothing as the sounds of River's soft breathing as she slept. If he left, where would he go? Where would he take River that was safer than _Serenity_? Where would he ever be able to find a place he could turn his back on the people there and not worry about a shiv being driven into it? Where, as Inara had put it, they wanted to hear him speak? The answer was nowhere. _Serenity_ was home. The realization was profound for the convict.

"Richard B. Riddick, _Serenity, _public relations." He tested the new title aloud; his voice hardly a whisper. It had a nice ring to it, maybe not as menacing as_, Richard B. Riddick, escaped convict, murderer_, but there was a certain finesse in the new one compared to the old. A few more jobs like Greenleaf and Ariel and he figured it could carry its weight, maybe even a little more, considering there were nine other people with _Serenity_ attached to their names.

_She is yours, Furyan. Hunt with your clan and all will fall before your feet._

Shirah's words as they often did in retrospect, fell into a sort of clarity and Riddick found himself suppressing the reflexive growl in his chest as they did so. The clan thing was a little weird but he could be into the everyone falling at his feet; whether it be dead or by their own free will didn't necessarily matter to him but they all would fall. Every last one of them that tried to stand in the way of him, or one of his.

"Riddick B. Riddick, _Serenity_, public relations." He said again out loud, the words this time laced with a sense of conviction. "Yeah, girl-," he added to River, who was still sleeping deeply thanks to the painkillers, "-I can work with that."

*T*F*C*

_Serenity's_ cycles were unchanging and scheduled. Day ran into night and, with no sun to track its passage, meal times were the only true marker. No one turned up for breakfast the following morning after their escape from Greenleaf. No one save the preacher whose habits were ingrained into his years and unbreakable, sleep or no sleep. Still, the older man went through the motions of it, making enough for the crew and leaving it in the oven to keep warm. He carried a plate up to the bridge where the captain sat at watch and had been ever since Wash had gotten them into dead space billions of kilometers from the nearest NavSat tracker.

They sat together in silence; sipping coffee, the soft background noises of the bridge accompanying the scrapping of their chopsticks across their plates. Wash's course kept them in dead space for the majority of the plotted journey to Beaumonde, skimming briefly through a few seldom used ghost lanes, and only risking the more populated shipping lanes once they reached the outer rim of the Kalidasa system. The three day trip it should have been would be a ten day one instead. No one had a mind to argue.

"You've known Riddick longer than all of us-," Mal broke the silence after popping the last bit of rehydrated eggs into his mouth.

"I never saw him glow before." The preacher answered the question before it was finished.

"Yeah, me neither, a bit put out I missed it." Mal joked. "Any ideas?"

"Riddick's old military file had something in it on mutations related to a genetic reaction to terraforming gases; he was born on Fury you know."

"I didn't." Mal sipped off his coffee. "Some civil war or something blew that rock to bits right before the formation of the Alliance didn't it?"

"Right before the Alliance chose to extend their territory, yes." Book corrected. "So many forget Ariel, Sihnon, and Londinum formed the Alliance long before they so graciously began to invite others."

"Invite's a polite way of puttin' it." The captain snorted. "You believe what his file says?"

"I'm not sure. Simon made an excellent point once when I spoke to him about it. Any recorded genetic mutation as a result of terraforming gases has always been exactly that, a mutation. What Riddick is, is nothing sort of evolution."

"Those military boys didn't splice 'im around like they did River, did they?"

"If they did, there was no record of it, nor have I ever heard Riddick speak on it." Book answered honestly.

"Why don't you tell me about the man you knew then?" Mal asked. "I ain't questioning whether or not he's a danger to us, I know he ain't. Just a bit curious and the man ain't all that chatty."

Book took a slow sip off his coffee. "We were both different men then."

"A bit curious if you're gonna start glowin' on us too."

The shepherd chuckled slightly. "No, captain, I don't glow. I'm just an old man with a life of regrets, and sins I may never atone for."

"Sounds like my kind of story. Big fan of sin myself." Mal replied with a half-cocked grin as he unnecessarily checked their heading.

"Not these sins, Mal. Slavery, murder, rape; Sigma was riddled with it all and controlled by the worst kind of men imaginable. I told you when I first boarded that Blue Sun wasn't the government but they might as well be. The Company funds the Alliance through a labyrinth of umbrella corporations and pseudo-charitable organizations. They keep the populace fed and manufacture everything. If I walk through this ship I'd find thousands of things from bolts to the oven in the mess, to the padding of these chairs which was made by Blue Sun or one of their affiliates. In turn, the Alliance turns a blind eye to anything and everything they do."

Book paused and let his gaze wander from the captain to the view beyond the glass and the infinite sea of stars. "Riddick was recruited straight out of a Company home two years after nearly beating to death a staff member who was trying to force himself on a little girl; the beating he himself took for it should have killed him. It was his rapid rate of healing that first drew the Company's eyes onto him. He was twelve then, fourteen when they collected him-," he paused again thoughtfully, "-the point is they took him young, molded him into the perfect soldier and dropped him on Sigma. I always wondered why it was they hid such a valuable resource as Riddick away on that rock."

"Seems like he'd be prefect material for them Blue Hands they use." Mal remarked.

"It does, doesn't it?" Book asked. "I assume it has something to do with his personality, though." The preacher smiled humorlessly. "I remember a footnote in his file, something about displaying an unprecedented amount of curiosity and defiance. I have a feeling it made him a less than ideal candidate for the program and I always thought Sigma was meant to be a sort of test for him. One he failed by their standards."

"Obviously." Mal replied dryly.

"When I arrived on Sigma, I promoted Riddick almost immediately. Aside from the obvious advantage of his eyes, the man was a strong and capable leader. There was a near-riot on Sigma once and not from the workers. The soldiers themselves had gotten into an all-out brawl in the main mess hall. Our supply shipment had been hit by raiders and after quelling an uprising we were low on not only men but food and ammo stocks as well. Tempers were running high and quick. I'm not sure how it began but I know Riddick is the one that ended it."

"What do you mean he ended it?"

"He kicked open the door of the hall, unloaded a round into the air, and snapped the neck of the one man stupid enough to try and charge him. I wasn't present but, according to the official report, after killing the one soldier he challenged anyone else to try and, when no one did, he strung together more words then anyone had ever heard him speak. Apparently, on that night, he spoke at great length. The next morning I had over twenty transfer requests on my desk."  
"So, what made him decide to flip? If he was such a gung-ho Company man?" The captain asked curiously.

"A girl." Book answered.

"Ain't it always about a woman?"

"I wouldn't know myself." Book chuckled.

"Hell, you weren't always a preacher." Mal countered. "So, what happened anyways?"

"The same thing that happened at the home he grew up in. Riddick got involved with a girl there. She'd been born on Sigma. Her parents both working away at their ever growing debt to the Company. I believe Riddick even considered using his saved pay to buy her and her folks their ticket off that rock. Unfortunately for her, one of the commanding officers also took an interest and she didn't survive the night. The man Riddick died that night with her, I think. What he is now is the direct result of the years that followed. I heard stories, of course, while we were both on the run. Everyone heard the stories of the 'Verse's Most Wanted. At first he only went after those that were chasing him and then I think he decided to go after the ones that were giving the orders to go after him. More than one military officer has died by his hands, and I'm quite sure there's been a few that he was never credited for."

"Which is when he decided to just run?" Mal asked.

"I don't think he thought it made a difference anymore, how many he killed. The bounty would never be off his head, so I believe he attempted to just live under the radar. He ran jobs of course, everyone needs to eat, but I don't think the money ever meant anything to him."

"So how come Blue Sun never went after him directly? Blue Hands have been chasing River across this 'Verse."

"On that, I can't be sure, probably for the same reason the military hasn't openly come out against the Tams aside from the new bounties. Keeping your friends close and your enemies closer is not always the best course; sometimes it is better to distance yourself as much as possible from your embarrassments. I assume they hoped the bounty would keep him running until someone got a lucky shot in."

"That's all it really comes down to, don't matter how good you are-," Mal mused, "-just one lucky shot. Guess I even kinda thought River was untouchable, 'til she took those hits last night. Everyone's got a bullet with their name on it, only trick is to die of old age before it finds you. You're doin' well on that account."

"Thanks." Book snorted.

"Believe it or not, there was a compliment in there somewhere." Mal assured him as he yawned.

"I believe there was." Book pressed his lips together in a thin smile. "You should get some sleep, captain. I'll take the bridge watch from here."

"I'll sleep plenty when I'm dead." The captain retorted through yet another yawn. "But I suppose I'd last a bit longer in this life if I got some rack." He groaned slightly as he pushed himself out of his chair. "Thanks for the grub, preacher." He clapped the older man on his back. "And for the story."

"Anytime, Captain." Book replied.

*T*F*C*

The entirety of the crew did not find their way from their bunks until lunch; the meal was the first in the last several that felt as it should. While the shepherd had exhausted most of his supply of monastic humor, the jaded barbs flew freely. In short, the meal passed in a riot of one-liners and barking laughter. The bubble of tension which they had been riding on since Tracey first boarded had burst, the relief rippling through the crew palpable, and much appreciated by the resident mind-reader whom even managed a few quips herself despite her wounds and somewhat deflated demeanor.

"So's, now the only people on board that ain't been shot are 'Nara, the doc, and Wash. Could fix that for ya, Doc, if yer feelin' left out." Jayne offered generously as he leaned back in his chair, tossing one arm over the back of Kaylee's.

"As kind as that offer is, Jayne, you'll forgive me if I decline. I'm sure the future is ripe with opportunity still." Simon replied. "But you left out the shepherd from that list."

"Oh, I've taken a bullet or two in my day. I'm sure _Serenity_ will count time served on that." Book chuckled.

"And I was tortured-," Wash added, "-I'll use my bullet card on that, thank you very much."

"So that leaves you, 'Nara." Mal grinned at her. "Care to take a bullet for your captain?"

"But, you catch them so wonderfully yourself, Mal." She teased, earning herself a round of laughter from the table and one comically affronted look from the captain.

"Ask." River snapped suddenly, dramatically tossing her chopsticks down and rubbing her temples.

"Oh, thank God!" Wash exhaled just as dramatically as River. "Why in the hell do you glow, Riddick?"

The question had been screaming on the surface of every crew member's mind, aside from Jayne, who had already had occasion to witness it. River had bore it with as much patience as she could manage to muster but the dull ache in her leg and the constant bombardment of curiosity had successfully chewed away at the last of her nerve endings. In truth, it had very little to do with her status as a mind-reader and much more to do with her status as an unapologetic genius. She detested unanswered curiosity, it prickled like shards of glass against her skin.

"Still won't believe it 'til I see it." Zoe muttered more to herself as she shook her head slightly.

Riddick's grip tightened ever so slightly around his chopsticks. _/Fuck you too, River./_ He mentally snorted at her.

_/It was irksome. He should be pleased the majority feared him and the answer enough not to ask until permission was given./_

_/The majority?/_

_/Kaylee thinks it's pretty./_ The first portion of her thought was sweetly barbed, the next thought which followed however was laced with an odd amount of unintended jealousy Riddick was more than slightly amused by. _/It should be noted, I cannot yet form an opinion as you have not displayed luminescence for her./_

_/Not a fucking light bulb, Riv. Not something I just turn on and off./_

"Ya'll feel like talkin' to the rest of the class?" Mal asked, as he popped a bit of protein something-or-the-other into his mouth. Later, he would find it mildly disturbing that he'd ever had occasion to ask such a question but, as it was at the moment, it left his lips as easily as any question regarding the weather would.

"Same reason I see in the dark and I heal the way I do." Riddick answered dismissively, hoping to downplay the situation entirely. "Why I can smell and hear better too."

"Which is because?" Kaylee prompted.

"Fuck if I know." Riddick lied as he shrugged and took a sip off his coffee.

"So the eyes weren't done by a Slam doc then?" Wash asked.

"You miss the part where the preacher told us awhile back, Riddick worked for the Company in the mines before he ever went to Slam?" Jayne asked cynically, omitting entirely that the fact had been cleared up for him by the Preacher as well.

"Apparently, I did." Wash retorted. "But, I figure if I can wrap my head around a mind-reading assassin, eventually a glow-in-the-dark convict will work itself in." And oddly enough, River found as she tested the mental current of the room, it was a thought seconded by every member of the crew. It was a bit unsettling, to be sure, but none of them could argue with Riddick's skills; and how said skills greatly increased their own chances of staying alive, and being wealthy as they did so.

"The connection to your vision makes sense." Simon mused, the doctor coming out. "There are hundreds of examples of it in nature."

"Told you already, Doc, you're not running tests." Riddick rumbled.

"Kind of funny, you know-," Kaylee giggled slightly, "-_Serenity's_ a Firefly and she's got crew that glows." Her giggle caught on to River who, despite Riddick's glare, ruptured into an all-out fit right alongside the mechanic.

"Get it all out now-," Riddick rumbled darkly, "-you got an hour. After that, I kill the first person who cracks a joke. Includes you." He pointed his chopsticks at Kaylee.

"Aw, Riddick, you're even less scary now that I know you glow." Kaylee waved her hand dismissively at him as she rose from the table with her plate.

"I can make a grown man piss himself but a mechanic with a goddamn teddy bear on her coveralls laughs in my face." Riddick mock growled.

"Try sharin' a bunk with her." Jayne chortled under his breath.

"Heard that, Cobb." Kaylee called from the counter and the crew couldn't help but laugh at the merc's reflexive wince.

"I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, Riddick-," Mal joked, "-women aboard this ship ain't ones to be trifled with."

"Damn sight tougher than the men." Zoe quipped.

"I think it makes us all the more manly." Wash protested, puffing out his chest slightly. "Only the truly masculine men marry those that can break them with their pinkies."

"Not saying much for Zo." Jayne snorted into his coffee.

"I think he insulted you, wife-y." Wash goaded.

"No, husband, that would be you he insulted, but I could still shoot 'im for that if ya like." She smirked.

"And again I'm bringin' up that no killin' crew rule." Mal shook his head. "Think that means it's about time I hand out ship-work for the day."

"Aw, Cap, we just pulled the biggest job of our lives and its back to work already?" Kaylee complained as she dropped back down in her seat next to Jayne. "How's 'bout a day of rest?"

"Even the Lord rested one day, Mal." Book offered.

"And he strung up his own kid on a cross, way I remember the story, preacher." Mal retorted. "Told Riv back on Greenleaf, I'm sick of being hung and I meant it. I want full inventories done today; ammo, sundries, spare parts, everything. We're gonna have the coin to spend, so let's not find ourselves stuck because we were cutting corners."

"We got ten days though." Kaylee argued.

"So that means we got the time to be thorough." Mal countered. "Listen, we got ten days between us and Beaumonde, let's get all we can get done, done."

"And after Beaumonde?" The preacher asked.

"I was thinking maybe we can skip on over to Beylix." Mal finished off his coffee and rose from the table with his plate. "Make ourselves a nuisance at the Cobbs' for a few days; lay low a week or so before we raise Mr.U for another job."

"Really?" Simon blurted out; recovering immediately by adding. "I'm anxious to see how Matty is doing on the new treatment."

"I'm sure ya are, Doc." Jayne sneered slightly. "Just remember it's Matty you're supposed to be looking to." He tapped the ends of his chopsticks at the corner of his eyes as a not so subtle reminder. "Ow! Kaylee, I swear to God, woman, if you don't quit kickin' me under the gorram table, I'll-,"

"You'll what 'xactly, Jayne?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I'll stop ruttin' sittin' next to you that's what, gorramit." He huffed snatching his plate up and pushing himself away from the table. "Ruttin' women aboard this ship are all sorts of unnecessarily violent." He muttered.

The four female residents of _Serenity_ snorted in almost perfect unison.

"How long are we planning on stopping over on Beaumonde for?" Simon asked.

"No more'n than a night. Docking on Beaumonde's ridiculous." Mal replied. "Figure so long as nothing chases us outta there sooner. I'm lookin' forward to the look on the Creeper Twin's faces when we roll in with their goods." He rested his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile crossing his face. "Dreamin' 'bout it now even." He chuckled.

"I know a couple of guys on Beaumonde, best tech you can find." Riddick offered. "And they do custom." He added pointedly to Jayne; more than willing to steer the conversation back away from himself.

"Really now?" The merc grinned. "I could be interestin' in spendin' a bit of coin."

"What kinda tech we talking about?"

"You name it, Mal; everything from class four light-wear body armor to Callahan weaponry."

"Callahan." Jayne perked up even further. "Vera could do with a nice new bit or two."

"Might make this a group trip, Riddick." Mal said thoughtfully. "Could use a piece or two myself; think we might dig into ship coin to get ourselves all a decent piece of armor."

"Runnin' the type of work we are now, we'd be fools not to." Zoe added.

"I'd prefer to take my mandatory bullet in a non-vital place." Simon quipped. "Considering I'm the one that does the bullet removal."

"For the record I was grazed, not shot." River announced loudly.

"Still got hit. Ain't one of us bulletproof." Mal countered. "Need to replace those wirelesses we killed jumping in the river anyhow." He snorted. "And my gorram Mule." He groaned.

"I'll miss that old girl." Kaylee echoed his loss mournfully. "Think we can get ourselves an all-terrain one this time 'round? Oh! Maybe somethin' with swivelin' thruster ports?" She asked, cheering up considerably at the thought.

"Well, that was quick." Wash chuckled.

"Suppose that 'bout sucks up whatever ship coin will be left in the pot. Armor. Decent mule, new this time, no secondhand _goushi._ Then a resupply on the armory. Throw in a full tank and docking fees..." Mal ran through the list.

"Cost of business." Riddick shrugged.

"Your idea to try and jump the river." Jayne scoffed. "Told you, cowboy shit will get you kilt."

"Sure was fun though." Mal chuckled with a cheeky grin.

"I got shot." River said incredulously, her voice shrill; very nearly a shriek.

"Thought you said it was a graze." Riddick smirked.

*T*F*C*

Riddick turned after dropping down through the bunk hatchway; reaching up to catch River as she dropped in herself and, doing so easily, he shifted his grip to deposit her gently on their bed.

"Her leg is perfectly functional." River's complaint was purely for appearances sake.

Riddick ignored it, as he had every other such compliant she'd made throughout the day; using the excuse he didn't want to listen to Simon bitch should she tear her stitches. "It hurt at all?" He asked as he toed off his boots and began the removal of the various blades he carried on his person.

"Manageable." She shrugged honestly as she peeled back the bandages on her thigh. "Simon's work is without fault." River commented on his thoughts.

"Yours is still better."

"Irrelevant." River only half-conceded as she pressed the bandages back into place.

Riddick called for the lights to dim and removed his goggles before pulling over the one chair in their bunk and dropping into it backwards.

"He has something to say. You have been locking doors today." River arched her brow. "Richard B. Riddick, _Serenity,_ public relations."

"Changes the game, River." Riddick leaned forward on the back of the chair. "Not all the people looking for my ass are just looking because of the price tag on it. Womack might not be able to place my face to Yuri, but somebody can and will. Only a matter of time and, if it's not Yuri, it'll be somebody else. You put my name next to yours and somebody connects the dots once... just once." He didn't need to finish, the implication was more than obvious. Riddick reached into his pocket and withdrew a capped syringe, twirling it in his fingers. For River, the sight of it was more unsettling than when he did it with his blades.

"I am not a liability." Her tone was dark and riddled with suspicion as Riddick threw up walls in his mind as quickly as The River moved through it.

"Didn't say you were." He countered, his eyes not looking up from the needle. "Been carrying one of these around with me since before Ariel, when your brother said that phrase." The syringe halted in its dance, and he flipped it in his hand, catching it in his palm and closing his fist around it. "Need rules, River, like if I tell you to run, you run. Fuck Mal and the crew and their big damn hero shit; there's gonna come a day when it might be my ass or yours, and I'm telling you now, when the time comes, you pick your ass."

"I-,"  
"I'm not done, River. You carry a gun and not just that piece of shit A-3 that nearly got your ass killed. An actual fucking gun." His grip tightened on the needle and he opened his fist, dropping the broken pieces to the grating. "And I'm not gonna be your leash. If I have to carry that, it means you can't keep up. And I know you can."

The noise the jagged pieces of the syringe made as they hit the grating vibrated through the very core of River's being; the words that danced around it were meager shells of their intention, the emotion and confession laced within their syllables and the primitive root of their sounds.

"I understand." River replied softly as she leaned forward; her slender fingers reaching out to trace the contours of his face, mapping out the lines of his life in their wake. Riddick's insistence she leave him behind perhaps the only confession or declaration the convict would ever verbally make and it was more than enough.

"We ever get separated, River, find your way to New Mecca. Find the Holy man and Jack. Tell them I sent you and you're to wait for me there." He told her as he slid onto the bed, propping her injured leg up on his own body. She ducked under his arm and wrapped it around herself as he pulled her against his chest. "On jobs, we keep our distance from one other, and don't believe a word that comes out of my mouth without Reading my head first."

River's forehead furrowed, the level of paranoia radiating from Riddick was unnatural for the convict; it slid over the threads of his consciousness like a razor blade; fraying the outer layers.

"They'll use you, River." He rumbled as he shifted them slightly to be more comfortable. "Too many people want me dead for me to go around handing out bullets."

"If I am a bullet, who is to say his name is written on her?" River challenged archly, attempting to divert the flow of conversation. She did not like when Riddick spoke as though he was afraid. The emotion ill-suited him and spread like a crack in glass across the surface of her mind.

"My name's written all over you girl, just can't see it yet." He rumbled his voice dropping low and seductive as its graveled undertones rolled across her skin. Riddick pulled back on her hair, forcing her head upwards and nipped at her lower lip; catching her wrist he brought it up to his face and inhaled deeply. "I can smell me on you." He growled as he pressed his lips to the point of her pulse, feeling her heartbeat through the fragile casing of skin; the steady thrumming echoing along his nerve endings. He caught her eyes, his own mercurial ones lighting up fractionally, humor edging his pupils. "Pretty damn sure you'll be the one to get me killed anyhow."

"_S__ǐ__ pì y__ǎ__n _ (damned asshole)." River snorted at him as she pulled her wrist away and swatted him on the chest.

"What'd I say about hitting me, girl?" He chuckled, the sound biting at the air in their bunk.

"You suggested she cease violence against your person. S_uggested._" She emphasized. "Stop deserving it."

"I don't know-," he rumbled as he shifted her, mindful of her wounds, to be laying almost completely on top of him, "-kind of like it when you get violent, _è__mó__n__ǚ__hái_(demon girl)." He caught her lips as his fingers twisted into her hair, holding her to him as though she had any inclination to be moved at all. Minutes passed in silence broken only by the rugged whisper of lips and slight clinking of teeth as Riddick's mouth moved against hers; rough fingertips teased at the fabric of her shirt, dipping beneath it to trace the lines of her torso; its pattern now nearly connected to their muscle memory.

When River broke for air she slid partially off his chest, resting her head against it. "Soon." She whispered the sound so low it was almost lost beneath their breathing.

"You really are gonna kill me." Riddick nearly groaned.

"Counterproductive." River giggled slightly as she craned her head up to press her lips against the base of his throat. "I enjoy the smell of your skin on mine." She confessed.

Riddick tightened his hold on her as she nestled into his side and closed his eyes to inhale deeply; letting River saturate his senses, her system falling into the rhythm of his own.

"Sleep." River whispered against his skin. "Precognitive abilities are absent; she can feel them looking but we are far from their reach."

"They'll always be looking." Riddick rumbled. "Don't have to be a psychic to know that."

"Until their eyes close for good."

"Sounds like murder."

"Sounds like survival." She countered. "Blood drips from lips and fingertips as death's herald mars the midnight sky. The stars whisper secrets of the forgotten who scream to be remembered. There's a black spot on the map of universal consciousness."

"And that sounds like crazy." Riddick snorted, somewhere between sleep and wakefulness where River's whimsical words danced across his mind as the beginnings of a dream; her morbid warning serving as an odd kind of lullaby.

"Perhaps-," she sighed, as she closed her eyes, "- but nothing is ever as it seems. I wish I knew what I was saying."

"Wouldn't be nearly as much fun."

*T*F*C*

_Serenity_

Three days later…

"I'm out!" Mal threw his hands up a bit ridiculously.

Inara glared at her partner from across the table.

Jayne chuckled as he leaned across and pounded his fist against Riddick's. "Didn't even have to ruttin' cheat." He gloated.

"Bit?" Mal craned his head to look around the bulk of Riddick's body.

"They did not." She replied distractedly, before actually looking up from her sketchpad and cracking a wry eyebrow, "Surprisingly."

"Never again." Inara muttered under her breath as she collected her portion of the small slips of exemptions from their combined pile.

The captain poured himself another drink. "Can't help but notice how your pile's a'considerable bit bigger than mine."

"Well, that's what you get for trying to bluff on a pair of plums." She replied easily.

"Thought you rethought that whole living on the edge thing a while back, Mal?" Riddick asked.

"What can I say?" Mal saluted his glass, "I'm a sucker for a shot in hell."

"And a shitty card player." Jayne saluted back.

_"Attention, fugitives, malcontents, and assorted dodgers of law and tax enforcement-,"_ Wash's voice crackled cheerfully across the ship wide, "-_this is your pilot speaking. In roughly five minutes, we will be leaving dead space and passing through a monitored lane. If you happen to have x-ray vision you may look out through your portside bulkhead and notice a particular boring set of stars and to your starboard yet another particularly uninteresting cluster of stars. In short, our scanners are clear and, with any luck, we will be back in the comfort of desolate, vacant space within the next two hours. If a beautiful Amazon would like to keep a dashingly handsome pilot company, it would not go amiss. Especially if she brought with her coffee."_

Mal cracked an eyebrow at the speaker.

"_Oh, and a few of those dumplings the preacher made for dinner."_

"He's not done." River informed them.

_"And if a certain mechanic could figure out why I'm getting a warning indicator from the grav regulator, that too would be much appreciated, that is all."_

"How in the Hell did the dumplings rank higher than the grav regulator?" Mal asked of no one in particular.

No one had the chance to reply as Kaylee's voice answered back over the ship-wide. _"If a certain pilot would stop blowin' atmo at full burn, the grav regulator would stop bein' tetchy."_

_ "That falls to a certain captain with a fondness for suicidal stand-offs and shoot-outs." _Wash retorted.

Kaylee's snort carried over the comm. "_You forgot cheap replacement parts."_

_ "And a fondness for cheap replacement parts."_

"They do know I can hear them, right?" Mal asked incredulously.

"They are perfectly aware." River replied almost absently as her forehead crinkled and she leaned down closer to her pad to inspect a line.

"Could use a lesson or two in subtlety." Mal muttered as he picked up his glass.

"Like you know anything about subtlety, Mal." Inara remarked dryly.

"And it continues." He rolled his eyes. "Anybody else want a cheap shot at their captain?"

"That was rhetorical." River stopped Jayne before the merc could put his foot in his mouth.

"Knew that." He grunted.

"And on that note, I think I'll retire for the evening." Inara laughed lightly as she stood from the table. "Goodnight." She dipped her head slightly as she gathered her wrap around her shoulders and her goodnight was returned in various forms and vague acknowledgments as she headed out of the mess; bypassing the first mate as she did so.

"Zo, your husband's fired." Mal informed her.

"That so, sir?" She smirked as she moved for the coffeepot at the counter.

"It is." He nodded.

"I'll be sure to tell him that, sir."

"Ain't no real rush-," he waved her off, the barest traces of a grin on his face as he leaned back in his chair, "-I'd fire Kaylee too, but _Serenity_ fusses too much when anybody else messes with her bits."

"You mean we'd drop out of the sky." Riddick corrected.

"That too." Mal shrugged easily. "What the hell, might as well let Wash stay. Wouldn't be fair to fire one and not t'other."

"Whatever you say, sir." Zoe drawled as she took her husband's plate of dumplings and coffee and headed up to the bridge.

"One day I will figure out if that's sarcasm or loyalty when she calls me sir."

"Loyalty." River answered reflexively.

"Clears that mystery up." Mal took a sip of his whiskey. "I mention how useful it is having a mind-reader aboard my ship?"

"Apples or chocolate." River reminded him.

"How about a captain's appreciation?"

"Only if it comes in the form of apples or chocolate."

Mal snorted. "Others are happy enough with whiskey."

"The others do not have to differentiate thought from spoken word." River countered.

"Fair 'nough." Mal chuckled as he pushed himself away from the table. "I'm done. Jayne, first watch is on you tonight once Wash gets us back in the clear."

"He forget his bunk was the other way?" Riddick cracked an amused eyebrow after the captain departed the mess via the hatch which led to the bay.

"Twenty says she throws him out in less than five." Jayne chuckled.

"I'll give him ten." Riddick smirked.

"Riv?" Jayne asked checking his watch. "You'll tell us?"

"In the future, she will require a ten percent fee." The Reader sighed.

"Five." Jayne countered.

"Done." River agreed.

*T*F*C*

_Two days later…_

River forced herself to breathe through the pain as she extended the muscles of her leg; raising it to a near parallel of her nose as she balanced on her strong leg. A familiar rippling ebbed just beneath her skin; an adaptation pulled straight from Riddick's mind as her own compartmentalized the pain, shutting down neuro-receptors; redirecting and reassigning the rush of endorphins and adrenaline. The surgical string holding together her broken skin strained under the pressure but held.

"Ain't human." Kaylee snorted leaning up into a sitting position from where she had been on her back; Jayne's hovercycle propped up above her.

"Sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." River replied, her voice drifting easily from her lips as she exhaled, repeating the process and this time balancing herself on the wounded leg.

"It's after breakfast." Kaylee chewed her lip slightly, wincing in pain for River even if the girl didn't seem to feel it herself.

"Gonna break yourself, girl." Riddick warned over his shoulder from the arms locker. Greenleaf hadn't eaten up much in the way of ammo, but the state and condition of more than a few stock pieces were less than ideal and their current level of explosives was entirely uncomfortable in the opinion of the two public relations officers.

River ignored them as she brought her leg back down; their commentary barely leaving a trace in one ear as it drifted out the other. Inhaling deeply, she pushed off the grating and flipped backwards; her back-handspring flawless.

"Don't care who you are, that hurts." Jayne's face contorted slightly as River dropped to the grating in a full split.

"I'm not fucking counting every one of these things." Riddick dropped a box of loose ammo on top of a crate. "River?"

River rolled her eyes but pulled herself up from the grating and her floor exercises. While Kaylee missed the slight falter in her step, Jayne and Riddick did not. "I am fine." She retorted in answer to their thoughts as she crossed over to the locker. She dumped the box of loose ammo out across the top of the crate, the slightly raised edges of the container keeping the miscellaneous ammunition from rolling onto the grating. Her eyes rapidly scanned them as she held her hand out. Riddick handed her the stylus but held onto the portable notepad as she jotted the numbers down.

"Listed by size."

"That makes us done, Jayne." Riddick smirked.

"Ain't no way she coulda counted them like that." Jayne argued as he looked at the numbers, glancing back down at the crate and the loose rounds rolling around on its lid.

"Her tallies are without flaw." She replied archly, attempting to discreetly shift her weight from her bad leg. In retrospective, the attempt at subterfuge was a bit ridiculous. Riddick immediately picked up on it. She was grateful, however, for his own discretion as he shifted himself slightly, allowing her to lean back against his body for support.

"If you say so." Jayne shrugged, not entirely sure she could be right, but not looking to argue with being done with inventory. "So you want to run a set with me, Riddick?"

"How's 'bout, with all that time Riv freed up for you, you help me with _your_ gorram bikes?" Kaylee asked, her tone more than slightly irritated.

"Uh… o'course girl, I was gonna, but I didn't figure you wanted my big hands muckin' up your work." Jayne attempted to recover quickly.

"That's just about the lamest thing I ever did hear, Jayne." She snipped back.

_/They gonna be done anytime soon?/_ Riddick's thoughts drawled lazily to River as the merc/mechanic pairing began to bicker.

_/No./_ River answered._ /Catch in three, two, one.../_

Riddick's hand shot out, catching the titanium-coated socket wrench Kaylee had lobbed at Jayne's head; which only encouraged another bout of yelling from the merc it had been aimed for.

_/She misses on purpose./_ River remarked as Riddick tossed the socket wrench once in his hand.

_/Figured that, nobody's got aim that shitty./_

*T*F*C*


	77. The Days Between II

Kalidasa System

Beaumonde

Central Docking

As was its usual, Central Docking and the small city that had built itself around it, bustled with activity. The crowd varied from the poorest of the poor, selling handcrafted trinkets recycled from salvaged bits of trash collected on the streets, to the wealthiest of the elite, appropriately sectioned off from the lowest vestiges of society by large barricades and armed patrols on the upper levels. _Serenity_ was berthed in one of the lower ports. It was winter on this part of Beaumonde now and, beyond the gates of the docking yard, the less fortunate huddled around fires built inside discarded oil drums or slept over sewer grates that vented stem and excess heat from the portions of the city which had retreated underground.

"I think this is my least favorite speck of dirt in the Black." Wash frowned as he looked out into the docking yards from the warmth and security of _Serenity's_ bridge.

"Won't be here long." Mal assured him as he dropped into the co's station and dialed in a Wave frequency. "Been lookin' forward to a day like this since they kicked us outta their bar."

"Place smelled like shit anyway." Riddick rumbled as he leaned against the support beam.

"Better than Badger's hole." Zoe offered.

"That ain't sayin' much." Jayne grunted.

"Fanty! Mingo! " Mal interrupted the crew's banter with an overly cheerful greeting to the two identical mocha-skinned men who appeared on the screen before him. "Wheel never does stop turnin', does it?" He smirked as he leaned back in his chair.

"Reynolds." They greeted tersely in unison.

"I thought they'd be happier to see me." Mal said with just a trace of mock injury, more to his collected crew then the two men across the Wave.

"Buisness, Mal." Fanty insisted.

"Weren't so keen to do business with me the last time I came through these parts. Wonder what coulda changed that?"

"I'd say that we have somethin' they need, sir." Zoe replied for the twins.

"I'd reckon you'd be right about that, Zo." Mal mused, returning the dual sneers and glares on the screen before him with his trademark infuriating, cheeky grin.

"Sod off, you bloody wanker." Fanty snapped, before regaining his cool and adjusting his lapels as his brother stepped in front of his view.

"Now, now, Reynolds, deal's been made, money's changed hands. You bring us our crates and we'll call it square on all accounts." Mingo's voice rolled around the edges of his words, his accent belying the depth of his own irritation.

"See, now-," the captain drawled lazily, "-I don't really need to be square with shit like you no more." He glanced at his nails. "And since me and mine were so kind to bring your goods across a few systems for you, you and your boys can haul their asses out into the cold and come collect your property."

"My, my, so the paupers think they can play with kings." Fanty observed acerbically.

"They get a friend or two and spit on all those that 'elped 'em up." Mingo snorted, adjusting the silver bracelets he wore.

"Memory's a real funny thing there, 'cause I don't remember you two doin' anythin' but pushin' me and mine down." Mal retorted, his tone barely held even as the control on his temper began to fray.

"With friends come enemies, Captain Reynolds." Fanty sneered.

"Question is-," Mingo leaned in, his brother finishing the question for him.

"How many can you afford?"

"You want your goods, boys? Come and fetch 'em." Mal flicked off the Wave before either one of the men could say another word.

"Well, that went well." Wash said optimistically.

"Yeah, don't change the fact they got a point." Jayne shot back. "They're pilin' up all around us."

"Irrelevant." River injected as she stepped onto the bridge. "I will always keep Mother one step ahead." She clarified as she ran her fingers reverently along a piece of metal.

"See that?" Mal retorted.

"Arrogance is not the answer, vigilance is." River corrected the captain's thread of consciousness.

"Ain't arrogance if it's truth, Bit." Mal replied. "_Serenity's_ got herself a crack pilot, a mechanic that talks to her, a prodigy doc, a preacher with a very ungodly set of skills, a cunnin' Companion to class her up, a merc that can nail a fly from five hundred yards, a gun that can see in the dark and smell a fella coming from a kilometer away, a mind-reading genius, a first mate that's harder and tougher than nails, and a dashingly handsome and brilliant captain to lead 'em." Mal pushed himself out of his chair as he pointed out the glass and to the sky beyond. "That sky out there, well, once you look past the smog, but that sky above the sky, that big, beautiful Black; that's _Serenity's_ home turf, that's our gorram sky. Ain't nobody takin' that from us."

"You know their boys will try something." Riddick rumbled.

"Oh, I really hope they do." Mal grinned unsettlingly. "Bit, I do recollect you being a mite put out over hidin' in air vents, how's about a lead role this time?"

*T*F*C*

Less than a full hour later, the access door of the airlock ramp was opened; the four men who stood outside in the biting cold were not entirely sure what to make of the two men that opened the door to greet them. Perhaps it was the ridiculous looking hat one of them wore, contrasted by the big ass gun he held, or perhaps it was the low steady growl rumbling from the chest of the other that was only magnified by the big ass blade he flipped around in his hands. Either way, it was abundantly clear they were less than welcome. The darker-skinned man merely pointed to three crates sitting out on the floor with his knife and the men cautiously entered. What awaited them in the open space of the bay, was no less unnerving then the sight that had greeted them, nor did they again have any real idea of what to make of it.

A young woman sat on the center of the three crates flanked on either side by two former Browncoats by the looks of them. On the surface it appeared to be like any other pick up their bosses had sent them on; but the undercurrent of danger hung heavy in the air, so thick it could almost be tasted. The sitting woman seemed utterly innocuous. She was hardly anything at all; the mass of braids on her head intertwined with ribbons, combined with the black ballerina slippers she wore, made her seem as though she could be any one of their _mei-meis. _That impression lasted until she spoke.

"Two blind mice, two blind mice-," she sang, her voice full of whimsy, as a small butterfly knife materialized in her hand; she began to spin it in a hypnotizing pattern that fell into time with her words "-see how they run, see how they run-," she rose from her position and crossed the handful of meters between herself and the men; circling them with glazed eyes in an unblinking stare, "-they all ran after the farmer's wife and she cut off their tails with a carving knife." She came to a halt in front of them. "Inform your employers, she sees them before they move." She reached into the left pocket of the tallest man and withdrew a small tracking device. "Blinding eyes is her specialty." She smirked.

Mal sauntered over to stand next to her. "Tell those greasy haired _hundans_ (bastards), if they try to come after me and my crew, if I ever even hear a whisper that leads back to them, all manner of Hell will rain down on you and yours." He tapped the man's cheek not so affectionately.

"Ain't personal, _pengyu_ (friend)-," the man who had been caught with the beacon held up both of his hands defensively, "-just doin' as I've been paid to do."

"And I do understand that." Mal clapped him on the back. "Which is why I talked my Little Bit here into not pryin' out your eyeballs with one of her toys." He threw his arm over the man's shoulders as he walked him to the crates. "See, her and that other big fella, they got a real creepifying fondness for their blades. And the other one? Well, the gun he's holdin' should say enough. What they ain't fond of though, is folk that think they can turn on us. We've been real peaceable with your bosses and I hope to continue that way. All that killin' and blowin' up of buildings calls attention and ain't one of us on this side of the law wants attention." He halted in front of the crates and withdrew his arm, his somewhat friendlier demeanor evaporating as quickly as it had appeared. "I think it's important you share with your bosses a motto we got around here."

"Sanguine." Zoe picked up for him, her stony glare matching her tone. "See, it means we're hopeful they'll go on their way now and we'll go on ours, but we ain't got no problem going bloody."

"In the summer I like to cut the blood with peppermint schnapps. Seein' as its winter here though, and we still have a half a crate of New Canaan, whiskey should work fine." Riddick rumbled darkly, the tip of his blade coming up to scratch the back of his neck.

"Just fine." Jayne echoed; his grin an absolute promise of violence. "Been a long time since you let us outta the cage, Cap."

"All sorts of creepifying." Mal shook his head. "You boys best be on your way then-," he said lightly as he clapped the man on his shoulder again, "-they only listen for so long. 'Course if you don't think you can handle carryin' our message with those crates…" Mal shrugged again.

"Nah, we got it." The man said, eyeing the trio the captain had been referring to with no little amount of wariness.

"Good." Mal grinned as the man ticked his head, signaling for the others to grab the crates. "Ya'll have a good day now." He called to them as they made a somewhat hasty exit.

The minute the door slammed closed, the five crew present in the bay, each fell victim to their own form of laughter.

"Thought them boys were gonna piss themselves when you started on Riv." Jayne chuckled, trying to take a deep breath. "Gorram funniest thing I ever did see."

"Girl, you are scary as hell when you want to be." Zoe shook her head, half-bent over from her own laughter.

"I have been told." River huffed as she slid the butterfly knife into the back of her waistband and handed the beacon over to Riddick. Despite her eye roll, the humor in her tone could not be missed.

The convict dropped it to the grating and crushed it beneath his boot. _/Thought it was sexy as hell./_ He sent a peculiar breathy kind of growl across her mind that caused her blush to increase in direct proportion to his smirk.

"Well, now that that's done, I think it's time we visited our New Dawn friends and got ourselves paid." Mal announced clapping his hands together.

"No sweeter words." Jayne chuckled.

*T*F*C*

"Thought we left the ice rock behind us." Jayne grumbled as he read the thermometer by the airlock ramp, a biting negative six degrees Celsius. "Least it's summer on Ma's part of Beylix."

"Our business is almost done here; we'll be off this rock by mornin'." Mal assured him as he checked the non-descript rucksack at his feet, ensuring himself for the third time the samples and hard-drive had not up and walked themselves off on their own accord.

"Thought you were supposed to be gone already?" Riddick asked as he strolled in from the lower level hall, his step slightly adjusted for the almost healed Reader who walked beside him.

"The Ambassador ever gets done primpin', we will be." Mal snorted, glaring up at the catwalks and entry hatch to Shuttle One of above him. "Make sure ya'll get the armor sizes while we're gone too. Don't want to be walking into an arms deal with a small army behind me, don't really seem like the right message to send to friends we wanna have."

"You couldn't take their place if you wanted to, Mal." Riddick smirked as he picked a bit of grease from underneath his fingernails with one of his blades; judging by the look on River's face, the ownership of said blade was questionable. "Mikki and Dev might be a different kind of people than you're used to dealing with but don't think for even a second you can pull one on them."

"That a challenge?" Jayne quirked a dangerous eyebrow. "Free guns are a damn sight better than paid for."

Riddick barked out a raspy chuckle. "You give it hell, Cobb. I'll wait outside for the dust to settle, step over your body on my way in."

"Nobody's steppin' over bodies." Mal said firmly. "We'll pay for our illegal guns just like everybody else." He grinned as he pulled on a pair of gloves. "Only thieves when we have to be, or when we're gettin' paid to be."

Jayne snorted. "Take all the fun outta it, why don'tcha, Cap."

"I'm ready whenever you are, Captain." Inara interrupted from the catwalks above.

"About gorram time." Mal muttered low enough to be missed by the Companion's hearing as he bent down to grab the sack. "This ship stays sealed 'til we get back_, __dong ma_(understand me)?" Mal repeated for the third time since they'd begun to prep for the hand over.

"Yeah, yeah, Cap." The merc grunted as leaned against the airlock controls. "Think we got it the first time."

"Only have yourself and Riddick to blame for the repetition." Mal threw over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs with Zoe. "You're the ones that like to go blowing up warehouses."

"That was one time, Mal." Riddick called up after him, his remark thoroughly ignored as the hatch door slammed closed behind him.

"For a man that takes being shot by people in stride, he can't seem to get over one itty-bitty breakin' and enterin' while his back was turned." Jayne grumbled as he crossed the bay to take a seat at his weight bench. "What'd ya mean when you said these boys are different from what we're used to dealin' with?"

"You'll see, Jayne." Riddick smirked; the expression was somehow intensified by River's sudden explosion of giggles.

"Well, if that ain't all kinds of ominous." Jayne grunted uneasily. "I ain't gonna get shot am I?"

"Just keep the stupid from falling out of your mouth." Riddick warned him.

"Them dumb jokes get old real quick there, Riddick." Jayne scowled at him.

"Not a joke, Cobb-," he shrugged, "-just a friendly reminder."

*T*F*C*

The captain of _Serenity_ had no need to announce his arrival, as Zoe and himself struggled to carry between them the weight of two lined cases; four hundred thousand in untraceable platinum, with the added addition of another hundred thousand more due to Mr. Universe's own creative accounting on their expense listing. The crew was ready and waiting.

The gleam of the platinum was seconded only by Mal's grin as he flicked open the first of the two cases. "Ain't that a bit of shiny?" He said proudly, not minding the fact he was nearly trampled and shoved out of the way as several bodies crammed in to hover over the object in question.

"If I could cry…I would." Jayne blinked several times.

"I think I'll do it for you." Wash said, dabbing at the corners of his eyes. "I do believe that's the second most beautiful thing I ever seen. You being the first, wife-y." He added quickly as he grabbed her up and spun her around. "We're rich!"

"You ever seen so much shiny at one time?" Kaylee asked, her voice full of awe.

"How many crates of strawberries you think you could buy with that girl?" Jayne joked, but stopped River just as she opened her mouth. "That was rhetorical there, smart ass."

River merely rolled her eyes at him, the others granting him a slight chuckle or two.

"Alright, ya'll-," Mal announced as he knocked the lid closed, despite the chorus of disappointed groans,"-as pretty of a sight as it is, we still got things to do and the captain has worked up an appetite. Preacher, how 'bout we get lunch started while me and Zo divie this lot up?"

"I think I can handle that." Book replied, smiling.

"Good, ship coin gets pulled first." Mal informed them all. "Wash and Kaylee, after we eat, ya'll take a portion of that and go find us the best bit of tech you can." He grinned at Kaylee's hopeful expression. "Yeah, you can spring for somethin' with swivelin' thruster points."

"Yessssss!" Kaylee cried, jumping up and down. "I love my captain!" She pecked him on the cheek.

"Hey, now!" Jayne barked.

"Oh, shove it, Cobb." Kaylee giggled. "I ain't never had so much coin to spend in my life."

"Bit, you up to coming gun shopping with us after lunch?" Mal asked.

"No." Riddick answered, the finality in his tone not to be missed.

"Believe I was asking River." Mal pointed out curiously.

"She's not coming, Mal." Riddick repeated, ignoring River's petulant look.

"It the leg?" Zoe asked.

Riddick repressed the urge to growl. "She's not coming." He repeated.

"Thought these boys were friends of yours, Riddick?" Mal asked, reading between the lines.

"Never said they were friends, Mal; said I knew them. Mutually beneficial business relationship, that's all. Doesn't mean it won't change." He replied. It was for the same reason he'd cut ties with Jack and Imam on New Mecca. Too many people wanted him dead for him to start handing out ammunition for their weapons.

"You okay with this, Bit?" Mal asked, not wanting to relive his last mistake with trampling on the young woman's feelings.

River rolled her eyes. "I see the logic."

"That means somebody's in trouble." Wash nearly singsonged, before killing the chuckle in his throat as Riddick's head snapped around to him. "Hey, Riv, we could kill some time on the bridge. You know, away from here, see if we can't program the nav to rely conflicting signals when we leave atmo?" He offered helpfully and quickly.

"Your attempt at diversionary tactics is transparent." She deadpanned.

"Yeah, but is it enticing?" He countered. "I was going for enticing."

"You have succeeded." She conceded, her mind already sequencing the possible algorithms needed.

"I just removed the stitches anyway." Simon offered, more than willing to add to any argument which kept his sister out of harm's way. "She shouldn't risk reopening the wounds, should anything go wrong."

"What could go wrong?" Zoe smirked. "It's only a multi-thousand platinum illegal arms deal with some not-so-friends of the 'Verse's Most Wanted."

"Do ya'll really have to go jinxin' everythin'?" Kaylee snorted.

*T*F*C*

The building was a large, battered warehouse; its windows shuttered up from the outside, bars welded on top of the metal barricades and the large reinforced iron door which was the only visible entry point appeared to have been sealed closed for years.

"You sure this is the right place, Riddick?" Mal asked skeptically as he slid off the back of the convict's bike and pulled up the collar of his duster against the cold.

"Remember how I said you couldn't take this place if you wanted to?" Riddick asked as he powered down his cycle. The captain nodded. "You're about to find out why." The convict's lips ticked as he led them not to the big iron door, but a dark side street on the north side of the building.

The alleyway was lit only by a single flickering bulb mounted to the side of the warehouse; the rough brick marred by mindless graffiti. The convict led them past it and into the darkened shadows. Mal cursed as he tripped over a bit of trash, but any protest he was about to make over where the hell Riddick was leading them was cut off by the sound of a large dumpster being scraped across the asphalt.

"Invitation only I take it?" Zoe asked with an arched brow as she eyed the door revealed.

"Exclusively." Riddick replied as he opened it. "Captain's first." He smirked.

Mal eyed him, his skepticism now lined with a healthy level of paranoia. "I get shot, you're fired." He informed him as he ducked into the low doorway. Riddick was the last to enter, pulling the dumpster back into place behind him.

The door led to a small antechamber and, in drastic contrast to the outside of the building, this room was all gleaming metal. The floor tiles beneath their feet lit up with every step they took, casting the room in an oddly neon green hue.

"Scanners." Riddick informed them causally.

"Riddick, where the hell did you bring us?" Mal asked slowly as they approached an imposing set of blast doors. All but Riddick started slightly when a large vidscreen descended from the ceiling.

"Richard B. muthafuckin' Riddick." The slender dark-skinned man who appeared before them drawled with a smirk as he lit a cigarette on the end of a long holder and took a deep inhale; leaning back on a large plush sofa. The man's defining feature however, was the ice blue hair which rivaled the length of River's, only magnified by the matching copious amounts of eyeliner he wore.

"Been a while, Dev."

"You don't call, you don't write. Really, you think we would have been the first you'd come and visit when you came back from the dead." He chided. "How is Hell these days? You gave the Devil my love, didn't you?"

"Hot as always and he's got a special place at his table waiting for you and Mikki."

Dev laughed; waving away a cloud of smoke with an impeccably manicured hand. "Speaking of my dear Mikki-boy, he's positively fuming over the fact that your facial scan tricked his scanners. Tell me-," he leaned forward, blowing a cloud of smoke at the screen, "-how is it you read as Luther Wilson?"

"We all got tricks."

"He can go and fuck himself!" A voice yelled from out of the line of sight of the camera.

"Told you he was pissed." Dev smirked. "He'll be bitchin' for days now." He drawled, leaning back in his chair. "You gonna do introductions or you gonna be rude all night?"

"Mal, Zo, and Jayne." The convict pointed out each member of the crew.

"Charmed." Dev purred around his cigarette holder, but didn't give the opportunity for a return in his greeting. "You know the rules, Riddick, and they don't change. Not even for big, beautiful pieces of meat like yourself." He leaned over and dialed in a code on a panel embedded in the sofa's arm. The wall panel just to the right slid open to reveal an empty weapons locker. "No guns, blades, shivs of any kind, explosives, whips, chains, garrotes, sonic tech, personal grooming devices-," he glared pointedly at Riddick, "-capture capable equipment, recording devices, or sharpened toothpicks." He ashed his cigarette. "In the interest of full disclosure, we are very much armed, and should you try to pull some weak ass, bullshit in _my_ house, I will kill you." He smiled, one heavily lined eyebrow arching.

"Personal grooming devices?" Zoe looked at Riddick.

The convict's lips ticked slightly. "Long story."

"Fuck you, bitch." Dev snorted as he leaned back, crossing his arms. "Always gotta try and prove a muthafuckin' point."

"Riddick, I'm gonna want the story of how you know these boys." Mal demanded quietly as he began divesting himself of his weapons.

"That's one goddamn story I don't wanna hear." Jayne snorted as he begrudgingly followed the captain's example.

"They're clean." Mikki's voice came again after the crew had finished stowing their weapons. The blast doors hissed open in unison with the panel resealing itself and a shiny steel elevator was revealed.

The vidscreen in front of them began to rise; Dev granting one last parting remark as it did so. "Love the hat."

Jayne tugged off the hat his mother had knit for him immediately and stuffed it into the pocket of his coat.

"It is all sorts of cunning." Zoe joked.

"Shut the hell up." The merc retorted.

"Just how in the Hell do you know these boys?" Mal asked again as they stepped into the elevator.

"Dev's not real fond of competition." Riddick answered as the doors closed behind them. "Worked a few jobs in the past for them is all." No one needed further explanation.

The lift dropped at a stomach-churning speed, coming to an abrupt halt three stories below ground level. The doors slid open, and whatever the other three members of the crew had been expecting, what they saw was vastly different.

The elevator opened up to a large room with a high, vaulted ceiling, paneled in shiny metal much like the antechamber. The rear wall was dominated by several dozen vidscreens, relaying everything from system-wide alerts to the building's own security footage and, by the looks of it, everything in between. Crates of every size and dimension took up the majority of the floor space, some serving as makeshift tables, with bits of dissembled tech and munitions scattered across them. To the right was one actual long, rectangular workstation littered with digital schematics, portable screens, and all the various tools of a gunsmith's trade. In the very center, a circular space had been cleared and served as a sitting area; chiefly occupied by a massive bright red fuzzy sofa. Standing out amongst everything however, were two large neon green egg-shaped chairs stationed in front of the wall of vidscreens.

The chairs swiveled in almost unison as the crew approached. The anonymous voice of Mikki now had a face, and that face was crowned with fiery orange hair spiked out at odd angles, and electric green eyeliner around almost identically shaded green eyes. His crossed legs were clad in tight snake skin and ticked irritably, while Dev regarded them with a heavy degree of curiosity while he smoked. The sickly sweet smell of it indicating it was not solely tobacco.

"I suppose this isn't a social call?" Mikki asked.

"Of course it isn't." Dev answered for Riddick as he blew out a cloud of smoke. "He only comes to us when he needs something."

"Tragedy." Mikki sighed and shook his head. "By the way, girl, you're working that hair. Love it. Rock your shit."

"Ah, thanks." Zoe replied, employing a severe amount of self-control in not outright laughing at the expression on Jayne's face; the merc looked almost as if he was in pain.

"Well, since we can't _do_ you, Riddick darling, what can we do _for_ you?" Dev smirked invitingly.

"Need light-wear for ten, all the guns and ammo on this list, and maybe a bit more once we get a look." Riddick said as he handed Mikki a list from his pocket.

"Ten?" Mikki sat up, his eyes scanning the list. "Going to war, Riddick?" He cracked a glitter-encrusted eyebrow.

"Could be fun." The convict smirked.

Mikki shrugged and relaxed back into his chair, handing the list over to Dev. "Long as you got the shiny, we really don't give a shit, do we?"

"Not a goddamn." Dev replied distractedly as he eyed the list. "Who carries the Callahan full-bore?"

"That's my girl." Jayne answered almost defensively as he tried not to gawk at the two men before him; his mind still having trouble processing them.

"Got a grenade launcher under-barrel attachment for that, sweetheart-," he winked at him, "-if you got the coin that is."

"Coin I got." Any other man would have found himself dead for daring to call Jayne Cobb sweetheart; the merc however decided, just this once, if it meant a grenade launcher for Vera, he could let it slide. Hell, he was pretty sure for a grenade launcher he'd let them call him just about whatever they wanted. "What else you got?" He asked greedily.

"Baby cakes, what don't I have?" Dev leaned back in his chair and, after a moment, frowned. "Well?" He shooed his hands towards the various stacks of crates and weapons displays. "Bitches my people were freed a millennium ago; look for your damn selves." He snorted as he took the last drag off his smoke.

*T*F*C*

"How 'bout this one?" Kaylee asked, stopping in front of the entrance to a heavy-equipment sales yard. It was the fourth in the last hour they'd come across.

"He's a liar." River said dismissively and continued walking.

"Aw, Riv-," Wash complained rubbing his gloved hands together and hopping from foot to foot, "-it's a billion degrees below zero out here. They're salesmen. They're all liars and cheats. W_e're_ liars and cheats." He huffed; vaguely concerned he couldn't feel the tip of his nose anymore.

"Any big plans for your share this time?" Kaylee asked River as she tugged down the earflaps to her hat.

"She is adequately equipped, and he plans on bringing her back a gift." River replied.

"Somebody's been peeking." She teased.

"He thinks he is more clever than she." River's eyebrows arched in amusement.

"You really okay with him making you stay behind?" Wash inquired curiously. "Not that I don't enjoy your company as you make us walk for kilometers in the freezing cold because you don't trust a single hover transport salesman."

"There is logic." River dodged the question and ignored the second half of his remark entirely. She was not willing to allow Mother to be sullied by inferior equipment now that they had the coin to not do so.

"And that would be a no." Wash concluded. "Why'd you stay then?"

"It is unwise to fight battles one cannot win." She answered plainly with a small sigh.

"Preachin' to the choir." Wash snorted with a dramatic eye roll.

"Aw, hell-," Kaylee giggled, "-those ones are the most fun."

*T*F*C*

"Jayne?" Mal quirked an eyebrow. "What the hell is that?" He gestured to the massive bulk of metal in Jayne's hands as the merc sighted, his stance spread to distribute his weight evenly, as he made quiet explosion sounds and pretended to fire.

"It's a gun, Mal. What the hell does it look like?" Jayne grunted at him.

"I know it's a gun, you gorram… I meant, what in the Hell do you plan on shooting with it? Last time I checked, we weren't in the habit of huntin' down whales."

"Whatever I can?" He shrugged.

"That's the Callahan _Long_ (Dragon) .50 caliber anti-material rifle." Mikki informed the captain sweetly. "Takes a real kind of man to fire one of those." He blew the merc a kiss.

Jayne faltered backwards and glanced down at the gun in his hands as if he could will a round into its chamber. If he could, he didn't know who he'd spend it on, Riddick for laughing at him or the guy that blew him the kiss.

"Don't frighten the straight boys." Dev drawled from his reclined position on the red fuzzy sofa.

"Mikki-," Riddick called over his shoulder as he eyed a piece inside a glass case on the redhead's work table, "-what's this?"

"That's for Nadia. You remember Nadia, don't you?" Mikki smirked at him. "Of course you do. She tried to kill you a couple of times, didn't she?"

"Who hasn't?" Zoe retorted as she tested the tensile strength of a thin-wired garrote.

Dev laughed from the couch. "It _was_ for her." He corrected Mikki. "Stupid bitch had to go and get herself killed before she paid the bill."

"Who got her?" Riddick asked curiously.

"She got herself shot up running some job for what's left of the Browncoats." Dev sat up and eyed the jackets of the first mate and captain. "Don't make the same mistake. You're too damn pretty to die."

"War's over, we're on our own side." Mal said tersely as he inspected a .44 Del-San Automatic Pistol.

"That's what they all say." Dev drawled as he pushed himself off the sofa.

"And so the diva decides to grace us with her presence." Mikki snipped.

"Oh, shut up, bitch." He retorted, before turning to Riddick. "It's a Nova 9mm MR-24 Automatic Combat Pistol, heavily modified by yours truly, and it is a muthafuckin' masterpiece; refitted with a molded lightweight, heat resistant plasti-blend; low recoil and one muthafuckin' hell of a bang."

"The rounds?" Riddick asked.

"Caseless 9 mm, penetrates up to class three civilian and military light-wear." Dev informed him, one manicured finger tracing the edge of the case. "I find it real interesting you're so interested in a gun built for a girl."

"How much?" Riddick asked.

Dev pouted slightly. "Tell me her name and I'll give it to you for free."

"I'll give you five."

"Well, if you're going to be a bitch about it, you can pay seven." He huffed, turning on his heel and sauntering back to his couch.

"Leave the man alone, Dev-," Mikki snipped, "-we all got secrets."

"Baby doll, that man ain't got secrets-," Dev replied as he lit his smoke and took the first drag from the end of its holder, "-he's got corpses and ghosts. Heard about Andre."

"Man was living on time I bought him anyway." Riddick replied stoically as he removed the 9mm from its case and sighted the weapon, testing its weight in his grip.

"Shit, I can't figure out who's more trouble. You, the Browncoats you brought with you, or the one that grunts with the cute ass." Dev smirked, waving a cloud of smoke from his face, and this time Zoe didn't bother to hold back her laugh. Nor did Mal for that matter, at the look on Jayne's face as the merc tried to inconspicuously turn his back to the wall.

"Who's scaring the straight boys now?" Mikki quipped rolling his eyes.

"Trouble's made you rich, Dev, quit bitching about it." The convict rumbled.

"Suga', if I didn't bitch, what would I do with my time?" He drawled lazily.

"You mean besides your hair?" Mikki retorted.

"Glass fuckin' houses bitch. Couldn't crack yours with sledgehammer and a team of sweaty men workin' around the clock."

"Honey, I always keep them working around the clock. You should know."

"So…um… you boys do deliveries?" Mal cleared his throat uncomfortably. "'Cause we really ought to be on our way, docking fees in this city and all."

*T*F*C*

"Ahhhhhh-," Wash sighed as he nestled into the driver's seat in their newly acquired Deere all-terrain, multi-purpose hover-hauler, model number SL-3820, "-heated leather seats, my bum has never been happier."

"Cap might be a little ticked by the extra, but-," Kaylee chewed her lip slightly before relaxing into the warmth of her seat, "-I couldn't give a gorram." She sighed.

"He did say explicitly, 'best bit of tech'." River reminded him, seated comfortably between the pilot and mechanic in the front.

"That he did." Wash grinned as he tossed it into gear.

"Six seats, a max hauling capacity of a metric ton, swiveling thruster ports, all-terrain ratin', a hoverin' trailer included, a Senaga engine and a top speed of an hundred and ninety kilometers per hour, there just ain't any better." Kaylee shrugged with a mischievous giggle.

"Do not forget a lifetime of free system flushes." River added.

"And cortex link-up capabilities." Wash steered one-handed as he fiddled with a few buttons. "Sweet goslings, I can autopilot this from the ship!"

"It was mentioned twice." River deadpanned. "The data chip to install the software." She held up the object in question.

"Yeah, well, he had me at heated leather seats." The pilot shrugged with a grin. "I'm a simple man."

"Anybody but me notice we ain't yellin'?" Kaylee beamed. "Engine's as quiet as a sleepin' kitten."

"You know-," Wash said as he reclined his seat and threw on arm over the back of the girl's, "-I really could get used to this."

*T*F*C*

"So, how did it go?" Simon asked after resealing the airlock behind the returning hovercycles.

"Don't even ask." Zoe shook her head, her lips pressed into a very thin line as she nearly choked on her own repressed laugh. She couldn't wait to tell her husband.

"Oh, now I have to." Inara laughed.

Simon merely quirked an eyebrow.

"Really -," Jayne shook his head, "-just don't. All sorts of fucked up and weird. Last time I ever go 'round to meet Riddick's friends." He muttered.

"Oh, they weren't so bad. Real colorful." Mal shook his head. "_Real_ colorful."

"Okay." Simon said slowly. "River went out with Wash and Kaylee for the new Mule. She said something about them being too yellow to not be swindled." He furrowed his brow. "Honestly, I didn't understand a word of it-," he pinched the bridge of his nose, "-Riddick, I wanted to…a…to ask you if you've noticed anything different about her."

It was Riddick's turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"Different for River." Simon clarified poorly. "She seems like she's becoming…detached."

"Doc, your sister ain't been a-ttached for a real long time." Jayne snorted.

"Jayne." Zoe snapped.

"What?" He shrugged.

"Bit seems better than ever if you ask me." Mal gave his opinion. "Have a feelin' she'll always be a bit…quirky, but that's why she's the Bit."

"She's trying to control it, instead of fight it." Riddick said. "Makes more of a difference than you might think."

"No one finds her recent obsession with murder abnormal?" Simon asked critically.

"Morbid's always been her thing." Mal shrugged. "And you might be askin' the wrong crowd that question. How long they been gone?"

"They left shortly after you." Simon answered distractedly.

"Don't worry, Simon; your sister's much stronger than we give her credit for." Inara smiled.

The young doctor actually managed to return her smile with a real degree of genuineness. "I know that, I do." He exhaled deeply. "So-," he clapped his hands together, "-the guns?"

"Be delivered within the hour." Mal replied. "After that, rest of the night is to do with whatever ya'll want. Personally, it's too gorram cold on this rock for me and, if nobody objects, I say we just get the hell offa it and head on over to Ma's."

"Won't hear a complaint from me." Jayne grinned.

"It _is_ summer there." Inara offered.

"Well, if everybody feels that way, see it done, Zoe."

"Yes, sir." She nodded as the airlock ramp groaned open.

"_Everybody's home."_ Book's voice crackled over the ship-wide from the bridge, and Mal would have been lying if he had said it wasn't one of the sweetest sets of words he'd ever heard. The crew gathered in the bay turned expectantly, despite the harsh cold which seeped in as the ramp lowered, to see the new transport.

"Feast your eyes on magnificence!" Wash cried dramatically as the new hauler pulled in.

Mal whistled as he took in the sleek steel-gray piece of machinery in front of him. "Do I even wanna know?" He cracked an eyebrow.

"Cost versus worth." River argued immediately.

"And can one really put a piece tag on heated leather seats?" Wash asked as he powered the hauler down; eight metal legs extending to support its weight. "See? Nifty, right?"

"Heated leather…what?" Mal balked. "Ya'll do remember that most the rocks we run on are _desert_ worlds, right?"

"Uh." Wash and Kaylee exchanged a sheepish look.

River rolled her eyes as Riddick helped her down from the hauler. "It is one of several dozen features, including remote autopilot and rearview vidscreen."

"And-," Kaylee added to the argument, "-it's all-terrain, came with this nifty trailer for free, and has a Senaga engine."

"The one that can suck a cow through a straw?" Jayne asked.

"Same company, smaller version." Kaylee shrugged.

"Kinda disappointed now." The merc replied.

"Oddly enough, me too." Mal's forehead wrinkled slightly. "Suppose it's worth it, and she is a beaut." He added running his hand along the metal. "Guns'll be here in an hour or so, after that, anybody got an objection to blowin' off this frigid piece of crap rock and heading straight for Beylix?" Not so surprisingly, no one did, and _Serenity_ found herself back in the Black exactly ninety-seven minutes later.

*T*F*C*

"Fucking cheat." Riddick snorted after taking one look at River, an expectant look on her face as he met her on the bridge for their watch.

"I have been extremely patient and have not peeked since you returned." She countered.

Riddick pulled the gun from the back of his waistband and flipped it once in his hand before handing it to her, grip first. "Honestly, thought you'd be pissed." He said as he leaned against the support beam.

"Intention is what matters." River informed him, as she traced the lines of the gun with her fingers; her eyes glazing as she rapidly dissembled and reassembled the weapon in her mind. "Its construction is impeccable."

"It was built for a woman who tried to kill me once or twice." He rumbled, not seeing the point in concealing the fact.

"A weapon of irony." River said softly as she regarded it her hands. "As I will kill for you."

"Thought you'd appreciate that." He smirked at her.

"You have something else."

Riddick shrugged dismissively as he took the main flight chair. "I just put your hair pins in the glass box the gun came in. Fucking stepped on one this morning."

"Thank you." River whispered as she pushed herself out of her chair and pecked a small kiss on his surprised cheek. Riddick's mind was second-nature to her and she had learned to read between the shapes of the sounds he made; to hear the truth hidden behind the structural construction.

"What was that for?" He asked stupidly.

"I could take it back." She giggled as she hopped up onto the console in front of him and propped her feet on the arm of his chair. She had changed after returning with Wash and Kaylee, from the layers of fabric and back into her favored ship-wear; black shorts, a tank top, and the black ballet slippers Inara had given her. The satin ribbons she'd chosen for the day were longer than her hair and Riddick twisted one through his fingers as she leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees.

"Nah, girl, I think I'll keep it." He rumbled. "Will you?" He asked, not needing to nor desiring to elaborate on the question.

River nodded and reached for one of the drop-down screens to her left. Her fingers didn't hesitate; their destination familiar. _/Jack B. Badd./_

_/Still can't believe the old man let her use that./ _Riddick leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes .

_/She's failing Universal History./_ River frowned.

_/It's all shit anyway./_

_/Conceded./_ She shrugged. _/Highest marks in Introduction to Aeronautics and has seven curfew and thirty-two dress code violations./_ River giggled. _/It is worthy to note that school has only been in session thirty-three days./ _ She added shutting down the screen and pushing it away.

_/Kid's doing fine without me, Riv./_ Riddick's thoughts drawled dismissively in answer to the prickling he felt coming from her. _/Only checking up on her to keep a promise I made./_

_/And should she not be fine?/_

_/You know the answer to that./_

River slid down from the console and into Riddick's lap, conceding and dropping the issue for the moment.

"There anybody out there?" He asked as he propped up his legs and reclined back; not bothering to check the scans given the fact a much more accurate scanner was sprawled in his lap.

"Nothing but echoes." She replied.

"Any of these echoes important?" He asked.

"Not particularly. I will keep you informed."

"You do that, girl." Riddick chuckled.


	78. The Days Between III

Ma Cobb sat on her front porch, a hand rolled cigarette dangling from the fingertips of one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other, as the wooden creak of her rocking chair fell into time with the laughter of her nearly grown children. Clara, Lara, Matty, and the infamous Bobby Renfield were caught up in a game of four-way Speed as they sprawled out along the porch steps. Twilight had just begun to settle against her land and a soft breeze, that had chased the mid-afternoon heat away, carried on it the sounds of horses and the early evening ballad of crickets.

She took the very last pull of her cigarette; telling herself, as she always did, that it was the last one, never mind the tin that sat on the mantle in the living room, and rose to flick it off the porch. Ma let herself lean against the rail; it had been a long day at the factory and longer still with the chores that had piled up around the homestead. Despite it all, life on the Cobb homestead was good. The only thing that could have made it better was the presence of her eldest son but Ma Cobb was the type of woman that thanked God for what she had and was, at the moment, content enough to know her boy had a girl of his own looking after him wherever he found himself on this particular evening. A glint of metal which flashed in the fading sunlight and, tangled up in the dust cloud which accompanied it, caught her eye down the road; for a fraction of a second, Ma felt her heart stop.

"Lara!" She yelled excitedly. "Girl, tell yer momma her eyes ain't playin' tricks based on wishful thinkin'!"

Lara and the others rose, all squinting and straining their necks. "Ma, it's Jayne!" She cried. "And, I don't believe my eyes but Clara, look, that's a Deere they're ridin' in on!"

Clara, however, paid absolutely no mind to the transport as she paled. "Run, Bobby."

"What?" He chuckled.

"Just run." She tried to push him. "That's my big brother that's comin' and, if you want to walk off my momma's land instead of bein' buried in ditch, you'll go now."

"Aw, he-…" Bobby caught himself, "-ain't scared of yer brother."

Matty chuckled. "You should be."

"Oh, stop, ya'll!" Ma scowled as she fussed with her hair. "Why doesn't that boy ever Wave to tell me he's comin' so I could at least clean myself up a bit for company?"

"Only the second time they been here." Matty defended his brother.

"Aw, Ma, yer always pretty." Bobby grinned.

"You're real sweet, Bobby, but nobody likes a suck up, boy; 'specially not my Jayne." She teased him as the transport came into clear view of her vision which, admittedly, was beginning to fade. The crew of her son's ship was piled together on the sleekest bit of tech she'd ever laid eyes on; half riding in the front and the other reclined on the trailer hitched to it.

"Bobby, I'm serious!" Clara hissed as she tried to push him again. "Run."

"Too late now." Matty laughed, nearly falling over as the transport parked itself outside the gate.

Ma Cobb was off her front porch and flying into the arms of her boy before he was fully through it. "Jayne, I'm so-,"

"Who's that boy, momma?" Jayne cut her off before she could finish her greeting; it was followed almost immediately by an, "Ow!" as Ma walloped him on the back of his head.

"Hug yer mother, boy." She laughed and, peeking over Jayne's burly shoulder, added, "Captain, I knew that gravy would work."

"Like a worm on a hook." The captain chuckled. "Nice to see ya, Ma."

"Come here, come here, ya'll!" She beamed at them as she released her son and gestured with her hands. "Line up so Ma can give 'em out to everybody!" She cried happily.

"Momma, who's the boy?" Jayne demanded again, his eyes not leaving the figure in question that was so casually leaned up against the beam of the porch he'd built.

Ma Cobb, however, ignored him as she doled out her hugs. Kaylee and the Tams receiving extra long ones and, though River lost the ability to breathe midway through hers, she couldn't have been brought to care. One of Radiant Cobb's hugs felt like being enveloped in sunshine. When she came to Riddick, she didn't hesitate for a moment. The convict, who'd only been hugged by two people in the last ten years, was more than a little surprised and stood there awkwardly; unsure of what to do.

"Boy, you don't hug me back, I'm gonna stand here with my arms around you all night. And I'm warnin' you, I've got the patience of a saint." She scolded him.

Wash choked on his laugh; more thanks to his wife's elbow than any desire for discretion.

Riddick quirked an eyebrow over her head at Jayne, who was no help at all considering he had yet to stop glaring at the unnamed boy; said boy was now shifting uncomfortably and attempting to disappear into the odd metal/wood blend of the porch.

"You skipped dinner last time around. You owe me this." Ma informed him, her grip around his body only tightening.

At a loss for anything else to do, the convict grudgingly hugged her back. If for no other reason than just to get the woman off of him; that and, being Jayne's mother, he couldn't be entirely sure the woman wouldn't shiv him or shoot him if he didn't.

"See, wasn't all that painful, was it?" She laughed before turning back to Kaylee and River and linking an arm through each girl's. "Well, come on up then, Jayne's 'bout to evaporate poor Bobby's head as it is."

"That's Bobby?" Jayne growled.

"Oh Lord. Jayne, you be nice." She halfheartedly lectured as they headed up the yard.

Jayne, however, outpaced them all; brushed past his brother, who held out his hand to shake, then past Lara, whom he didn't even notice was looking around him at Simon, and came to a dead halt less than two inches in front of Clara, who stood arms crossed and legs planted in front of Bobby.

"Move, girl." The elder brother growled, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.

"Jayne." She warned, holding up one finger. "You promise to be nice and I'll move."

"Move."

"Jayne."

"Clara, I will move you myself."

"You wouldn't dare! Momma'd have you scrappin' the chicken coop 'fore you could blink for touchin' me."

"And I'll do it with a shit-eatin' grin on my face." He hissed.

"Clara, it ain't a thing." Bobby cleared his throat and stepped around her. "Brother's just doin' his job is all. Name's Bobby-," he attempted to hold out his hand. Jayne did not bother taking it. The large merc instead grabbed him up by his neck and slammed him to the porch.

"Momma!" Clara shrieked as Bobby's body bucked up on reflex as all of the air was forcibly torn from his lungs on impact.

"Oh, sweet Lord! Jayne!" Ma shouted, releasing River and Kaylee to run up to the porch.

"I see we came at a good time." Wash chirped.

The merc crouched down over the young man, bending down until he was nearly nose-to-nose with him. "You listen _real_ good, boy." Jayne snarled at him. "That's my little sister you got eyes on. I find out you so much as blinked at her in such a way she found offensive, I will cut you open and stomp out yer insides." He forcibly turned Bobby's head to Riddick. "Then I'm gonna let that guy string your teeth for a necklace. Man's got weird ass hobbies like that. Got another friend that can blow people up with just her brain too. All of us are _real _fond of knives."

"Jayne Ronald Cobb!" Ma shrieked.

"I know, Ma. Chicken coop, dishes! Run me a tally! Me and Bobby ain't hardly through yet!" He yelled back, never taking his eyes off of Bobby's terrified brown ones.

"Jayne Ronald Cobb, you don't get off him this instant, you ain't gonna get any of that raspberry pie I got in the oven!" Ma threatened, pulling out what she knew would be an irresistible wild card.

"Yer real lucky Ma makes the best pie in the 'Verse." He sneered before releasing Bobby and stepping away. He turned immediately and headed towards the barn.

"Where are you goin', boy?" Ma demanded.

"Chicken coops. Where else?" He grunted over his shoulder, not stupid enough by any means to yell it at her.

Riddick broke; his barking chuckle rasping out across the newly darkened skies. "That just happened?"

"Oh, it gets better." Inara informed him.

"Oh, sweet Lord, give me strength." Ma shook her head as Clara helped Bobby to his feet. "Where's Lara?" Her forehead furrowed.

Mal grinned, his eyebrows arching. "Better question, where's my Doc?"

"Really need that extra strength now, Lord." She looked up at the sky.

Wash cleared his throat. "Not to change the subject, but I heard pie?"

Ma chuckled. "Got a bit of time in the oven still but, if you can be real sweet, I might have some fresh whipped cream to go with it, too."

"Oh, I can be so sweet I'll give you a toothache." Wash assured her.

Bobby tipped his hat with as much dignity as he could muster. "I think I'll be uh…taking my leave. Let you get reacquainted with yours."

"Bobby, you ain't got to go." Clara insisted. "Momma, tell him he ain't got to go." She whined.

"Weren't you the one tryin' to get 'im to run?" Matty chuckled.

"We got company, girl." Ma warned her, the hidden meaning behind her words not lost on her daughter. "Walk him to the gate and, for mercy's sake, don't provoke your brother any."

"Should just tell 'im Lara went walkin' with the doc." She grumbled as she snatched Bobby's hand and headed for the gate.

"Don't you stir the pot." Ma warned her. She waited for her daughter to lead Bobby out of earshot. "Riddick, go head on over into the barn and bring out a jug for me will you. Don't look dumb, boy, I know who you are." She smirked at him. "'Ccordin' to my son, you took a handful of bullets for 'im and saved his life. Don't be mad at him for talkin' neither." She said firmly. "He didn't want me to judge you based on what I'd heard and, well everybody's got a story and I ain't got the right to come in halfway through it and judge it when I ain't heard the beginning. So you go on, Jayne'll point you in the right direction once you get out there. I don't like to ask twice for things." She didn't give him a chance to reply. "Ya'll make yerselves cozy out here while I check those pies. Hotter than brimstone and hellfire in the house this time of year." She called over her shoulder as the porch door swung closed.

"Really are losin' your touch Riddick." Mal chuckled as he clapped the convict on the back.

"Least I know now where Jayne gets all his hugging from." Riddick rumbled, not entirely sure what to make of the current situation he found himself in, nor of the woman Radiant Cobb.

River rolled her eyes and took his hand. A simple and pointed gesture to Matty, whose mind had been considering several possibilities that were quite dangerous to his newly acquired physical health. "Ma does not like to speak twice." She smiled as she pulled him off towards the barn. The simply joy which radiated from every pebble and blade of grass on Ma's land seeped in through her boots and warmed her skin.

_/She has a strong survival instinct. You will like her./_ River assured him mentally.

_/You already do./_ It was a statement of fact and not a question.

_/I do. Very much./_

_ /Brother ran off real quick./_ He observed with a degree of humor as the breeze came and he caught Simon's scent mingled with an unfamiliar one tangled in the tall grass.

_/I refuse to look for him./_ River made a face. _/I have temporarily severed that cord entirely. There was a dream. It bled into hers and I will not suffer the imagery again./_

_ /Least somebody's getting laid./_

_ /I will pretend that went unsaid./_ She glared sideways at him.

*T*F*C*

Shipping Lane, Designation Geo/Kal-3

"This better be worth the fuel." Early glanced up from his nav-screens at Gina.

"I first ran into baldy at a bar on Beylix just outside the Garrison City docks. Nobody goes to Beylix unless they got business there." Gina retorted from where she hovered above him.

"They had business there once, so far as you know. Not all business is the repeat kind."

"You had any luck anywhere, Early?" She snapped at him. "Besides-," she added with a small, dark smile as she pulled down a drop-down monitor which displayed _Serenity's_ registered id and crew listing of which the Tams and Riddick were absent from; others, however, were not. "Jayne Cobb was born on Beylix."

"You gonna cry to his momma that he knocked you up?" He asked mockingly.

"If I have to." She retorted. "I have a few friends on the docks; if _Serenity's_ been there, I'll be able to find out where she went."

"Friends?" He snorted.

"Fuck you, Early, you self-righteous piece of _goushi_."

"I'd watch who you call names." His rich voice swelled with warning as he rose from his chair. "Plug yourself in." He gritted out as he pushed past her to the cryo-chairs just beyond the hatch.

"I don't do cryo." She replied icily.

"Then starve." He shrugged. "We ate the last of my food stocks this morning."

"What?" She snapped.

"You wanted first-class?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Fucking food isn't first-class, Early." She sneered.

"Depends on where you come from." The bounty hunter replied as he dropped into one of the four cryo- chairs.

"Short one for the return trip, aren't we then?" She asked as she took the one across.

"Last man in my guild to get a tag on Riddick never made it back to the ground. They found his ship and him strung up in it, gutted like a gorram animal with his team at his feet. His last log had him strapping Riddick into cryo. You want to strap yourself in next to him, be my guest. Me? I don't plan on blinking until I drop his ass in Slam somewhere."

*T*F*C*

"Still don't understand why you won't just bring your ship 'round here, Mal." Ma pondered as they sat together on the porch. The crew was sprawled across it in various positions of leisure as they picked off the last bits of raspberry pie from their plates.

"Truth be told, Ma-," he replied, licking the last bit of raspberry filling from his fork, "-wouldn't wanna draw that kind of attention to your place. We dock in Garrison City and nobody can tell where we spend our days. Best to keep it that way."

"Trouble always did follow my boy, ain't nothin' I ain't used to." She chuckled.

"Trouble's 'bout to find the Doc." Jayne muttered as he stabbed at his last piece of pie.

"Boy, you just barely got that plate, don't push your luck." Ma warned.

"Been gone since we got here." Jayne argued, one look from his mother, however, had him checking his tone.

"Jayne, you leave 'em be." Kaylee scolded.

"Didn't you get your fill scarin' poor Bobby?" Ma asked.

"Nope." Jayne shook his head. "Not by a bit."

"I suppose he's lucky Ma prefers forks to chopsticks." Book chuckled.

"You listen to your Little Miss there and leave 'em be, Jayne." Ma ordered, employing a tone used by mothers the universe over. "And you roll them eyes again and I will give you something to really be sore over."

"Sorry, Ma." Jayne grumbled.

"Offer's still open for that job." Mal joked as he set his plate down on the small table beside him.

"This old woman likes to keep her feet on the ground." She smiled back.

"Ma's terrified of flyin'." Matty informed them. "Never did step foot on a ship."

"Ma? Scared of somethin'? Thought you were fearless, woman?" Mal teased.

"If the good Lord saw fit for me to fly, he would have given me wings. Not scared, just bein' sensible 'bout it." She glared at Matty. "Cobbs ain't afraid of a thing."

"Da…Darn straight." Jayne caught himself.

"Except their mommas." Riddick rumbled, earning a round of laughter from everyone, Ma included.

"And again-," she chuckled, "-that's just bein' sensible."

River jumped up from the porch step and disappeared into the house with several eyes following her curiously.

"Lord, that is one handy little trick she's got." Ma shook her head as she smiled. A moment later, the Reader returned, a metal tin in her hand, which she handed over to Ma directly. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"Suck up." Jayne muttered.

"Yer momma deaf?" Ma asked, not bothering to look around River's body at her son.

"Sorry, Ma."

"Not me." She corrected.

"Sorry, Riv." The merc grumbled.

"His title is not without merit." River confessed as she removed a folded piece of paper from her back pocket and handed it to the older woman.

"What's this, sweetheart?" Ma asked as she unfolded the small square. "Oh, bless yer heart." She breathed out as she regarded the beautifully rendered image of her son. River had taken great pains to capture a moment in which the merc did not either have food hanging out of his mouth or several guns strapped to his person. It had taken a few weeks, but she had at last found the moment during one of the crew's card games. He was leaning back in a chair, a grin spread across his features and his eyes almost lifelike as they sparkled with humor from the page.

"I was hoping for a hat." The Reader toyed with a braid as she smiled sheepishly.

"And you'll have one for every day of the week, you sweet little thing." River found herself again crushed in Ma's steel grip and, as before, not minding it in the slightest.

"What'd I say? Suck-up." Jayne snorted.

"Boy, why you still on my porch when you know you got some cleanin' up to get to in the house? Don't think I didn't hear you cussin' before. 'Run a tally, Ma', that's what you said to me." Ma glared at him as she released River.

"Think a man would get a bit more of a welcome when he came home." Jayne muttered lowly as he pushed himself up.

"And he would, if he didn't go cussin' and threatin' folk the minute he stepped foot back home." She retorted. "I ain't deaf, boy, and mumblin' only earns ya more chores." Her sharp crystal blue eyes fell on the rest of the crew as the door slammed closed behind her son, an action she chose to ignore. "And those of ya'll laughin' will join 'im, too. Rules apply to everybody here, even captains." She said pointedly to Mal, who abruptly and comically snapped his mouth closed.

*T*F*C*

"What's it like?" Lara asked Simon as they lay on their backs in the tall grass, looking up at the stars. "Bein' up there, 'mong all that?"

"Honestly?" Simon asked as he rolled onto his side to look at her better.

Lara giggled as she rolled on her side and propped her head up with her hand, leaning on her elbow, mimicking the doctor's position. "'Course honestly."

A slow smile stretched across Simon's lips. "I love it more than I ever thought possible. I thought, when River and I first boarded _Serenity_, that she was just going to be a ride to another planet. Someplace I could just hole up and hide with River. I never imagined we'd stay on. And now... now I couldn't imagine leaving her. She's more a home than River and I ever had." Simon flopped back over onto his back. "Flying into the Black is like escaping a cage. The slight jolt the ship takes when breaking atmo is like breaking through the bars and anything is possible because you're free." He rolled back onto his side. "Sounds ridiculous, I know."

"Not at all." Lara replied, a sweet smile of her own crossing her lips. "Been thinking I want to get off this rock. Make my own way somewheres." She said softly; it was the first time she'd spoken it aloud at all. "Now that Matty's doin' so well and all, I was thinkin' maybe I ought to go to nursing school. They always need nurses and doctors out in the colonies."

"There's a settlement on Haven. The clinic there needs apprentices desperately." Simon blurted out; the idea of Lara disappearing out into the Black somewhere was more unsettling than he wanted to admit.

"Oh, it's just a dream." Lara shrugged. "Just talkin' it out loud so it don't get lost forever, ya know?" She sighed. "Momma wasn't the same after Jayne left. Think it'd break her heart iffin' I left too."

"Jayne." Simon groaned. "This very well may be the last time you see me with my eyes still attached inside my head." He joked humorlessly as he rolled said eyes.

"Is it worth it?" She giggled.

"If your face is the last one I ever see, it just might be." Simon replied, grateful for the darkness of night which covered his very unmanly blush.

"Guess you think you deserve a kiss for that bit of sweetness?" Lara giggled.

"I…uh…well-," Simon cleared his throat, but before he could fumble anymore of his words, Lara's lips silenced them.

*T*F*C*

"Well, look who decided to come strollin' back." Ma teased her daughter and the young doctor as they came from the shadows and into the light of the porch.

"Momma." Lara hissed.

"I apologize for um…well, I'm sorry-," Simon stuttered.

"Oh, don't strain yerself, boy." Ma laughed. "I was young once, too."

"Doc, you got a ten minute head start." Jayne glowered from the doorway to the house.

"That's a generous lead time." Riddick rumbled, his boots up on the porch rail as he reclined in his chair.

"Not with Jayne." Matty said proudly. "Ain't a body or a thing in the 'Verse my brother can't track across it."

"Stop it." Kaylee waved her hand dismissively. "Ain't got nothin' to worry 'bout. Ma already threatened to skin him raw if he tried anythin'."

"I ate all the pie." Jayne scowled, and several of those present snorted whiskey through their noses. "'Bout time we headed back to the ship, don'tcha think, Cap?"

"That it is Jayne." Mal nodded as he checked his watch. "'Sides, usually when ya'll start threatenin' to kill each other it's time to call it a night."

"But ya'll just got here." Matty protested.

"We'll be here a few days this time 'round." Mal assured him. "Figured there wasn't a better place to make ourselves a nuisance."

"I'll be back early, momma-," Jayne crouched down by her chair, "-noticed a few things I wanted to take care of while I'm here to do it."

"Bless yer heart, boy." Ma smiled at him and rubbed his arm. The merc dawdled behind the others as they said their farewells for the evening.

"Got some coin to bring to you, too." He whispered quietly beneath the clamor of the crew rising to their feet. "Things been goin' real good. You'll be able to quit the factory for good; the girls, too. Matty could even go to school an' learn somethin' since he won't ever be cut out for farm or factory work. I'll take care of it all, momma. Promise." He checked to make sure the crew's backs were turned before planting a quick kiss on her forehead.

"You're a good boy, Jayne Cobb, couldn'ta asked for a better one." She pushed him away, lest he see the tears which burned behind her eyes. "You go on now. We'll see you back first thing in the morning. Momma's got a long list of things that been needin' done 'round here."

"See ya in the mornin', Ma." He grinned knowingly at her.

*T*F*C*

"Mornin'." Jayne said, more than a little surprised to find the rest of the crew up and having breakfast already. The greeting was returned in various forms as he and Kaylee took their seats at the table. "What's everybody doin' up?" He asked as poured himself some coffee.

"You told Ma we'd be 'round in the morning." Book shrugged. "I noticed a few things myself yesterday and I am a fair hand with a hammer. I've been following in the footsteps of a certain carpenter."

"Be truthful, preacher-," Zoe chuckled, "-we're all just lookin' for an excuse to get fed good."

"Well, that too." Book shrugged.

"Might as well make ourselves the useful sort of nuisance. You lot tend to get violent when you ain't got nothin' else to do." Mal threw in.

"I have been promised hats." River offered. "And I promised more portraits."

"Seems like a fair deal." Jayne replied hesitantly. "Real kind of ya'll."

"You hug me and I'll shoot you." Riddick retorted; not entirely sure as to why he had agreed to go at all; though one particularly adamant Reader might have had something to do with it.

"Ain't pretty 'nough." The merc grunted.

"Exactly. You ain't." Riddick agreed.

"Now, now-," Mal interrupted, "-we all know I'm the prettiest of the bunch."

*T*F*C*

It was the constant that drew River; the perpetual beat of tiny wings, more than two hundred flaps per second, over twelve thousand in a minute. The buzz which vibrated against her skin was delightful; the hum in the air like a gossamer curtain she pushed aside as she followed it to the source. The melody of their intricate bio-rhythms intermingled with her own and she felt her heart beat faster in response. The lines between began to blur and meld into themselves, weaving a tapestry as frail as a spider's web, as River lost herself inside the buzz. Her eyes shifted rapidly as she tracked their movements; finding the meaning in their seemingly erratic patterns. Her head ticked harshly to the right as she contemplated the construction of their consciousness.

"Girl, yer gonna get your ass stung." Jayne grunted roughly at her, jerking his head around and looking for Riddick.

"He is with Daddy." River answered his unspoken search. "_Apis mellifera_. There are seventy-four thousand, eight hundred, fourteen members of that household; only two-thousand, six hundred, nine, are male."

"Sounds like good odds to me." Jayne shrugged.

"They'll be driven out to die in the winter once they have served their purpose of mating in the summer." She added.

"Well, that kinda sucks." He scratched his head as he regarded the hive in the tree above him and frowned. "Fucking women."

"Alone they are harmless, attack their hive, provoke the swarm and they will die to save her. Can't fight without dying. Eleven hundred stings will kill the average human."

"So's that nest can kill six men?" Jayne eyed it with a new found respect as he took a cautious step backwards.

"Same as you did for Vera."

Jayne chuckled, River joining in as she Read the imagery which drifted through the merc's mind. He was envisioning seventy-thousand smaller versions of him with wings, swarming the six mercs that had come to kill him, and then the swarm carrying off Vera as a trophy. It was the miniature cigars they each held between their lips which sent River nearly to the ground laughing.

"Reckon, I ought to take it down." Jayne said after the last of his chuckles died. "Think the grenade launcher I just got for Vera will do it? Could hit 'em from a distance. They'd never see it coming." He grinned.

River merely arched her brow, hesitating for a moment as she Read his intention to decipher whether or not he was joking; he wasn't. "You are serious."

"What?" He shrugged. "You think I'm dumb 'nough to poke at that with a stick?" He snorted at her look. "Rhetorical, smart-ass." He grunted.

"New favorite word?" She challenged.

"Matter-of-fact, it is."

*T*F*C*

"You been drinkin'?" Zoe asked critically, one eyebrow cocked in response to Jayne's announcement that he was returning to _Serenity_ for Vera, as she crouched down to dip her brush in the paint bucket.

"Well, it is one way to kill 'em dead." Riddick shrugged with a smirk.

"You don't think a grenade launcher is a bit excessive?" Wash asked. "I mean, ain't that like, well…you know, I don't think I have a comparison for that."

"Jayne? Excessive? No, it can't be." Simon drawled as he checked Matty's vitals on the porch. Ma had not been exaggerating on her description of the temperature of the house and the two men had forgone privacy for the sake of not melting.

"If you're gonna do it-," Ma said with a long suffering sigh, "-just wait for the girls to get home from the factory. Lord knows they'll make ya blow somethin' else up if they miss the bee hive."

"You're going to let him?" Inara asked, incredulously; the smear of paint on her face not unnoticed by the captain who happened to find that it looked prettier on her then all her make-up ever did.

"I raised my kids-," Ma chuckled as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "-I know who they are. Jayne's been blowin' things up since his first job in the 'mmunition's plant. Damn near took his own hand off the year he tried to make fireworks. Thought he was gonna make us all rich off 'em too."

Jayne raised his right hand and pointed out a line along his palm. "That's when I got this." He said proudly.

"'Sides, if I tell 'em no, he'll just sulk all night." Ma teased her son.

"Man does get a mite petulant when he ain't allowed to make a boom." Mal conceded.

"Gotta take the simple pleasures in life, Cap." Jayne grinned. "Matty, you wanna take a ride?"

"Sure, Jayne." He agreed without hesitation. "We done here, Doc?"

"We are." Simon smiled. "And you're as right as you can be. I think we can even halve the dosage of steroids."

"Pick your sisters up-," Ma said as she checked her watch, "-by the time you make it into Garrison City, the girls should be just about finished. They worked the morning shift today."

"Sure, Ma, we'll be back in two shakes. Let's go, Matty."

"River, honey, that nest ain't near anything he could really blow up if he misses, is it?" Ma asked with a furrowed brow after her two sons turned and departed on the ship's new hauler.

"No." River assured her. "It should, however, be noted, that he will more than likely set the tree on fire."

"Well, it blocks the sunrise from the back porch anyhow." Ma said optimistically. "Two birds with one stone."

*T*F*C*

Vera was an intimating bit of gun-tech to begin with, Callahan being as revered among the Merc Guilds as pieces of The Cross to early Christians. Vera with an under-barrel grenade launcher made even Riddick nervous; especially since said gun was being wielded by one trigger-happy merc.

"You point that at me again, Cobb, and, your Ma's land or not, I will take it from you and blow you up with it."

"Now that would just be all sorts of ironical." Mal shook his head.

"Aw, hell, it ain't even loaded yet." Jayne complained defensively.

"Famous last words." Simon joked; standing conspicuously close to Lara, entangled hands hidden behind their backs.

"Like to see you try." Matty snorted indignantly in defense of his brother as he crossed his arms. The younger man wasn't a particular fan of the dark-skinned convict given the obvious relationship between him and River and the threat didn't help his favor any.

"Jayne, your little brother's asking to get you shot." Riddick smirked, not taking his eyes off of the kid. "That a challenge, Matty?"

"I think I could shoot ya before you got her." The merc replied thoughtfully. "Mean, finger's on the trigger. Launcher ain't loaded, but Vera is."

"Really now?" Riddick rumbled.

"We're blowin' up bees, folks, not each other." Mal interceded. "Really, _really_, shouldn't have to say stuff like that." He shook his head. "Why exactly are we using a grenade launcher to get rid of a bee's nest again?"

"Because-," River replied, "-he's not dumb enough to poke at it with a stick."

"But he is dumb enough to shoot a grenade at it." Wash chuckled. His chuckle faded quickly however. "Hey, Riv, what's the chance some will survive and take out their vengeance on us?" He asked nervously as images of being chased by flaming angry bees swirled in his head.

"That's why we're usin' a grenade launcher." Matty answered for her. "Total 'nnihilation."

"You really are Jayne's little brother." The pilot mused.

"Nothin's gonna be left twitchin' after bein' hit with one of these babies." Jayne grinned as he tossed one of the micro-grenades in his hand. "We all might wanna step back a bit though-," he added as he regarded the distance between them and the tree, "-don't wanna get hit by chunks." There was mischievous smirk on his face as he gazed at the innocuous looking explosive device.

"And accuracy?" Book asked as they all wisely stepped back nearly a dozen or so meters.

"Up to fifty for point on, but I could do double that in ideal." Jayne answered.

"Can I do it, Jayne?" Clara asked hopefully.

"Girl, you'd prolly have ta stand in the blast zone to hit it! " He shook his head. "I ain't explain' to Ma why you're in intensive care for tha next four months." He snorted.

"Just 'cause I'm a girl don't mean I can't fire a gun." She argued.

"Hell, girl, I know you can." Jayne snapped back. "I ruttin' taught ya. Ain't about bein' a girl, it's 'bout how much practice you got. If it were a regular launcher, I might let ya, but underbarrel's can be tricky. Point is-," Jayne grunted as he loaded the round into the chamber."-she's mine." He grinned as he snapped the chamber back into place and brought Vera up to his shoulder. The launcher beeped to indicate it was not holding its maximum capacity of four grenades but he ignored that; one would do well enough, four was just a waste of decent coin. The launcher came with an overbarrel, flip-up targeting sight for indirect fire, but given the lack of distance between the merc and the hive, he chose instead to use the laser pointer on the launcher itself. The sight of the tiny green dot through Vera's scope caused a giddy feeling to floor through him.

_/River?/_ The convict thought at her without looking down at his side; having been called on their telepathy by the crew several times, the convict was now making it a point to attempt to appear as though they weren't conversing when they did.

_/And so dies seventy-four thousand, eight hundred, fourteen souls; I will mourn for them. / _

_ /They're bugs. /_

_ /They are essential components to a self-sustaining ecosystem and should be valued regardless of their scientific classification. A hundred-seventy olfactory receptors which are capable of kin recognition and hive communication; their brains capable of long-term memory retention, allowing for complex calculations based on distance and foraging efficiency. A society in which each member has a purpose and each purpose serves unselfishly the whole. The whole is vital to the existence of the parts./ _ Her thoughts came laced with a mixture of sorrow and awe before changing quickly to contempt. _/They do not think for themselves. They are assigned and slotted. They are given numbers, not names. I have changed my mind. I will not mourn for them. They are better dead./ _Confusion began to weave its way into her thoughts, the speed at which they flowed growing in proportion with it. _/And yet, without the hive, without the blind obedience, they would die. Given an option would you mate and be named useless after or would you toil endlessly in the fields? Would you choose to play nursemaid or construction worker in lieu of dying a soldier's death on your first strike at a foe? / _ Her thoughts, however, did not allow for a reply as they raced forward. _/Without their sacrifice for the greater good, the flowers would wilt, crops would die, whole forests and fields would rot; without the natural filtering of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere provided by the trees, without the continuation of crops through pollination, life would cease…/_

_/Stop looking for fucking metaphors./_ Riddick's abrupt thought stilled River's. _/They're bees, River. I know where you're going. Quit it. The Company isn't a hive; you aren't a gorram escaped soldier bee. You want a crazy ass metaphor for something? Watch this. /_ He pulled River in front of him and held her still as he rested his chin on her head.

"Might wanna plug your ears." Jayne warned. Riddick placed his large hands over River's ears; he knew full well he could filter out the explosion he knew was coming easy enough. "Boom." Jayne whispered as he pulled the trigger.

The grenade shot out; its path as it sliced through the air tracked every millimeter by the Reader and the Furyan. The impact of the metal tearing through the soft flesh of the hive echoed louder in River's mind then the explosion did as it filtered through Riddick's hands. Instead of merely being blown to pieces, the hive went up in pyrotechnic glory to the delight of Jayne's audience. The merc silently congratulated himself on the use of an incendiary grenade rather than the standard; Jayne was nothing if not a showman, and the cheering of the others was well worth the extra few coins the round had cost him.

_/There's your fucking metaphor River./_ Riddick thought as the hoots and hollars of the crew rang out in the wake of the explosion. The tree, as River had predicted, went up in flames right alongside with the hive. _/That's what happens when something gets in our way. We obliterate it. /_

*T*F*C*

"Nobody does quite blow stuff up like your boy, Ma." Kaylee giggled from the backyard of the house as she obligingly held a large platter for her in front of the brick grille. "Coulda just grilled over that poor tree."

"Everybody's good at somethin', I suppose." Ma chuckled herself as she used a large fork to transfer the steaks from the grille to the platter Kaylee held.

"It all smells so delicious." Inara complimented as she arranged a vase of flowers for the table's centerpiece.

"Oh, thank you, dear-," Ma blushed, "-it's nothing I don't enjoy doin' for folk."

"Where'd ya get all this meat from anyway?" The mechanic asked, her stomach rumbling as the tantalizing smells drifted up from the platter in her hands.

"Bobby's pa runs cattle. Boy brought over a freezer-full tryin' to get into my good graces."

"And did he?" Inara asked.

"Oh, he's fine enough." Ma shrugged. "Real test will be if he shows his face 'round here after that little display my boy put on." She frowned slightly. "Couldn't yell at him too bad though, he did get 'im gone. Don't know the boy well 'nough yet to know if he can keep ya'lls secrets."

"And you don't mind?" Kaylee asked sheepishly. "Could be puttin' you in a bit of danger." She confessed. "Iffin' we didn't have to come and bring those meds to Matty, don't know if we ever woulda shown at all. It's the reason we don't ever go to Aberdeen where I got my people."

"What'd I say yesterday?" She replied, her shoulders straightening noticeably. "We Cobbs ain't scared of nothin' and any speck of trouble we might get 'cause of it is worth it." She added as she took the platter, piled high, from Kaylee and walked it to the table; her eyes scanning the spread before her and searching out for any flaw. "Jayne'll be sore it's apple tonight." She sighed.

"Ma-," Kaylee started again after sharing a look with Inara, "-I mean it. Jayne says his old captain, that Walker fella, he took the bid for the Tams."

"These men-," Inara said earnestly, "-they're not like Mal."

"Thank you for worryin' on me-," she said sweetly, "-both of you, bless your hearts." Ma wrapped a comforting arm around Kaylee's shoulders and gave her a small squeeze. "But you ain't got to fret over me like that. This old lady ain't as slow as she looks." She gave them both a reproachful, mothering look. "No more of that talk now though. You know one of the biggest sins in Ma's house?"

"Lettin' good food go cold." Kaylee smiled.

"That's right, girl, call 'em in."

*T*F*C*

"Bit, do I even wanna ask what you're doing?" Mal asked as he stepped onto the bridge. "And when the Hell did you sneak up here? Only went to get coffee." He huffed.

"Wash suggested programming the navigational computers to relay conflicting information to satellites upon atmospheric departure." She answered mechanically and without raising her head from the screen in front of her.

Mal didn't bother trying to follow her fingers as they flew across the keyboard. "That possible to do without flagging us?" He asked instead as he sipped off his coffee.

"If multiple satellites are targeted, yes."

"And again, I ask, is that even possible?"

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." She replied easily.

"Suppose it counts as before breakfast now and not after dinner." He shrugged, checking his watch; River's statement causing no more than a slight uptick of the left corner of his lips. "Can't sleep tonight?"

"It is the same premise as the screamers only without the dependence on a physical signal projector... and no." She frowned.

"Don't tell me Riddick's a snorer?" Mal joked as he took the co's chair.

"No, he is dreaming loudly again. The distraction is necessary."

"Shouldn't you just wake 'im then?"

"It is inadvisable." She replied.

"Ah." Mal nodded slowly. "Toss me that book there, Bit." He pointed to River's right.

"He went like one that hath been stunned, and is of sense forlorn, a sadder and a wiser man, he rose the morrow morn." River recited as she passed it to the captain.

"_The Rime of the Ancient Mariner._" Mal said with an approving smile as he accepted it. "Don't know why I'm surprised."

"I have not read it." She informed him. "You have thought it often. It was a folksong on your world. Momma sang it." River blinked. "I am sorry."

"No worries, Bit." The captain waved it off as he leaned back and opened the book, a collection of tales and poems on exploration throughout the centuries. "Shadow was a casualty of war; my momma wasn't the only one who died that week."

"It's raw." She commented, her fingers still dancing across the keys.

"Always will be, I suspect." He replied, his tone slightly off.

River did not press any further. Shadow acted as its name sake across the captain's mind; an eternal and ever-renewing flame which feed Malcolm Reynolds' hatred of the Alliance. She instead continued on with her work as she allowed the lyrical words the captain read silently to dance around her head as her fingers fell into time with the unspoken syllables.

*T*F*C*

"That was Ma on the Wave." Book announced as he came back into the mess.

"Somethin' ain't wrong, is it?" Jayne asked immediately, a bit of egg falling out of his mouth as he did so.

"Trouble? Oh, no." Book assured him with a small smile as he retook his place at the table. "Ma wanted to invite us to church." The preacher barely managed to hold in his laugh as the nine other members of the crew simultaneously paled with their chopsticks frozen in mid-air.

An explosion of mentally recited and discarded excuses hit River as the crew scrambled for a way to turn Ma down without forever losing their pie privileges.

"She does, however, realize how rare it is her son and his crew come to visit, and Matty and the Twins have offered to entertain the less pious of us with a picnic at some dreadfully boring quarry." Book added, his lips pressed into a smile.

"Oh, thank God." Wash exhaled with relief, one eyebrow quirking as he realized the irony of his statement.

"Don't scare a man like that, Preacher." Mal joked. "Thought I wasn't ever gonna taste gravy again."

"Not quite a beach-," Zoe smirked, "-but I'll take it. Riv, you think you could do that mental thing? 'Cause I'll be damned if I can remember where I put my swimsuit."

Kaylee frowned. "While you're at it?" She asked sheepishly.

River giggled as her eyes glazed slightly, her head ticking imperceptibly. "Black trunk, long-term storage." She pointed her chopsticks first at Zoe and then at Kaylee, "Pink polka dot suitcase, under your bunk."

"Now that's just downright lazy." Mal shook his head.

"Says a bit 'bout you too, Cap." Kaylee snorted. "Been so long since we had a proper leave yer crew can't even remember where they stowed their beach-wear."

"Hey now, ya'll were at the beach on Bellerophon." Mal pointed out.

"I was tethered to the ship danglin' over it, that don't hardly count." The mechanic retorted.

"And River and I spent it hiding out in some godforsaken canyon." Inara added.

"Just was at a rainforest." Mal shrugged.

"Where we were chased out by the Alliance military after blowing up a research lab. You really do know how to show a fellow a good time." Simon quipped.

"Beaumonde's considered quite the tourist attraction." Mal offered, a grin slowly breaking across his lips.

"Sure, people come from trillions of kilometers away just to breath in that delicious green-grey air and slum it through half-underground cities where, on a good day, you get trampled by the market crowd and, on a bad-,"

"You run into me in the alleyways." Riddick finished for Wash.

"Exactly." Wash agreed with a bit of a flourish.

"I see, ain't no pleasin' any of you lot." Mal shook his head.

"I dunno-," Jayne chuckled, "-had myself a hell of a time on Greenleaf."

"I got shot." River deadpanned.

"Like that means anythin' 'round here." The merc drawled in response as he rolled his eyes. "Actin' like it makes you special or somethin' cause you got shot. Hell, I've been shot more on this crew than I got fingers to count, if ya count the grazes."

"Now that's just a gross exaggeration." Mal huffed.

River's head ticked. "Not entirely."

"Well, ya'll got armor now, quit dwellin'." The captain replied dismissively. "We gonna get ready to get gone or what? Who's on dishes?"

"That would be you, Mal." Riddick rumbled, his lips ticking as he held up a small slip of paper, the word 'dishes' written clearly across it in the captain's boxy hand.

"Aw, hell."

"Edge isn't lookin' so great now, is it?" Jayne chuckled.

*T*F*C*

"How's that edge, Jayne?" Mal yelled, his hands cupped around his mouth from his position on the safety of the ground as the odd merc/convict pairing stood on a rock ledge nearly a thirty meters above his head.

The merc offered an obscene hand gesture in reply before turning and yelling something inaudible at Riddick.

"Goddamnit, Riddick. I ruttin' told you I ain't scared of shit." River informed the rest of the crew who, much like herself, were lounged out across the smooth sun-bleached stone.

"Riv, please tell me that water's deep 'nough." Kaylee fretted from beneath her tattered umbrella, the two meatball-style pigtails she sported bobbing in worrisome unison.

"Oh, it's fine." Lara answered for her as she stretched out on her back and yawned; though the only reason they knew it was Lara that spoke, given the girls' matching yellow bathing suits and braided pigtails, was the fact that her head rested on the top of Simon's outstretched ankles as he lounged back, supported by his elbows, pale skin painfully apparent in his shirtless state. "Boys 'round here do it all the time."

"The depth is more than adequate." River answered anyway as she edged herself under the slight shelter of Kaylee's small umbrella. Granted her bathing suit covered more than most of the others, a tank top and short two-piece, she could already feel her exposed skin beginning to redden. At least on the homestead she been able to busy herself with chores sheltered from the sun inside the barn with the horses; as it was, out on the stone, she felt a sudden sympathy with eggs in a frying pan. "Simon." She complained.

"In my bag, there's sunscreen, River." Her brother replied, not needing further explanation given the furrow of her face as she poked at her skin.

"There's no snakes in this water, is there?" Zoe asked, eyeing it suspiciously as she dipped a toe in.

"No." River replied before one of the twins could beat her to it, as she jumped up for her brother's bag. "The only species native to this region prefers the grass."

"Good to know." Zoe smiled and crouched down, easing her legs into the water.

"There ain't even fish in there." Clara added. "Up 'til 'bout three years ago this was a stone quarry; company went under, we got a swimmin' hole."

"That's awful. Lotta folk lost their jobs when that happened." Matty admonished.

"Can't change it. Might as well see the good." Lara defended her sister.

"Oooohhhh! He's jumpin'!" Kaylee flinched and covered her eyes; Jayne's holler providing the soundtrack vividly enough for her.

"He's fine." River told her gently, tugging on her arm as she knelt back down beside her. "Look." She pointed as Jayne's head reappeared above the surface, a triumphant grin on his face as he yelled and pumped his fist in the air.

"Oh, thank the Lord." Kaylee breathed, earning her a trio of chuckles from Ma's other offspring.

"Careful, Kay, you'll sound just like her." Clara snorted through her chuckle.

"I really did just say that, didn't I?" She giggled at herself.

"I'm thinking a manly belly flop." Wash said as they watched Riddick take a few steps back to get a running start.

"Ouch." Mal grimaced just at the thought.

"Cannonball." River said absently as she slathered a layer of sunscreen on; glancing up just as Riddick leapt from the rock, his body tucking into itself and a massive splash rising up as he broke through the water. "I should have bet." She frowned, realizing belatedly.

"Ain't one of us dumb 'nough to bet against you, Bit." Mal chuckled.

"Malcolm?" Inara asked coyly as she tilted down her sunglasses, clad in a purple one piece, a matching sheer coverall draped across her already tanned skin. "Isn't it customary to remove one's shirt when swimming?"

"What?" He looked down at himself confused. "Oh, ha-ha. I'll have you know-," he flexed, "-only the manliest of men can get away with a farmer's tan."

"Hm, I suppose that explains why you can't." She smirked, the expression blossoming into a laugh at Mal's affronted look.

"Better than bein' just straight pasty and lily white." He grumbled.

"Hey!" Echoed from more than half of his crew indignantly.

"Truth hurts." Mal shrugged just as Riddick and Jayne made their way back via the water to the rock-shore the crew reclined on.

"Whew!" Jayne chuckled as he hefted himself up onto the rock. "All sorts of fun!"

"Don't lie." Riddick grunted as he pushed himself up. "Nearly had to throw your ass off."

"Shut the hell up." Jayne grumbled as he dropped down on Kaylee's free side, shaking the water droplets off of himself and spraying the girls. The responding chorus of Mandarin which inevitably followed mildly shocked him given the almost perfect unison in which the Twins swore. "You can't tell me you talk like that around momma."

"Ain't dumb like you." Lara snorted.

_/Don't./ _River's head snapped up. _/No./_ River warned again, her eyes narrowing.

_/Here, River, River.../ _ His mental chuckle rippled through her nerve endings.

"No!" She shrieked as she leapt up; there was something to be said, however, for the advantage of the length of Riddick's stride verses River's speed in close distances. An advantage made apparent as he crossed the distance between them before she was fully on her feet. He swooped her up over his shoulder and spun in a singular fluid motion, throwing them both into the water on his second large step as he came around.

"Well whaddya know-," Mal drawled, "-you can get the jump on a mind-reader."

River's shrieking, sputtered tangent of profanity crossed several language borders as she came back above the water; her soaked braids whipping Riddick in the face as she indignantly spun and attempted to swim back to shore.

Riddick barked out a laugh as he grabbed her leg and tugged her back. "Got a mouth, girl. Can think of a better use for it." He rumbled as his caught hers.

Simon groaned as he fell backwards; catching himself the moment before he cracked his head on the rock. "Make it stop. I'll pay somebody. Just, for the love of God, make it stop."

"I could always get my chopsticks, Doc. Need to make good on a promise anyhow." Jayne grinned.

"Oh, stop it." Lara hissed at him.

"I did have a little rule 'bout shipboard romances, but somebody-," Mal glared sideways at his first mate's back as he pointedly cleared his throat, "-told me I could go fuck myself."

"That I did, sir."

"See, now you're lucky Riv's here to tell me you really do mean that sir." Mal said as he twisted to look at her fully.

"Thought the fact I'd never actually left your hide to rot said it clear enough, sir." She grinned without bothering to turn and look at him.

"Wouldn't feel bad, Zo-," Jayne said as he reached into the basket Ma had packed for them and grabbed a sandwich, "-man's a shit judge of character."

"Trusted you, didn't he?" Matty shot out. "Can't be all that bad."

Jayne nearly choked on the first bite of his sandwich, paling somewhat. The truth of it was, and a truth everyone but his kin knew, was that less than a year ago there wasn't a person onboard _Serenity_, aside from Kaylee, that would have turned their back on the merc, and he didn't blame a single one of them.

"See there?" Mal said easily, his eyes locked with Jayne's. "I'm a damn fine judge of character."

Jayne forced the mouthful of food down, receiving and returning a brief nod with his captain. "Suppose yer are, Cap."

"Simon is turning green." River whispered.

"He's jealous?" Riddick asked, wholly confused as to why Simon would be green over him kissing River.

"Nauseated." She laughed throwing her arms around his neck and molding herself to be supported by his body.

Riddick threw back his head and barked out a raspy chuckle.

"You are very yellow for Riddick." River informed him as he began a lazy sort of half swim further out.

"Feels good to not always be watching my back." He replied simply. "Don't read too much into it, girl; still the Big Bad, just don't itch like it used to."

"I understand entirely." She sighed. "I am very glad Mother found you."

"She found me, did she? Way I remember it; she was just one of the few that weren't checking papers." He smirked.

"She did. She collected us all." River replied sagely, releasing him to drift on her back; her braids suspended around her head as a tangled halo.

*T*F*C*

The crew of _Serenity_ spent two more days in various forms of occupation around the Cobb homestead before bidding farewell to home-cooked meals and jokes at Jayne's expense. River, with two new hats in her possession; one from Ma's stock and one knitted expertly with deft fingers during the nights spent on the porch, and the promise of more posted to Haven upon completion. There was something to be said for long, lazy summer days, and leisurely twilights spent on a country porch. When they broke through atmo and took to the Black, the ship herself seemed lighter; as if the days on Beylix had relieved a burden from their collective shoulders. If asked, River would have told them it had but, as she was not, she kept the observation to herself. Apparently, as she had learned, remarking on the emotional climate was not as socially acceptable as remarking on the atmospheric climate; a distinction she found highly debatable.

"You want to do the honors, Riv?" Wash asked as they cleared atmosphere.

"Why thank you." She dipped her head slightly before turning to the keyboard at the co's station.

"Catch me if you can." Riddick chuckled as he read the words, entered without spaces as the activation code.

"And they can't." River smirked as she hit the execute key; four electronic signals traveling at near-instantaneous speeds left _Serenity's_ navigational computers.

"So how do we know it works?" Wash asked. "I mean, that was a bit anticlimactic. What with the clever code and all."

"Acceptance confirmation complete." River grinned smugly as she looked up from her screen. "Your doubt is forgiven for your recognition of the effort in selecting the appropriate activation code."

"Well, there ya go." Mal mirrored River's expression.

"Where are we actually going?" Riddick asked looking up from the coordinates on River's screen. "'Cause honestly, Mal, Ares is a real small rock and, as fun as it sounds to visit the home of the Merc Guilds, wasn't thinking I felt like serving our asses up on a silver plate."

"We did just buy all those, nice, shiny new toys." Mal smirked. "But I ain't got a death wish despite popular opinion. We're gonna take the plotted course to New Kasmir-," He pointed as he leaned over the nav table, "-and hop into the ghost lane here. If anybody did have the luck to pick the right course to follow, we'll disappear off the shipping lane sats, and wait 'til we hit a blind patch in the ghost lane before changing course and skipping off into dead space. 'Ccordin' to Wash and Riv, it's safer to make contact with Mr. Universe outside of the monitored lanes, less of a chance somebody can hack our signal when we have to bounce it like we do in dead space."

"Paranoia keeps us alive." Wash sighed as he doubled checked his heading. "I'm gonna go full burn 'til we clear the shipping lanes. We can save fuel where nobody can see us."

"Vigilance." Mal winked at River. "Not paranoia."

"And I say to you, sir, sanguine." Wash retorted as he fully powered up the main engine.

"Really do need that painted on the side of the ship. Riv, draw somethin' up." He ordered as he turned on his heel and headed off the bridge.

"Yes, sir." She mock saluted his back.

"And I don't want to see a gorram dinosaur anywhere on it!" Mal yelled over his shoulder as he hit the last step. "Or geese!" He added.

"Why's he so chipper?" Wash complained. "We'll be back to eating freeze-dried noodles and protein mush as soon as all the fresh stuff is gone."

"We're back in the Black." River informed him. "Mother is stretching her wings."

"It is good to be home." Wash conceded as he looked out and across at the expanse of stars before him. "And, hey, who knows, still haven't found the crappy planet where I'm a folk hero yet." He added optimistically.


	79. Heart of Gold I

A/N:

I had a number of issues with this episode in the series, but I won't bother ranting on about them; in short, this is not your momma's Heart of Gold. Love me or hate me, here it is.

**Dherea, Mrstrentreznor, CeruleanKitten, ZenRyu, Zen007, RayShippouUchiha, Morbious20, BooklvrAnnie, Taylen-Swordbreaker, KuMardagg, Rachet, Alexydra, Dessel Ordo, TessFan, bklyangel, bibirijks, Procusi, ArtLightLove, NaniErin, Plagarism much** (_yes even you_), **Kinda interesting** (_valid point about the story being too similar in to the show in the beginning. I hope you read on to realize that I realized that as well, but in my defense, it was just the beginning and the story took a hot minute for me to find my groove in_), **jake** _(I hope you continued to read on as well_), **Carden88, Tuuna, celticicegoddess, mommy2onebb, Notableword, Tempest S., NefariousImp, GGhanima, Storyluver , 1stp Klosr, AmethystFeyral, thedancingelk, PBFFluver, cunningbunny, oracle1432, & Salamander Sage Whitebeard **_(ouch, sorry you were disappointed)_

_**If I forgot you it doesn't mean I don't love you, I'm just a space cadet… forgive me…**_

A special thanks to all of you who dropped me PMs to check up on me, I am so sorry over the length of time it has taken to produce this episode. My wedding planning has consumed much off my life (August 27th!) and there was just a jumble of other personal crises which somehow always seem to accompany large family gatherings. I offer my sincerest apologies and do so hope you enjoy this episode.

A huge, huge, huge special thanks goes out the shiz-nit of all betas. Once again Thug-4-Less held my hand and patiently gathered up every eyelash I plucked out of my head while writing this. Kudos goes to him for major and invaluable help with tech aspects, battle scenes, keeping me grounded and kicking my ass when needed. Much luv bro.

Without further ado…

_***I own nothing and make no money. It all belongs to greater minds then mine."**_

*T*F*C*

**Heart of Gold**

Kalidasa System

LT/K-12 (ghost lane)

_Serenity_

"Coffee?" Mal offered, chuckling slightly as Inara started in the copilot's chair; a faint blush tinting her cheeks at having been caught dozing on her bridge watch.

"I wasn't sleeping." She replied defensively.

"Nah, you were just inspectin' the back of your eyelids for holes-," the captain teased as he offered her the coffee again, "-won't hold it against you; happens to all of us on the boneyard watch."

"The boneyard watch?" Inara asked curiously as she accepted the coffee.

"Yup-," Mal groaned slightly as he settled himself into the main flight chair, swearing quietly as a bit of hot coffee spilled onto his hand, "- you know, the time of the night where your eyeballs feel like they're made of sand and the whole ship gets all quiet; like a graveyard." He took a careful sip of his coffee. "Makes a body think they're seein' things in the shadows and hearin' voices in the ship echoes; kinda like the willies you get walkin' through a boneyard."

"I can't imagine finding anything this far out except for ghosts." Inara held her cup with both hands to allow the warmth of it to seep through her chilled fingers.

"If ghosts were the only thing this far out, we wouldn't be runnin' a bridge watch." He leaned back in his chair and propped his legs up on the console. "'Course, seein' as how the Bit called that boy we picked up a ghost, that's plenty 'nough to worry 'bout."

Inara repressed the reflexive shudder which threatened. "Where do they come from?"

"Ghosts? Used to be live people." Mal joked; however, on Inara's harsh look, he sobered and straightened himself in his chair. "Your guess is as good as mine." He shrugged. "Maybe they were men that got to the edge of space, or at least tried to. Lotta things can happen to a man in the Black-," his voice dropped as his eyes wandered out to the viewfinder, "-maybe they ain't men… maybe they're somethin' else." He added quietly, almost as though he were speaking to himself.

"Something else?" A hint of fear trembled along the question.

"In the words of the Bit-," he tilted his head and readjusted himself in the chair, "-ain't got answers, only questions."

"Do you think she knows?" The Companion ventured.

"If she does, I ain't got a mind to ask. You see what them secrets did to her brain?" He turned his eyes to her again. "Don't ask." He warned her. "She's come a long way since the day she popped screamin' outta that box and I don't see a quicker way of sendin' her back then to make her go pokin' in her head for some secret ain't nobody really wants to know anyway."

The smile which crossed Inara's face came of its own accord. "You really do care about her."

"'Course I do." Mal grunted. "She's my Bit. She might have a genius doc for a brother and the 'Verse's scariest _hundan_ as her shadow, but-,"

"You're Daddy." Inara supplied for him and there was no mockery in her tone whatsoever.

The captain grinned despite his embarrassment. "She's one of mine." He offered in vague acknowledgment. "And I take care of mine."

"So, the edge of space-," Inara broke the silence that followed, "-does it even exist?" She let her eyes wander out into the expanse.

"You know as good as me that Black goes on forever. I can see how some men maybe couldn't wrap their heads around it. How it mighta got under their skin and they went lookin'. As much as I prefer it out here, too much time does funny things to a body." He smirked. "Look at Wash-," he picked up Frank from the console and tossed him once, "-grown man that plays with dinosaurs and shadow puppets." He joked in an attempt to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

"As opposed to one that dons a dress to capture bandits and marries homicidal sociopaths?" She replied with an amused arch of her eyebrow.

"That was one time-," Mal snorted with an eye roll, "-and what'd I say 'bout openin' the book of my life and readin' from the middle?" He retorted with humor.

"I doubt I could even venture to translate it if I tried." She replied with a sort of sideways smile over her mug of coffee.

"Gimme a minute while I try to figure out if that was an insult or a compliment." He feigned a look of concentration.

Inara laughed lightly. "It was, in an odd sort of way I suppose, a compliment."

"Well, I'll take it then." Mal saluted her with his coffee and settled himself more comfortably in his chair; enjoying the peaceful silence they fell into as _Serenity_ drifted through the ghost track. The quiet continued on for nearly an hour before a warning indicator flared to life on the Nav console.

"Nuthin' to worry 'bout." Mal assured her as he flicked it off. "Just signaling the last chance to divert to Delphi. Be in dead space in less than a day now." He informed her after briefly checking Wash's course.

"Delphi?" Inara asked. "It has a moon named Calliope?"

"Sure does." Mal yawned. "You got people there?" He asked curiously, not seeing how she could. Delphi's moons, like so many others, were just shy of terraforming failures. Most moons had only the basic necessities for life and, more often than not, were populated solely by the indentured and privately owned, much like Higgins' Moon.

"Yes." She replied, her affirmation calling the captain's full attention.

"Never heard you talk on your people before."

"Because I don't have any." She confessed, fingering the ends of her shawl.

"But you just said-,"

"When you enter a House-," Inara began slowly, "-you forfeit any family outside of it. The sisters become your family; the House Mistress, your mother. I don't remember anyone else." She confessed. "Serra was the last name given to me when I entered service, as it was given to all of the girls who began that same year." She sighed quietly. "I was five."

"You don't remember them at all?"

"I have some memories; flashes of dark hair and the smell of lilies… but their faces…" Her voice faded sadly.

"So, who's on Calliope?" Mal asked curiously; he'd just learned more about the woman sitting next to him in the last five minutes then he had in the last year and he was loathe to have the conversation end so quickly.

"Nandi." The Companion smiled and the expression was more genuine than Mal had ever seen; all traces of sadness disappearing as she spoke the name.

"She must be important to you." He urged as he leaned forward.

"She entered the same year as I; we were inseparable-," her smile faltered, "-that was, until she left."

"She got reassigned?" Mal asked, not really sure how the whole thing worked.

"No." Inara shook her head. "She left entirely and I was forbidden to contact her. The House considers defection to be the most contagious of all diseases and, if a Companion chooses to leave, she is shunned and becomes _Qishijian _ (Vow traitor)." She closed her eyes briefly to stem the flow of emotion which threatened. "I never learned why she left. I was away and, when I returned, she was gone. I never questioned the House until I came aboard _Serenity._ It seems cruel of me now, to have abandoned her… I was so blind."

"'Nara?" He asked carefully.

"I'm fine, Mal." She forced a smile. "Really, just fine." She assured him as she smoothed her skirt.

Mal didn't reply, he merely swiveled in his chair and accessed the Nav, flicking off the autopilot as he did so.

"What are you doing?" Inara asked, confused.

"Changin' course." He replied as though it should have been obvious.

"Why?"

"Well, we ain't got a job, and Calliope's right here on the way. Jayne's seen his people; don't see why we can't make a detour to see yours."

"Mal, that's…you don't-,"

"Already done." He finished typing with a flourish. "You can thank me."

Inara pressed her lips into a thin line; a wry, amused smile broke out despite the action. "Thank you, Mal."

"See?" He chuckled. "Didn't kill ya."

"That remains to be seen." She laughed along with him.

"You know, little bit of Kaylee's optimism wouldn't kill you none either." The captain chided with mock reproach.

*T*F*C*

"You wish to speak. I do not." River said abruptly and without looking up from her sketch book as Inara entered the mess later that morning.

The sudden break in the otherwise quiet atmosphere caused both Book, whom had been preparing breakfast, and, Riddick who was hunched over a cup coffee beside River, to look up.

"And she fucking speaks." Riddick grunted; his irritation rolling blatantly off of him as he took a sip from his cup. River had been cold and silent since they had awoken less than an hour before; refusing to do more than glare in his direction and, quite frankly, it was too gorram early for Riddick to be able to summon any sort of patience for it.

"River, I-," Inara started but was cut off by the Reader.

"I do not wish to speak on this. I prefer to remain quietly petulant, please and thank you."

"Petulant's just another word for bitch." The convict grunted. The noise, however, mutated into a rumbling half-growl as River jabbed his side with her pencil unmercifully.

"Petulant: moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance." She retorted, her voice as cold as ice and as sharp as a shiv. "Bitch: a female dog; or, in the vernacular, a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman. I am not refusing to go, nor am I seeking to slander or defame. Correct your vocabulary; your misuse is irritating."

"Like I said. Bitch." Riddick rumbled, matching her glare from behind his goggles. "We changed course last night, heard the thrusters shift. Where we headed?" He asked Inara, choosing to ignore the quietly muttering Reader beside him.

"River didn't tell you?" Inara asked cautiously, her gaze switching between the pair at the table.

"Wouldn't be asking you if she did, would I?" Riddick replied impatiently.

"Oh, River, if I had known you would be-,"

"I do not wish to speak on this." River cut her off again. "Your desire for reconnection only speaks well of her. I will compartmentalize, until then I choose to be quietly petulant."

"Very well." Inara acquiesced with a slight bow of her head before refocusing on Riddick. "We're headed for Calliope, I… we-," she corrected with an uneasy glance at River, one not lost on the convict, "-have a mutual friend there."

Riddick didn't comment, he merely ticked his head impatiently as he waited for the Companion to clarify further.

"Nandi." Inara spoke the name almost as though it was a confession. Whatever response she had been expecting from the convict, the rough barking chuckle that escaped his lips was not it.

"That's what that shard up your ass is about?" He looked at River. "Some whore I fucked?"

"In the room." Book cleared his throat. "If that matters any."

"Whores?" Jayne grunted as he wobbled on unsteady legs into the mess, still rubbing the last traces of sleep from his eyes.

"'Course that's the word he picks out." Kaylee snorted as she followed Jayne in.

"I do not have a '_shard up my ass_'." River retorted primly. "I was endeavoring to remain quietly petulant."

Riddick merely smirked at her, his foul mood dissipating entirely; replaced by smug amusement that she found absolutely infuriating.

"Why do you have a reason to be 'quietly petulant'?" Simon asked from the hatchway having only picked up the last part of River's statement; adding, "What's wrong?" As he noted her ridged posture and white-knuckled grip on her drawing pencil.

"Some whore 'pparently." Jayne shrugged as let his head fall into his folded arms and awaited the arrival of food.

"I'm still confused." The doctor stated as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Sister's bent 'cause I fucked one of Inara's old friends." Riddick answered as he leaned back in his chair.

"And now I regret asking." Simon rolled his eyes and stood back up from the table. "What's for breakfast, Shepherd?" He extricated himself from the conversation entirely.

"Oh, quit it, ya'll." Kaylee complained. "It's too gorram early for ya'll to be pokin' at each other." She scolded them.

"Who's rainin' all over Kaylee's parade already?" Mal asked as he stepped into the mess.

"Riddick's just bein mean, is all. Ain't nuthin' new." Kaylee replied. "Why we'd change course last night? Heard our girl groanin'." She turned her look on the captain. "Ya shoulda 'woken up me or Wash."

"I can fly my own damn boat thank you!" Mal declared emphatically as he sat himself down at the head of the table and leaned forward for the coffee pot. "And we're headed to Calliope."

"What the hell for?" Jayne asked, reaching for a biscuit before the preacher even set the dish on the table. "Place is a ghost rock or might as well be."  
"I have a friend on Calliope." Inara replied. "She's a former Companion that now runs a… an independent brothel."

"She the one Riv's all bent over?" Jayne asked.

"I am not bent." River retorted bitingly. "I am attempting to be quietly petulant."

"What's wrong with Calliope? I got a reason to be worried?" Mal asked, hesitating over his cup.

"Your assumptions are false." River informed him as she straightened her shoulders, seeming to soothe her own metaphorical feathers. "I do not wish to continue this line of questioning or thought. Please and thank you."

"Okay…" Mal drawled slowly. "Long as we ain't about to drop out of the sky or get shot up." He managed a shrug.

"As of now, the statistical probability is low." River assured him.

"It's those 'as of nows' that always make you so creepy and ominous." Wash teased as he and his wife meandered into the mess from the bridge. "And I mean that with nothing but affection, as you know." He tapped his temple as he dropped into his chair.

"I will endeavor to watch my wording." River nodded.

"Uh-oh." Wash arched an eyebrow. "I know that tone."

"What tone?" River demanded, playing ignorant as she ignored the food Riddick piled on her plate and continued with her sketch.

"That's the _quietly-petulant-so-I-don't-seem-crazy-tone_." He replied.

"Your observational skills are surprising." River blinked as she looked at him.

"Compliment?" Wash asked.

"Vaguely." She answered honestly.

"From the super genius, that's good enough." Wash grinned.

"How is it that you always understand?" Simon quirked his head.

"We get each other." The pilot shrugged.

"Wouldn't go braggin' 'bout that." Jayne chortled under his breath.

"Jayne." Mal warned.

"Whatever." The merc grunted as he forked a bit of egg into his mouth.

"So, anyway-," the captain took the lead in the conversation, "-we'll be makin' a small detour to Calliope. We got plenty of coin to tide us over so's there ain't a real need to go rushin' into the next job and 'Nara's got a friend she'd like to visit a spell with."

"Should break atmo inside of eight hours." Wash offered. "This what you're being all 'quietly petulant' about?" He asked River.

"I do not wish to further this line of questioning." River repeated.

"So that's a yes?" Wash assumed.

"Repetition is irksome." River muttered.

"I don't know-," Riddick mused, thoroughly enjoying the situation, "-it can be real entertaining."

"I can hurt you." River threatened almost absently as she smudged a line she had just drawn.

"Love it when you talk dirty." He rumbled with a smirk as he played with one of her braids, giving it a slight tug as he spoke.

"Sweet Buddha-," Simon groaned as he dropped his chopsticks down on the table, "- really?"

"Seconded." Mal echoed the groan.

"I'd like to see her hurt 'em." Kaylee narrowed her eyes at the convict.

"For shit's sake people, it's breakfast!" Mal groaned incredulously. "Ya'll ain't even been up for an hour and you're already threatenin' to kill each other."

"Maim, not kill." River corrected. "Killing _shi li _(strength) would be detrimental to her continued survival; however, she is sure he would be able to function more than adequately with perhaps one less finger or toe."

"Promises." Riddick smirked, giving her braids another tug as he chuckled darkly to himself.

"Bit." Mal warned and turned his gaze on her. "Fugitives will be confined to the ship." He made the announcement. "Only 'Nara and an escort are leaving sight of this boat."

"Not like there's even likely to be a decent bar on that rock." Jayne shrugged indifferently.

River, however, found herself to be irrationally pleased by the captain's announcement and beamed a smile back at him in approval.

"I really don't think an escort is necessary." Inara assured him.

"Ship rules don't change." Mal shook his head firmly. "We go out armed and in pairs or we don't go out at all."

"I take it you're planning on being that escort?" She asked.

"Didn't have a name in my head yet." Mal lied.

"Well, you can take Jayne out." Kaylee cut in. "He ain't got a reason to be hangin' 'round a brothel."

"Wouldn'ta had a thing ta wear anyhow. You made me burn my good shirt." He grinned at her. "What?" He asked after receiving several stunned looks. "Whadda I need ta buy the milk for when I got the- ow! What the fuck, River?"

The girl in question merely rolled her eyes.

"You might want to thank her." Book chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

"She shoulda kicked you sooner." Kaylee gave him a kick of her own beneath the table.

"Ow! Woman, what the hell was that for?" The merc demanded, truly and utterly confused as to how and why he was suddenly the crew's new kicking bag.

"You really are dumb." Zoe informed him with a slight shake of her head.

The merc opened his mouth to shoot out a comeback but was cut off by the captain. "Just eat, Jayne, 'fore you piss off every woman on this ship. Wash, Zoe, either one of you wanna go off-ship?" He asked, turning the conversation in a more practical direction.

Wash held up his left hand and wiggled his ring finger. "Soooo not my thing. No offense." He added to Inara.

"None taken." The Companion replied genuinely.

"Rather spend the time with my man." Zoe smiled as she pressed an unruly lock of hair behind her husband's ear.

"Look's like you'll be on my arm then." Mal turned his head to give Inara his trademark cheeky grin.

"Will you at least wash it first?" She quipped back, earning herself a few stifled chuckles.

"Not makin' any promises." He replied without hesitation. "Gotta conserve water and all."

*T*F*C*

A sort of easy lethargy hung in the air aboard _Serenity, _as the ship journeyed from one pit stop to the next without a visible cloud of trouble on the horizon; the crew fiddled in this and dabbled in that but otherwise drifted as unhurried as the ship herself. The captain found himself in the mess; his two public relations officers seated with him, their combined personal arsenals spread out on the table as they sat in a companionable silence and went through the motions of cleaning and making some minor repairs to their favored pieces.

"You got any inclination to see Nandi?" Mal asked Riddick breaking the silence. "Know you know her too, and I didn't even ask."

"Woman doesn't mean anything to me." The convict shrugged as he dipped a dirty oil rag into a tin of grease. "Really couldn't give a shit either way." Despite his words, his mind ran in a very different direction; memories playing across his consciousness like an old movie on the cortex, as he enjoyed the prickles of River's emotions in response to them.

There was a sort of satisfaction to be found in her reactions to the memories; the taste of her jealously was delicious as it rippled across his mind. It wasn't just green, as River would have described it; it was darker, tinted with violence and drowning in something which almost tasted of rage. He had known River was attached to him, perhaps even devoted, but to feel the spectrum of her emotions as he relived the two weeks he'd spent with Nandi was like nothing he'd ever felt before. River was his_,_ the tone and flavor of her mind clearly said, he was hers; the feeling was more satisfactory than he could have ever imagined.

"How's it you and 'Nara came to know the same woman anyhow?" Mal asked.

"How's it you married a psycho bitch and we got stuck with her equally fucked up sister-in-law as a partner on a job?" Riddick countered with another question, unwilling to be drawn into conversation and distracted from the undercurrent of River's mind in his.

"Fair 'nough." The captain shrugged. "'Verse is a hell of a lot smaller than it seems."

"Or we're just that ruttin' unlucky." Jayne added.

"Good thing we're too pretty die." Mal replied with a chuckle.

"You mean good thing we was only up 'gainst folks with shitty aim." Jayne chortled.

"That too." Mal shrugged again. "But speakin' of folks with shitty aim-," he continued, "-wouldn't hurt to get some target practice in while we ain't got nothin' better to do on Calliope."

"If you're talkin' on the Doc, it's somebody else's turn to get shot this time." Jayne grunted.

"It was a graze." Mal drawled. "You healed up good anyhow. 'Sides, that's in your job description."

"Gettin' shot?" The merc topped the sarcastic reply with a snort.

"That and trainin' up crew." The captain replied cheekily.

"Ain't bein' paid 'nough to get shot by crew. Some kinda real fucked up karma at work there." He groused.

"Kaylee still needs a bit of work, too." Mal pointed out. "But I can see why you're hesitant to give her a gun after that dumbass cow comment."

Jayne glared in response. "'Tween her and Riv I got a huge ass bruise on my shin that says we're even... and I didn't call 'er a cow."

"Got kicked before ya could." Mal chuckled.

"All due respect, Capt'n, shut the hell up." Jayne grumbled.

"Sir, we got ourselves a bit of a potential problem." Zoe interrupted as she jogged down the stairs leading from the aft deck hall.

"'Course we do." Jayne grunted with an eye roll.

"What is it?" Mal asked, glaring at his merc sideways.

"'Golls hit the Salisbury colonies." She informed them. "It's all over the newsfeed."

"_Ai ya gou shi _(Oh crap)." Jayne threw down the whetstone in hand.

"That's what? Two, three sectors from here." Riddick asked, tuning back into the conversation at the mention of 'Golls. "They sure it was 'Golls and not Reavers?"

"NavSat caught the gunships leaving atmo." Zoe nodded. "And there wasn't any trace of a slaughter."

"Honestly don't know which one of 'em's worse." Jayne said. "Reavers eat people. 'Golls slave 'em out. Rather be dead than in chains; but I'd rather be in chains than 'et live, I suppose."

"Least Reavers run without containment and don't hardly use guns. 'Golls got the best tech there is but they try to keep people alive." Zoe said. "Least you got the chance to get free again. Only came across 'em once myself, bit before the war, while my folks were still alive." Zoe cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Damn near impossible to bring them down."

"Run 'cross 'em a time or two myself, ain't ever been on the fightin' end of 'em though." Jayne replied. "On Perth, there's an underground market, they was sellin' their latest haul."

"Aim for their tech power cells, either base of the skull or imbedded in their sternum; shorts out their nervous systems and makes them foam from the mouth when they die." Riddick offered, his tone even and calm, despite the quick flashes of the _Kubla Khan_ that drifted into his mind unwelcomed.

"Good to know." Jayne nodded.

"How many did they take?" Mal asked his first mate.

"So's far there's nearly six hundred unaccounted for." Zoe answered.

"Good news for us." The convict shrugged and the captain had to nod in agreement. "Six hundred rounds out a large bulk transport, even if they cryo-ed them all, they're full up or close enough to, to not risk another raid if their ships were ID'ed."

"Riddick's got a point but let's keep a wide range on our scanners while we're in this system. Have Wash power up the signal amplifier River built." Mal ordered.

"Yes, sir." Zoe nodded and turned to head back up to the bridge.

"'Golls, gorram Reavers, ruttin' Purple Bellies everywhere I fly. Gettin' real goddamn crowded in my sky." Mal muttered to himself as he snapped the chamber back into the smaller caliber gun he had been cleaning.

*T*F*C*

"Kaylee? Bit?" Mal called as he punched in his master code to override the lock on the engine room door. The two youngest members of his crew had been ensconced together for the last few hours and, quite frankly, he was a little tetchy over it. When the girl that talked to machines and the girl that read minds got an itch together it usually spelled a migraine for him. The door hissed open and he stepped through, immediately halting and more than a little tempted to disappear right back out of it.

"I'm gonna admit right now, ladies, I'm a bit terrified."

The pair of them were huddled together surrounded by scattered stacks of digi-papers, hand-drawn sketches and schematics, and back issues of gun and tech magazines.

"Riv needed a purpose." Kaylee informed him.

"Oh, you're gonna have to do better than that." Mal replied warily as he eyed what looked to be the hand drawn blueprint for a weapon of some kind.

"Mother is clawless." River attempted to clarify though, on her captain's arched brow, she quickly realized she had not succeeded and looked to Kaylee for further assistance. Riddick had been relentlessly poking and prodding at her; thinking loudly on things she hadn't the slightest inclination to want to hear or, for that matter, feel and her patience was worn well beyond the point of attempting to translate her meaning. She was well aware the convict was merely attempting to goad a rise from her and, much to her displeasure, it was working; a fact which only irritated her further.

"See this here?" Kaylee held up a worn magazine. "This is one of the underground publications Jayne gets and it's got a bunch of articles on how to bypass Alliance Armed Craft Laws; one in particular is about a type of electromagnetic railgun. Law says the ship can't be fitted with nuthin' that fires bullets or any kinda explosive or electric charge. Railgun could fire a ball of scrap at damn a three or four times the speed of sound, if we could muster the power for it. What ya do is target another ship's thrusters, engines or whatever else will give ya a big 'nough boom if it's ruptured. Even if it misses, you're guaranteed to tear a hole somewhere in their hull at the very least." Her eyes lit up suddenly. "Kinda like a giant slingshot of doom." She giggled.

Mal chewed the side of his cheek in order to keep his temper. "Shipping transports don't need guns or slingshots of doom."

"We ain't hardly a shippin' crew, Cap." Kaylee stated with a sarcastic twist of her mouth.

"'We go out armed and in pairs or we don't go out at all'." River quoted his earlier statement. "Does the rule not apply to Mother?"

"You know that thing you just did? That you got a habit of? Quotin' folk back to themselves? Real irritatin', just for the record." Mal retorted.

"Noted." River nodded. "You did not answer the question."

"It don't." Mal informed her tersely. "We got 'nough."

"And what 'bout the next time a Reaver ship comes driftin' on by?" Kaylee demanded. "We just gonna sit and pray? 'cause, last I knew, you and the Big Guy weren't on speakin' terms."

"Be real careful there, Little Kaylee." He warned her.

"Sorry, Cap." She apologized genuinely as her face softened.

"Her point is valid nonetheless. 'Awful crowded in our sky'." River only partially quoted him.

"We ain't got the power source or the wirin' for what you're talkin' 'bout without retrofittin' half the ship." He countered.

"That's where you're wrong Cap." Kaylee corrected him smugly. "The 03-K64 model, and that's our girl, was manufactured as both a civilian shippin' transport as well as military, and they used the same base design for both classes."

"And how's that help us any?" Mal asked.

"The electrical system's the same. All the wires and bits and hook-ups we need are already there, just needs a bit of tweakin'. 'Sides, Riv and I are workin' out a way to rig an independent power source usin' the spare hauler fuel cells. It's the targetin' system that's the big pinch, but 'tween Riv and me, we'll get it figured."

"What kinda tweakin' we talkin' about here?" He asked cautiously, sensing he was losing the argument. In truth, his resolve had faltered at the mention of Reavers; but flying a ship with guns was too much reminiscent of days he wanted nothing more than to forget. He couldn't help but feel as though it would somehow change everything they and the ship were. On the same note, however, he couldn't help but think, especially given the recent news of the 'Golls that they didn't have much of a choice either. There was simply too much lurking in the dead space they traveled through to wander defenseless.

"A bit?" He asked to which Kaylee responded with an unnerving shrug.

"You would rather not know." River assured him. "I have, however, calculated."

"And that's supposed to reassure me?"

"Have I ever been wrong?" She challenged.

"Look who's bein' arrogant now?"

"It's not arrogance when it is truth." She countered.

"Again with that quotin' thing." Mal exhaled, resigning himself. "Get your prints all drawn up, want you to let Wash take a look at this stuff; if the extra weight's gonna effect the way he flies, he's gotta be in the know. We'll talk 'bout this 'gain after I take another look at them Alliance regulations. Don't need a reason to be pinged for an inspection." He tossed the article back down on the grating. "And don't even think about buildin' any kind of prototype 'fore I give my all clear."

"_Tong che_ (understand completely)." Kaylee bobbed her head excitedly.

"And try not to look so happy 'bout buildin' a gorram cannon." He shook his head. "Spendin' way too much time with Jayne." He ran a hand through his hair and looked about uselessly. "Carry on." He nodded and headed out of the engine room, muttering to himself and shaking his head.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." Kaylee said to River after the door sealed behind the captain. Her smile faltered somewhat as she noticed River rubbing her temples. "Headache?"

"Riddick." The Reader replied tersely. "He is attempting to provoke her."

"How so?"

"He is reminiscing." She scowled.

"'Bout what?" Kaylee asked as she brushed a piece of hair away from her face.

"Nandi."

"_Piyan _(asshole)." She snorted and River merely nodded in affirmative. "She ain't got anythin' on ya anyway, Riv."

"You have never met her."

"So?" Kaylee shrugged. "It ain't like Riddick argued 'gainst the Cap when he said fugitives weren't allowed off the ship. Iffin' she meant anything to him, he woulda said somethin'." Despite herself, River had to agree with Kaylee's logic. "Here-," she said offering a large wrench to River, "-you'll feel better."

"Daddy would not approve of violence." River decline the offered weapon.

Kaylee laughed. "He don't duck, it ain't your fault. Just make sure he's lookin' first to know to duck."

"You have a subjective rationalization of the concept of violence." River replied skeptically.

"Could try guilt." Kaylee shrugged, but on River's comically quirked eyebrow added, "Yeah, don't suppose that works on somebody like him." She chuckled. "Well, I got guilt and wrenches, last resort… hold back." She nudged River's shoulder with her own.

River blushed immediately. "There is nothing to hold back."

"You mean you still ain't?" Kaylee asked incredulously. "What the hell do you do? Play checkers?"

"We have work to do." River retorted brusquely, attempting to divert her attention back to the plans in front of them.

"You Core-types-," the mechanic laughed, "-bunch of prudes."

"I am not a prude." River retorted.

"Sure, sure you ain't." Kaylee continued to giggle as she went back to work. "Got a guy like Riddick in your bunk and all you do is sleep." She shook her head. "Damn shame. Tell you what, iffin' it had been me Riddick wanted and Jayne wasn't 'round, I'd been all over that like white on rice."

"White is not 'on' rice. It is rice." River corrected tersely,

"It's a saying, Riv." Kaylee rolled her eyes. "It means-,"

"I am aware." River snapped.

"Oh, Riv, I'm sorry." Kaylee apologized. "Think Jayne really is rubbin' off on me."

"Your aim has improved considerably." River replied optimistically, more than grateful for the change in conversation.

"Gee, thanks."

"You are very welcome."

*T*F*C*

River traced Riddick to their bunk and dropped down inside with little ceremony. When he made no move to acknowledge her presence, she slammed the hatch ladder back up. The hard metallic echo tingled down her spine, irritating her further, though his lack of response wasn't helping either.

"Stop." She snapped the single syllable command abruptly.

Riddick lifted his mercurial eyes to meet hers; his lips curving into a smirk she found, though she hadn't thought it possible, to be more infuriating than his silence. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He rumbled; amusement trembling around the edges of his words as he powered down the portable Cortex screen he had been looking over and tossed it aside.

River didn't bother to vocalize her request again, as volumes passed between the pair in the stare they shared. Her eyes narrowed, raptor-like; glinting dangerously, like freshly sharpened blades as they sliced through a shadow and caught on a sliver of light. Any rational person would have recoiled. Riddick's smirk only grew, leaving behind the mocking connotation for a more predatory curve.

"There's my girl." His voice scraped across the space between them as he closed his eyes and savored her scent which hung heavy in the air. He could feel the tendril-like cords of their telepathic connection pulsate in tune with each one of her heartbeats.

Her scent had changed since she'd first boarded; subtly but, in the undertones and layers. He could smell the difference. What had once been wild and brittle was now almost camphoric to him and he inhaled deeply; allowing the spike in her pheromones to permeate his nostrils, her anger to dance along his spine, while he tasted her jealousy on his tongue. He drank in the ripples of it like a man whom had crossed the desert, except it quenched nothing; rather than act as water to the burning ache, it was fuel; gasoline poured onto an already raging fire. It was that inherent violence of her nature, so much like his own, which had drawn him in like a moth to a flame. It didn't escape him that the moth died at the end of that metaphor, nor did it escape him that he was still thinking in fucking metaphors.

"I can smell her through your memories." River's face contorted in disgust as she shuddered, brushing from her skin a film she could not see but felt sully her nonetheless.

"Scent's the strongest sense tied to memory." He inhaled deeply once more, allowing her to permeate the membranes in his nostrils, almost intoxicated by it. He closed the distance in less than three full strides as he cornered River against the wall; his hands coming up to cage her as he dipped his nose to run along the graceful line of her neck. "Never smelled beautiful like you." The words rolled out on a growl, breaking apart and tumbling into one another as the vibration caressed her skin.

"Your tongue and thoughts war with each other." She spat out accusingly; forcing herself to ignore the heat which radiated off his body in their close proximity. "You say she means nothing, but your thoughts say she means everything." The Reader hissed; not bothering to clarify whom the pronoun referred to as she found her ire and ducked out from beneath one of his arms. It was too difficult to think clearly with so little space between them.

Riddick had the audacity to laugh as he caught her wrist and had her back up against the wall. His eyes alive as a slow, gravelly chuckle escaped the smirk etched firmly into place across his features. River felt the sudden and admittedly irrational desire to claw off his face. He was pleased with himself, beyond measure; smug almost, utterly unapologetic and remorseless.

"I'm a dick." The statement was said plainly without the hint of confession to it; instead, a vague shrug appeared in the set of his shoulders as he kept his place hovering over her. "And you smell so fucking good when you're pissed off." He inhaled again, blatantly savoring what he drew into himself.

An angry, inarticulate something welled up in the back of River's throat, as she attempted to duck under his arms once more to put distance between them. The attempt was as futile as any other she had ever made to escape him. He dipped his head further to trail his lips across the path his nose had scented; the salt of the faint sheen of sweat which coated her tingled against his dry lips. He was no longer thinking of Nandi, across his mind broadcasted very vividly the sole focus of his attentions. The utter singular fixation on her body, her scent, her skin, made the last several hours of his distraction seem like nothing more than figments of imagination.

When he pulled away, it was to hold her eyes. "If all I wanted to do was fuck you, woulda done that months ago and kicked on. She's a whore; you're mine."

River held his gaze unflinchingly; the honesty of his statement made clear by the intensity which radiated from every pore of his skin. Thoughts and emotions she was sure he didn't mean for her to hear or feel slipped from the depths of his pupils.

That thing, the almost self-aware entity he called 'instinct' snarled warnings at him. Warnings that told him she would leave if she was strong enough to be on her own; that she didn't really need him, didn't want him, and he would have to make her stay. It didn't allow him to believe she wanted to stay; that she wanted him. He had provoked her, and savored the cascade of her emotions as proof she did. He had basked in her jealousy and irritation as one would bask in praise.

"You knew me the moment you saw me. You know what's up here." He tapped his temple. "You ran from me now, I'd find you." The casualness of the statement was belied by the rigidness in his posture and the sudden darkening of his eyes. "Wouldn't be a place you could hide from me." It wasn't intended as a warning, but it came out that way nonetheless. It was irrelevant however; River didn't hear the warning in it, only the promise she would not be without him.

Riddick's words rolled along her skin, permeating through her pores and warming her as the subtext of meaning penetrated her mind in the same fashion. Anger replaced his humor as thoughts of her leaving bombarded his mind; the trail of images, however, ended abruptly as his mouth hungrily claimed hers almost daring her to tell him she was anything but his.

She could feel that thing rippling beneath his skin, close to the surface and vibrating with tension. 'Mine' wasn't a declaration of ownership as he meant for it to be when he'd said it; it was, rather, a reassurance to himself. The threat of hunting her down and retrieving her if she left him wasn't a threat; it was a promise, but again not to her, to himself.

"Only Death will take me." The words left her in a whisper, carried along _The River_ from somewhere she knew not; though the lack of their origin did nothing to affect their truth.

"Only way that fuck gets you is through me." His response rushed out on a growl as he lifted her. His lips were rougher this time, more demanding and possessive than she'd felt before. The world outside their bunk faded from her awareness; the universe narrowing and folding itself into the small space where the only thing that mattered was the feel of him against her.

_***Lemons ahead, if they offend skip down to the *L* ***_

When he released her for air, she found herself somehow on her back on the bed, unaware as to how she came to be there to begin with. The how ceased to matter as Riddick's warmth and weight spread across the length of her body. His presence was almost crushing, not that she could summon the will to care, not while his fingers scrapped along her ribcage to peel away her shirt. Reason and consequence boiled away under the riot of sensation and heat his large calloused hands could create.

Riddick could feel his touch echo through her skin and back to him; each one a new shock of pleasure he couldn't comprehend. Whether it was their connection or simply because River was what she was, he didn't know and he didn't care. The universe narrowed, collapsing in on itself until all he could see, smell, hear, taste, and feel was her and the stirrings of the now familiar sensation of strength. It was as if she called to that thing beneath his skin with every moan and broken utterance of his name that tumbled out from her much abused lips. On her inhale, he felt the pull and, on her exhale, he felt the intangible sensation slacken; the moth to the flame.

Their contact broke only long enough for the obstacles of his shirt and her bra to be surmounted, and where bare skin touched bare skin, they melted into each other. Lips and tongues followed fingertips; grasping, searching, tasting, devouring. Warm caramel bled into rose-tinted alabaster which reflected back almost vaguely pale lavender in his color range as a faint cerulean hum began to pulsate beneath his skin and in rhythm to her heartbeat.

The intricate network of veins beneath Riddick's skin hummed to life and it took longer than it should have for the Reader to become aware. Her eyes were heavily lidded; her mind fogged by sensations as Riddick laved his attention across her body. It was the odd shadows thrown against the ceiling of their bunk which raised her from her haze. Her eyes flew fully open and a gasp of an entirely different kind broke from her lips. Amongst the torrent of his touch, the pulsation of his energy had been tangled and lost. Fully aware of it now, she could not be brought to pull herself away.

The crew's collective memories were nothing in comparison to what she felt in his presence now; the images she had hungrily studied were nothing but cheap representations and blurry photographs taken carelessly. They had merely seen a man, a comically unsettling product of genetic defect or experimentation. River saw a demigod, an Alpha Furyan, and she couldn't help but feel outraged by their dismissal and mockery of it. She was transfixed. Authority, strength, power radiated from his liquid mercury eyes and respired from his very pores. It hung in the air around him, almost tangible to her as it engulfed her as well given their proximity. She breathed it in and, with it, his very essence.

"Fuck." The curse was a snarl as Riddick noticed the source of River's sudden attention. "You have got to be fucking kidding me." It could have been a groan if the anger on it hadn't been palpable as he dropped his head into the crook of her neck and willed his breathing back under control.

He forced himself to remain still as he fought the surge of adrenaline he was now more than viscerally aware of. The distraction of the moment gone, his focus went from intense and singular to rabid and wild. Where he had only heard and smelled River, he could now hear the crew moving through the ship and smell them in the air moving through the vent grating.

Riddick felt strong. There was no denying that he felt nearly invincible as his mind worked through the information his senses relayed to him. It wasn't overwhelming. He was simply aware and there was a very distinctive type of strength and power to be found in that awareness. Regulating his mind was nothing in comparison to trying to control his body. River was half-naked beneath him and the softness of her was a tantalizing contradiction to his hardness. He could smell her and it was more intense with her taste so ripe on his tongue. The more he tried to focus on her to not lose control, the brighter the pulsating light in his veins became.

"Alpha Furyan." River breathed; hardly aware that a sound had fled from her. Her breath was warm and moist against the skin of his neck as she turned her head into it; nuzzling him, encouraging him to rise and look at her. "Last of the Fury Lords."

Riddick complied slowly, warily, half-drunk off her scent and his control fraying along the edges. The title wasn't a title as it left her lips and reached his ears. She wasn't soothing. She was beckoning, whether she realized it or not.

River disentangled her limbs from his body; earning herself a growl and a narrowing of his eyes. She ignored his reaction entirely as she raised her hand to trace the pulsating network of veins illuminated beneath his skin. She forced her heart rate to slow, measured her breathing, and watched with an almost hysterical fascination as the timing of its rhythm slowed to pace her body's.

Her fingers halted their exploration, coming to rest and flattening across the center of his chest where Shirah had laid her palm all those months ago; months that felt like whole lifetimes as he tried to reach for the memories now. She pressed against it; eyes transfixed as she _saw_ what wasn't there to _see._ The cerulean imprint of a feminine hand, a ghost mark left behind like a lipstick stain that's color has faded but residue remained.

"A king of kings." It left her lips as an exaltation as foreign smells filled her nostrils; sun-warmed but rain fresh foliage, intertwined with volcanic ash and sulfur, and hinted with subtle notes of Red. When she blinked her eyes, the trace of an image flickered. A woman with silver eyes on a cliff face overlooking a field of burning decay, but it vanished as quickly as it came.

Riddick lifted his hand, the movement taunt, controlled with effort as he brushed away a braid of hair from her face. The rough pads of his fingers traced the line of her chin, down the curve of her neck, soft valley of her breasts, and the flat expanse of her stomach to snap the button of her cargos; his eyes remaining locked in hers.

The sound, however, ruptured the haze and her body, which had been soft and pliable, went rigid and tense. "Riddick." It wasn't a protest but the anxiety in the tremble of her voice was more than apparent.

River didn't get a reply; just a slow rumbling, yet oddly reassuring growl, as he held her gaze and slid down her body taking the remainders of her clothing with him. All but her boots, an obstacle he merely circumvented by ignoring entirely as he yanked the offensive articles off around them. There was no time for embarrassment or modesty as he moved back up her like liquid, voraciously devouring every inch of her skin.

_/You're like a fucking drug/ _ He informed her, even his mind-voice was like sandpaper across silk. _/Used to be enough to smell you in the air, then it had to be on my skin./ _He thought at her to avoid the irritating loss of contact speaking would have caused. His words, in comparison to the tactile assault his mouth and hands made against her body, were a gentle purr. Where his mind attempted to caress, his body demanded. _/Used to be just a taste./ _He bit down on her hip, curling his hands around her thighs as she bucked forward in response. _/Not enough anymore./_

River cried out, the sound of it rippled down his spine as he captured the pert, pink button he'd been craving for months and her taste exploded against his tongue; warm and sweet, untapped and virginal, it was his and his alone and the thought was more intoxicating than her scent which now coated every inch of his skin. Broken words in languages Riddick had never heard escaped her lips; profanity mingling with exaltation as his fingers joined the dance of his tongue. The smooth skin of her thighs wrapped around him, holding him to her as if he had any inclination to be moved at all.

Her body was in flames, tension and pleasure rippling across every muscle as Riddick deftly worked her into an absolute frenzy of desire. A need she had never known before filled her, stroked to an inferno with every pass of his tongue. A perpetual guttural rumble built in his chest; the sound almost a feral hum that teased and nipped at her just as his lips and teeth did feeding the coiling tension almost to the point of combustion. It was too much; it was not enough; until his fingers curled and something inside her ruptured, coaxed into oblivion, she felt herself shatter, his name leaving her lips in a shriek of pleasure that reverberated off the walls off their bunk and crashed back against her skin.

Riddick drank greedily, devouring everything her body offered to him as her pleasure rippled in echo in his own nerve endings, like nothing he'd ever felt before. Her thighs trembled in his hold and he couldn't bring himself to release her as he coaxed her down from the high. It would have been too easy to lose himself right alongside her, but he refused to be entirely swept away; he was far from finished with her.

River couldn't control the trembling; she had no desire to as her body rippled with aftershocks. Before her mind cleared his lips were on hers and she could taste herself there; as he tasted her. Suddenly her body was on fire again, an all-consuming hunger, a want, a need; enveloping her and racing through her veins. It tasted like Riddick; she couldn't decide if she was inside herself or in him, in the moment it hardly seemed to matter.

Flashes of the things he wanted to do to her caressed her mind only to dissipate all too quickly as a cruel tease; just instead of licking at her skin, they flickered across her consciousness, all the more vivid for their fleetingness. Anxiety warred with desire, as she rifled through bursts of images Riddick passed and memories previously gleaned from Inara. The anxiety was washed away by a sudden wave of smugness, Riddick's lips ticking up around the corners as he sucked on her lower lip.

An actual giggle slipped out of her as she rolled them; only managing to do so because it was a move Riddick was wholly unprepared for. The growl and surge of lust that thrummed in tune with his veins as she thought, _/My turn/ _, gave her a much needed boost of confidence as she undid his cargos and dragged them down to his knees.

Her fingernails scrapped back up his thighs with just enough pressure to crawl up his spine. Tentatively, her small hand wrapped it's warmth around him. The slight echo of awe laced with an ego boosting trickle of fear, was enough to nearly send Riddick over the edge itself as her second hand joined her first in naïve exploration; his body involuntarily bucking into her grip. Her touch was tentative at first, cautious and inquisitive, switching between long languid strokes and fleeting feather light brushes as she mastered the practical applications of lessons clandestinely learned from Inara

_/Fuck, River!/_ Barked uncontrollably in his thoughts; his hips thrusting into her grip as her tongue flicked out over his swollen head tasting the small pearl which had beaded from his tip.

Her tongue slid across his length; tracing the pattern of veins with an almost reverent intensity before she engulfed him entirely. Just as her fingers had begun tentatively so did her mouth and tongue, but River was nothing if not an adept student and once more she put into application her stolen lessons. Riddick's fingers tangled into her braids, encouraging her to take him deeper he helped guide her hand that surrounded what her lips could not. It was when she began to hum, sending delicious vibrations trembling along his flesh that Riddick was forced to pull her off of him; coming undone against her skin. His mouth voraciously devouring the cry of surprise that spilled from her, as he crushed her body into his.

_***L* **_

The thrumming of color in Riddick's veins came to a languid cessation as a very smug and satisfied Reader curled into the heat of his chest. It took much longer than it should have for Riddick to connect the dots to how River knew certain things, and he had never actually considered that particular benefit of her being a mind reader. He nearly laughed out loud when he finally did; Inara really was more useful than she looked.

At the thought River's skin darken in embarrassment, at which point a barking laugh did escape him.

"Riddick!" A fist slammed against the hatch door, accompanied by Jayne's grunted call, effectively killing Riddick's good mood.

His lips turned from the contented smirk to a snarl. "You hit my door again; I'll break off your goddamn arm!"

A loud bang against the door, which sounded like a boot kicking it, responded before that was followed by the sound of heavy footsteps that led away.

River giggled at the sight of Riddick's disgruntled death glare aimed at the hatch, or rather the merc that had been recently behind it.

"He kicked."

"I'll find another reason." He grunted. "What he want?"

"We have landed." River replied with a yawn as she stretched her limbs across his skin.

His focus shifted from the hatch and back to her, a question brimming in his thoughts.

"I am well." Her color went from a coy pink to full blooming crimson. "More than well."

He chuckled, the sound more of a deep rumble in his throat as he tugged on her braids to guide her head up. "Good, 'cause I'm not even close to done with you yet, girl." The promise sealed was by his lips as they claimed hers once more.

*T*F*C*

Endnote: I'm sorry if I've pissed off any die hard Riddick 'Verse loyalists by the thus far Rykengoll characteristics. In true Riddick lore they're a cult that's all super devout religious and I believe they're all stitched together and what not.(I really couldn't find much of a solid description anywhere) My 'Golls are a bit different, so I guess what I'm saying here is don't hate me, I'm playing my artistic liberty card.


	80. Heart of Gold II

"In retrospect-," Wash said, more to himself than anyone else, as he tossed a small, smooth stone in one hand and twirled a length of pipe in the other, "-it wasn't as clever as I thought it was." He exhaled dramatically as he regarded the ship and the massive rock-cropping he had not-so-brilliantly decided to hide her behind. Her smooth, dark metal skin contrasted almost obscenely with the sun-bleached and jagged rock of the arid desert; it was like hiding an elephant behind the couch and hoping no one noticed.

"Ain't so bad if they come in from the east." Kaylee offered.

"They ever come in from the direction we want 'em to?" Jayne grunted around his cigar as he waved away the initial rush of smoke after lighting it. "Shoulda found us a canyon. Lest ways, I'd be able to find a niche somewheres."

"Whaddya need a niche for?" Kaylee asked critically. "Ain't like we got a job and need to worry 'bout bein' found out."

"When did havin' a job mean we wasn't gettin' shot at?" The merc countered.

"You know, if you really think about how often we get shot at, or a plan goes south, we're pretty crappy criminals." Wash mused as he tossed the stone in the air and batted it into the distance.

"Not about how bad the job goes. It's about who holds the shiny when the smoke clears." Zoe corrected as she came down the ramp.

"Amen to that, sister." Jayne grinned. "Only thing Walker ever taught me that was worth shit, that's for damn sure."

"Speakin' of that _hundan_-," Zoe began, "-you think he's anywhere close? We've had a rough coupla of jobs, but we ain't seen a speck of merc anywhere."

"Makes ya jumpy, don't it?" He asked knowingly. "Almost wish one of 'em would pop outta the Black just so's we know where we're standin'."

"Riv, would feel it if they was comin'." Kaylee argued. "She felt them Blue Hands, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but she was around them for years." Wash piped in. "We talk on the bridge some nights when she can't sleep. Told me it's easier for her to 'feel' or 'hear'-," he used air quotes, "-those she's been around for a long time. It's like she's got their scent or mind flavor or whatever."

"Makes a kind of sense." Zoe nodded. "She didn't feel Niska's boys coming until it was too late and only then she felt it cause she felt Mal and Wash."

"So's we're thinkin' she might not be able to 'see' somebody comin' she ain't ever met before?"

"I think she'll feel something is wrong, just not the what." Kaylee answered. "Like how when she does that glaze-y eyed thing and she goes lookin' for somethin'. She says it's like puttin' together a puzzle and sometimes she can't see all the pieces 'til she gets most of it together."

"Could just ask her." Wash suggested.

Jayne chuckled. "Go knock on their bunk door, dare ya."

"Huh?" The pilot scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Man threatened to rip off a limb when I knocked." Jayne grinned as he took a long draw off his cigar.

"So?" Wash asked, not getting the point. "He does that to Simon almost once a night at dinner." He snorted. "You could almost set your watch by it."

The merc grinned as he waggled his eyebrows.

"I don't get-," Wash's face lit with understanding for a brief moment before contorting in disgust, "-ew!" He backed away a few steps. "I think I've just scarred myself for life with that mental imagery."

"'Bout time." Kaylee giggled as she leaned back against Jayne.

"Right?" Jayne snorted. "Sharin' a bunk for how long? Was beginning to think man was secretly sly. 'Specially after meetin' those friends of his."

"How would you even know they weren't?" Wash asked, though honestly he had no idea why.

"Bunk walls are _real_ thin." The merc chuckled. "Know they've heard us. 'Sides, Kaylee went right out and asked." Kaylee shrieked a giggle as he goosed her thigh. "Whole damn ship can hear you two, sometimes." He ticked his chin at the pilot and first mate.

"I will shoot you." Zoe narrowed her eyes.

"What? We all sixteen 'round here?" Jayne rolled his eyes.

"No, but we are armed." She retorted. "That's the last time a remark about my sex life ever leaves your lips." She warned.

"Bunch of ruttin' prudes." He snorted as he puffed off his cigar. "To the point anyways, iffin' Walker was close, we wouldn't be talkin' 'bout whether or not he was. Man slithers sideways, if you get the drift. He always runs with a team, most the boys that go after the big marks do, only ones that don't have some kinda military background. Purple or Brown, or trained by one." He shrugged. "'Golls take bounties, too." He added almost as an afterthought. "I'm thinkin' a team we got a better chance of Riv seein' comin'. All those extra brain waves or what not. Figure a solo or a duo gig might be harder for her; get lost in the shuffle, ya know. Might give us the advantage with Walker."

"You really aren't as dumb as you look." Wash remarked, intending it as a compliment.

"Too bad you is." The merc growled. "Dumb jokes can be real hazardous to yer health, Flyboy."

"If Riv was here, she coulda told you I meant that in the nicest way possible." The pilot shrugged.

"Whatever." Jayne grunted. "Some people, like the Doc and Riv, are book smart. I know guns and crime. Bounty game was how I started, ain't worth the coin. Takes years to pay back your Guild if you're good; if not, you never do 'til ya die. Live a lot longer when your shiny ain't shootin' back atcha, too." He pulled his flask from the pocket of his cargos and took a swig. "Felt like I was playin' for the wrong side anyhows. What favors the 'Liance ever do me that I should be cleanin' up their mess even if I was bein' paid for it?"

"Why, Jayne, I do believe you're a closet Browncoat." Zoe smirked.

"Ain't no need to be throwin' insults." Jayne scowled at her, to which the first mate merely laughed as she shook her head.

*T*F*C*

It took a moment for Mal and Inara's eyes to adjust as they stepped from the abrasive afternoon sun and into the shaded, cool sanctuary of The Heart of Gold's main parlor. The room was large, dancing a fine line between gaudy and unabashedly eclectic in its dusty splendor. A handful of men and women were draped across the furniture as though they were fine cords of fabric awaiting inspection and purchase. The irony of it was that they themselves were clothed in cheap silks and coarse sheers; the seams of the secondhand garments cleverly hidden beneath lengths of beads and understated by elaborate hairstyles and costume jewelry.

"Welcome to The Heart of Gold." A pale woman with rich auburn hair and full, painted lips greeted them. Her usual smile faltered for a moment before lighting up more genuinely than it had in years.

"Nandi." Inara smiled warmly and, dropping all pretenses of formality and social politeness, rushed towards her and was welcomed with open arms.

"_Mei-mei_!" It was a sigh of relief from the slightly older woman's lips as she held onto Inara and it was a long moment before they released each to pull back slightly, arms still clasped together, and laugh. The sight was just as abnormal for the employees of the brothel as it was for the captain of _Serenity _and more than a few eyes turned expectantly in their direction.

"Nandi, _n__amaste _(let there be a salutation to you/I bow to your form/ the divine in me honors the divine in you) Inara bowed when she regained her composure, her hands pressed together and pointed upward. The smile on her face rebelliously affixed as opposed to the solemn reverence the gesture demanded.

Nandi returned her bow with a slightly smaller one of her own, so long gone from the 'civilized' world, Inara's lapses went unchastised. "_Namaste, mei-mei."_ She smiled familiarly, her tone altered by the happiness which trembled along it. "Listen up, ya'll-," she called to the room at large, turning back to her people with a broad smile, "-this here is my sister, I-,"

"Hope-," Inara interrupted, as she stepped forward and covered it with a gracious bow of her head, "- and my husband, Ruddy Sanguine." She took Mal's arm, who, despite his own shock, held his features schooled with the practiced nonchalance of a career conman.

"Married?" Nandi covered her own surprise at the false introduction seamlessly. "Hope, it has been too long." She took Mal's hand. "Blessed is the man who has won my _mei-mei's_ heart."

"That I am, Nandi." Mal nodded politely, a stupid grin on his face that he couldn't quite wipe off.

"Helen-," the Madame called to a tall blonde with a long ponytail and a shimmering blue corset, "-you watch the floor." She linked her arm through Inara's and turned them towards a side hall, gesturing for Mal to follow as well as she led the way to her private parlor. "Got a feelin' I'm gonna need a drink."

"I'd be obliged." The captain agreed.

"Got another feeling that says you have one hell of a story to tell me." Nandi whispered.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about." Inara rolled her eyes innocently as she openly laughed, her whole body giving into the expression. Mal had never seen her so unreserved before. He couldn't help but be fascinated by the abrupt affect one person could have on her; and, if he was going to be completely honest, a little envious as well.

"I've missed you so much." Nandi smiled, hugging Inara's arm slightly as she led them into her parlor.

The room, much like the main lounge, was an eclectic collection of Asian art and Rim-crafted furniture. The walls were shellacked with old, out-of-date newspapers in lieu of traditional wall paper, while spicy smelling incense tingled the nostrils and burned in the left corner in front of a large Buddhist statue; the smoke curled erratically, teased into the air by a large palm-shaped fan on the ceiling. Thick, red velvet curtains blocked the heat and light of the sun, giving the room the feel of a dusky temple and, Inara noted with no small amount of surprise, it appeared very much like one of the chambers in House Madressa.

"I should have contacted you sooner." Inara rushed out as soon as the door was closed.

"Hush now-," Nandi scolded her, "-I knew the consequences." She turned to a rectangular table off to the far wall and poured three glasses of brandy from a crystal snifter.

"The House can _gun hoe-tz bee dio-se _(phonetically, engage a monkey in a feces hurling contest)." Inara snorted in a very unladylike fashion as she rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively.

Nandi raised an eyebrow as she handed both Mal and Inara a glass. "Which I suppose answers the question on how ya'll wound up on my little bit of dusty nowhere. Still, real curious about that new name and this ruggedly handsome husband of yours." She drawled; the course of her life evident in the somewhat lyrical slang which danced along her melodic voice.

"See?" Mal grinned. "And everybody thinks I'm just bein' arrogant."

"Don't feed into it, please." Inara begged.

"Oh, sweet Buddha, this is gonna be a good one." She laughed as she sat herself on a plush maroon chaise and lounged across it. "Whenever you're ready, _mei-mei_."

"Whenever I'm ready?" Inara asked, trying her very best to keep any semblance of bitterness out of her tone. Honestly, because she had no idea where it had risen from.

"Fair is fair." She conceded. "I left first." She threw back the contents of her glass in a very impolite fashion. "It was a dulcimer."

"What? You kill a dulcimer in some sort of terrible passion? Let me guess-," He chuckled, "-its family is lookin' to settle the score?" Mal joked.

"The dumb ones are always cute." Nandi chuckled as she sat herself up, Inara joining in on Mal's affronted look.

"_Laoshi_ (teacher, respectfully) D'Jing." Inara smiled, knowingly.

"He kept telling me I was playing it and not feeling. Another practice, another day, in that same baroque place; practicing, practicing, and practicing." She rose from the chaise to pace. "You know, he said that same thing to me every lesson I ever had with him, more than eight years playing the dulcimer and, according to him, I still couldn't get it right. All of a sudden, I couldn't breathe, the walls felt like they were closing in on me, and I saw my life; five years, ten years, twenty, always practicing and putting on a show, and still never getting it right." She paused a moment before continuing. "You can only try and fit a square peg in a round hole for so long before you realize the two just can't be made to. I smashed the damn thing to pieces before I even knew what I was doing." She looked to Inara and reached over to cover the younger woman's hand with her own. "I am so sorry, _mei-mei._ I thought, if I didn't leave then, I'd never have the nerve to." She apologized. "Little girls dream of being Companions. I remember they told us that first year how blessed we were, over and over again; how blessed our lives would be." She snorted bitterly as she poured another glass, one she sipped more slowly than the first. "It's a cage. A gorram cage with gilded bars but it's still a cage." She returned to her chaise. "I don't regret it."

"I blamed you for leaving me behind at first." Inara confessed. "But I would have tried to make you stay in those days. I did think we were blessed."

"And now we're both way out here." Nandi saluted her glass, brushing away the tension in her body in the same near shuddering motion that was Inara's habit, as though she was smoothing out ruffled feathers. "To breaking free from the cage, _mei-mei."_

"She's still a Companion." Mal pointed out, saluting and finishing off his glass anyway. When Nandi offered to refill it, he made no argument.

"I am." Inara admitted, shooting a sideways glare at the captain. "Though I have been forging my register."

"How very shocking." Nandi feigned an appalled look.

"I've learned from the best."

"Why thank you." Mal straightened his lapels.

"I wasn't talking about you." She deadpanned.

Nandi chuckled again, throwing back her head as it cascaded from her lips. "Now it's your turn, _mei-mei,_ and, I can almost guarantee, your story is much more interestin' than mine."

"Nandi!" A terrified voice shrieked from outside, cutting off all possible conversation.

Nandi stood up immediately and, gathering her shawl, moved for the window; before she reached it, however, the door to her parlor was thrown open. "Nandi, it's Rance!" Helen rushed out.

"Get Petaline hid." Nandi shot back immediately as she crossed to the door.

"Nandi? What's going on?" Inara asked, rising just as Mal did.

"Never mind my troubles." She brushed her off. "Just a piece of trash I need to handle." She added before disappearing through the door and down the hall after Helen.

"Mal." Inara said chewing her lip nervously.

"Stay here." He ordered as he unbuttoned his holster. "All we know, this could just be a rowdy customer." He tried to settle her. "Don't you leave this room." He ordered over his shoulder though it was useless, as most of his orders seemed to be, as Inara followed just a step behind him. "What part of 'Captain' don't you people get?" He mumbled to her as he raised his comm. to his lips.

"Papa, come back." He radioed to the ship.

"_Shepherd here. You're clear."_

"Got us a bit of local color. Don't know the shade of it, but I'd be obliged if ya'll rode in to make an appearance. Got a bad itch." Mal replied.

"_Roger that, Captain."_

Mal slid his comm. away as they left the hall and entered the main lounge. A small crowd had gathered around the door and spilled out onto the porch. They pushed their way through it to step out and caught the tail end of the argument.

"-I'm here for what's mine." A man a few years older than Mal, and the one they assumed to be Rance, sneered less than a handful of inches away from Nandi. The Madame stood defiantly before him with her hands planted on her hips and her painted lips pressed into a thin line.

"Ain't nuthin' here that's yours." She retorted contumaciously. "You don't get gone, we'll be well within our rights to shoot you."

"Only rights you got are the ones I give you." He informed her, taking a step closer and towering over her.

"Ain't afraid of you, Rance; ain't as dumb and scared as the others." Nandi told him unflinchingly. "You take your men and you get yourself gone. 'Sides, Petaline ain't even here. Girl left this moon more'n a month ago. 'Twas you that chased her off." She added smugly as she crossed her arms.

"Better hope for your sake you're lyin', whore." Rance hissed at her. "Find her!" He barked to the handful of men that had accompanied him.

As the six men made for the porch, they found themselves halted by the whirring hiss of Mal's new .44 and the smaller caliber .22 Inara had drawn from her thigh beneath her skirt.

"I believe you was told to get gone." Mal informed the men, his voice as steady as the hand that leveled the pistol. "This here's private property."

"And just who the hell do you think you are?" Rance demanded, stepping away from Nandi to take an angry step towards the porch; only to stop dead in his tracks as Inara's pistol leveled on him.

"Name's Sanguine." Mal threw him a cheeky, defiant smirk though his gun never left the clump of men directly before him. "And all that it ruttin' implies."

*T*F*C*

"Goddamn it! What?" Riddick barked as someone banged on the hatch. River shot up immediately in his arms, her face paling as her eyes immediately glazed, and he realized without having to be told they were about to be forced out of bed.

"Pinch it off, Riddick!" Jayne's voice barked back. "Mal's in the shit again!"

"Sonofa-fucking-goddamn-" The convict growled. "Gettin' real fucking sick of savin' that man's ass." He snarled as River's head snapped to rights and she disentangled herself from beneath him.

The Reader was swearing her own vicious tirade as the ship shuddered to life and she struggled to pull on her cargos over legs that weren't quite functioning properly. He made out about one word of every five; something along the lines of _piyan _(asshole) and incompetent, interlaced with other disparaging remarks he'd only heard her use with affection before.

The growl in Riddick's chest was almost petulant as he pushed himself off the bed. It broke off into an amused half-smirk as he pulled his shirt on and took in the rat's nest tangle of half-knotted and undone ribbons and braids that crowned River's head. She dropped down onto the chair to shove her boots on, which had finally made it off her body only to be ruthlessly shoved back on.

Riddick caught his shotgun when she tossed it as he was sliding into his own boots. The smirk on his face grew as he informed her, "Shirt's on backwards."

Had the captain and Inara's lives not been in danger, she might have blushed, as it was, River merely shot him a glare with narrowed eyes as she ripped it back off and righted it. He was in front of her when her head reappeared through the hole.

"Finish this later." He brushed her lips, tugging back on her hair.

"They all know." She scowled at him as she pulled away to check the magazine in her 9mm.

"Am I supposed to give a shit?" He retorted, the self-satisfied look on his face only seeming to become enhanced as he pulled his goggles on.

_"Got Inara's shuttle beacon. E.T.A: ten minutes as the goose flies."_ Wash's voice informed them from over the ship-wide.

She only spared another second to continue to scowl at Riddick before heading for the ladder. "Daddy needs us."

"Like he fuckin' knew I was finally getting some action." He snorted as he followed her up.

She didn't bother to dignify it with a response and neither spoke again until they were jogging down the catwalk steps and into the bay.

"What's it look like?" Riddick asked as he caught the chestplate Jayne threw up at him.

"Local color is all we know." Zoe replied as she tied up her hair, already wearing her own torso armor. "Riv?"

"There is every intent for death; it reeks off minds that scream _mine_." She answered, a cold lethality in voice. "Doesn't belong to him but it does and he won't let it go." The words rolled out more easily than they should have. She didn't bother to analyze the why of it at the moment; she rather filed it away for later contemplation as she let Riddick check over the straps of her own chestplate.

"Let's pretend that means somethin' and fit together somethin' that resembles a plan?" Jayne retorted.

Riddick grunted irritably at his fellow PRO. "You got a number?" He asked River.

Her head ticked as her mind raced along a thread; finding its spool, she rippled outwards, ticking off negative intent. "Eight."

"Gun's blazin' then?" Jayne grinned hopefully.

"Risk of collateral?" Zoe asked River.

"High."

"Peek-a-boo then." The first mate ordered. "Jayne and I will take point. You two be ready to zip-line if need be." She popped a wireless comm into her ear and handed Jayne one. "Riv, you tell Jayne the second you feel somebody think a twitch."

*T*F*C*

"Am I supposed to shudder at that name, _pengyou _(friend)?" Rance asked as he patted the sweat from his face with an expensive silk handkerchief.

"First off, we ain't friends." Mal informed him. "I'm bit more selective 'bout the company I keep, despite popular opinion." He drawled sideways at Inara.

"Really?" She quirked an eyebrow without taking her eyes or gun off Rance. "Really? You wanna do this now, Ruddy?" She managed to maintain their cover despite the wild pounding of her heart.

"Aw, honey, even you know I ain't dumb 'nough to pick a fight with you when you got a gun in your hand-," his lazy drawl was purposeful and slow as he bought time for _Serenity_ to reach them. "But I had a secondly... what was it now?" He quirked his head thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah, there's a reason you ain't heard the name Sanguine." He plucked it from thin air.

"And that is?" Rance answered impatiently, purposefully swiping aside his soft leather duster to reveal the compact laser pistol on his hip as he tucked away his handkerchief.

"Honey?" Mal shoved it on her as he came up blank and prayed her feminine wiles wouldn't fail her now.

"'Cause-," she mimicked the lyrical drawl Nandi had affected while letting River's smirk touch at the corners of her lips, "-dead men don't talk." Inwardly she preened with self-satisfaction; she was much better at the whole 'covert' business than she had thought.

Nandi, for her part, was nearly stunned speechless at the sight of her _mei-mei_ and who she had assumed was only a fake husband; though the memories of pouring over the old diaries and journals with Inara argued that she had known that woman all along.

"Ain't as helpless 'round these parts as some might think." She told Rance smugly as she crossed to lean against the beam of her porch. "This is my land and you ain't got the right to be on it. I give the word and my friends here pull those triggers."

"You think for a minute those two itty-bitty guns scare me?" Rance chuckled, but in the next moment his face turned hard. "You have no idea what kind of shit you're steppin' in here, Sanguine. I _know_ Petaline's still here." He turned slightly to pace, his hand shifting in such a way Mal's eyes had long learned to identify and the captain fired a warning shot directly at the man's feet.

There were consequences to the impulsive action as Rance threw himself to the ground and the distraction of the aim of Mal's gun provided the opportunity for Rance's men to draw their own. The balance of power in their little standoff shifted before Inara could blink, though her vision was cut off abruptly as Mal sidestepped directly in front of her.

Mal's gun went lax in his hand and he set it down tactically on the banister, nudging Inara with his elbow to do the same. He ran the numbers in his head; it was nothing like how River ran numbers but his mind was still that of a soldier's and one that had lived well beyond the average life expectancy. His cloth armor, out of habit, was hidden beneath his clothes; which was why he had chosen to wear his duster even in the broiling heat of the desert. His new armor, especially if he had the full get-up, would have left him roasting alive. Inara's state of dress indicated, quite clearly, that she had not had the forethought he did. Seven-to-two, with one of those two being Inara, were not odds he was willing to play; not just yet anyway.

"Now, if you two will kindly keep those hands up in the air while my boys finish our business here-," Rance grinned maliciously as he waved his laser pistol in their direction, "-we can solve this nice and peaceable-like."

Two of Rance's men pushed their way onto the porch and Mal had to wonder at their level of competency as neither of them bothered to move his or Inara's gun out of their reach. They were either dumb or too arrogant to think they were touchable; it boded well for Mal either way. He felt a tickle up his spine and the cocky smirk which seemed, at times, to be etched into his very personality grew. He couldn't hear _Serenity_ but, as clearly as Kaylee talked to machines, Mal could feel his girl closing in. The sound of a terrified shriek from inside the house, however, had his head whipping around to the door and his mind screaming at his hand to not snatch the gun just within his reach.

"No!" Nandi cried out, holding onto the banister to keep herself from lunging at the men who carried a struggling, and very pregnant, Petaline through the doorway. The woman was young, possibly only a year or two older then River, with the same dark, mousy brown hair and insistently pale skin.

"Mal." Inara hissed in his ear.

"I know damnit!" He hissed right back, nervous energy screaming through his veins as he strained to hear the first sounds of _Serenity's_ turbines; that would be his cue.

"Petaline." Rance smiled disgustingly down at the woman who was shoved to her knees before him. "It's a good thing you didn't leave with my baby."

"This baby ain't yours!" Petaline nearly screamed at him as she tried to tear herself away.

"Do something!" Inara hissed more urgently.

"So you been sayin'." Rance shook his head as he pulled a vicious looking needle from inside the folds of his jacket. "We'll see 'bout that."

"Don't you touch her!" Nandi yelled, this time not even the banister enough to keep her in place; and that's when Mal heard it, the sweetest sound there was.

He was leaping over the porch and grabbing his gun in the same motion as Nandi's outburst distracted the men watching them. The next several seconds passed by more quickly than they had any right to as Nandi took the butt of a rifle to her jaw and Rance spun to meet the cold alloy of Mal's .44.

"You let her go or, on my life, I will shoot you down." Mal voice's came from a clenched jaw, his finger hovering over the trigger and a promise in his eye. "I take a special sort of offense to woman beaters and baby snatchers and you look to be the likes of both."

"You shoot me and you're dead, Sanguine." Rance informed him as though it hadn't been obvious by the numerous weapons aimed in their direction.

"Won't stop me from takin' a special kind of satisfaction in sending you to a special kind of Hell." Mal assured him. No one dared to breathe as a weighted silence thundered in the ears of all those present; all that was missing from the scene they found themselves in was a clump tumble weeds blowing past in the breeze.

The sudden violent gust of wind, which accompanied the sweet burning hiss of _Serenity's _thrusters, solved both the issues of silence and tumble weeds.

"And those there-," Mal jerked his chin above them to where _Serenity_ hovered; Zoe and Jayne dangling from harnesses lowered thru the Bombay hatch in the bay floor; the red laser tag of Vera settling just off-center of Rance's forehead, "-those would be some more folk who take a special kinda exception to _goushi dui_ (dog shit) like you."

The captain could practically feel the wheels in the man's head turning as he evaluated the situation and his odds.

"You've made an enemy today." Rance bit out calmly and ticked his head at his men back towards the hovercraft and horses they had arrived on. He holstered his laser pistol and looked away from Mal and down at Petaline who had shuffled into the arms of her friends when she had been released. "I'll be back for what's mine. Your guard dogs won't be around forever." He looked back towards Mal as he backed away. "I know how big my bite is-," he taunted the captain with an arrogant grin, "-how big's your's, Sanguine?" He chuckled as he hopped onto his idling hovercraft. He was, however, not too cocky to risk pulling it out of reverse until he was well out of range of the Captain's gun.

Mal flicked his comm. on. "As always, your timing is impeccable." He grinned up at his crew as _Serenity_ rose in altitude to come around and find a space to berth. He looked back to the girl he'd stopped Rance from jabbing with the needle. "You alright?"

She nodded shakily. "Th-thank you." She managed to stammer.

"Oh, don't thank me yet." He replied as his eyes narrowed and he looked at Nandi. "Now, who wants to tell me exactly what the hell kind of shit I just stepped into?"

*T*F*C*

"Jayne, you're comin' with me." Zoe ordered as she opened the airlock ramp to reveal the silver-coated, solar-paneled brothel.

"Hope the whores are prettier than the house." The merc grunted.

"I'm really glad Kaylee wasn't in here to hear that." The first mate rolled her eyes. "You're gonna dig yourself into a grave you can't climb out of if you don't learn to keep that big, dumb mouth shut." She lectured him as she emptied the chamber in her Winchester and strapped it back to her thigh. "You three-," she called over to Book, River, and Riddick, all of whom still lingered in the shadows.

"The rules still apply." River cut her off with an eye roll.

"'Til the Captain says otherwise." A somewhat sympathetic look flashed behind the first mate's eyes briefly.

"Don't look so put out, girly." Jayne chuckled. "Whatever the Hell Mal's walked us into, it'll be big 'nough for ya ta get yer own bite outta it."

"We don't know anything yet." Book countered, to which he received River's _Look_; the merc and the first mate portraying their own valiant impressions of it, while Riddick regarded him impassively. "I can see non-violent optimism is misplaced among this crowd." He added, his words tinged with humor and only slightly colored by reproach.

"Day started with a stand-off." Jayne reminded him in case he had forgotten. "Only way to end it proper now is with a good old-fashion boom."

"I ain't even gonna bother to tell you to leave the grenades behind." Zoe drawled sideways at him.

"Realize yer wastin' yer breath yet?" The merc chortled.

"Nah, realized they come in too gorram handy to leave 'em behind." She smirked. "Come on. Time to find out just what the Hell we stepped in." She ticked her head towards the door. "Ship's yours, Book, send Wash and Riddick out to re-dock 'Nara's shuttle and lock up behind us." She ordered over her shoulder as she and Jayne headed down the ramp.

*T*F*C*

"I would venture to say, reason doesn't enter into any of this?" Inara asked as she handed Nandi an ice pack wrapped in a loose bit of fabric for the rapidly growing bruise on her face.

"With Rance Burgess?" Nandi winced as the cold compress touched the throbbing skin of her cheek. "Some places come up rustic 'cause they ain't got much more'n the basics. He's got the money to build a real community but he keeps folks in the dirt so he can be the one with the best toys; play cowboy. The man's a taker."

"Is the kid his?" Jayne asked, cutting to the source of it all.

"It ain't anybody's but Petaline's." She answered without hesitation.

"And I won't argue that." Mal said. "But has he got any real claim is the question."

"Fifty-fifty." Nandi conceded with a shrug. "Don't matter none. Man ain't fit to raise a cactus plant. His barren shrew of a wife can't bear him an heir so he took it in his mind to cut one outta us. It ain't gonna happen." Her eyes dared anyone to tell her differently.

"So you keep sayin'." Jayne grunted unsympathetically. "But I'm always up for pokin' a few holes in a fella that likes to pick on women." He added more helpfully if not unnervingly.

"Kinda like him." Nandi laughed lightly despite the pain in her face. "Just my kind of stupid."

"Get to know him and you'll regret saying that." Inara warned her.

"What the hell I do to you?" The merc demanded.

"Easy." Zoe stepped in. "We didn't ask for these troubles, but we're in 'em now." She looked at Mal. "What's our next move, Captain?"

Out of habit, Mal's fingers tapped against his holster as everything turned over in his mind. A year ago, he would have run from this fight. He would have told them to pack up every bit of precious they had and loaded them up on _Serenity_ to make a pitch for the Black. That however, was a year ago; long before a half-crazed mind-reader popped naked out of a box her prodigy doc of a brother stuffed her in. Before a convict looking for a reason to live asked him what he was living for. Something in that half-broken girl had woken something up in him and, as he'd spent months watching her claw her way back to a semblance of sanity, that thing had only grown stronger.

Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds was dead but Captain Malcolm Reynolds wasn't. The name had changed but the man, the _man,_ was a Constant. Rance wasn't the Alliance. Petaline and her child weren't River; but it was still the same goddamn story with different players and Captain Malcolm Reynolds would be damned if it happened on his watch. The only problem was that he had that very same girl that had relit the fire in his bones to look to first and the look in Rance's eyes had not lied over the depth of the enemy they'd made.

"I got people of my own to look to, just like you got yours." The captain held Nandi's gaze, and the Madame nodded slowly in understanding.

"Not your fight, I hear you, Captain. Didn't ask for your aid and I ain't expecting it none either."

"Mal-," Inara started to chastise but Mal cut her off.

"Now, hold on a minute-," he barked defensively, "-didn't say I wasn't gonna offer it, need to have some words with the rest of the crew still. Ain't just my call." He told Inara more so than Nandi.

"I'm guessin' we ain't gonna see the shiny side of this job?" Jayne grunted, and it was more of a resigned statement than a question.

"Jayne." Three voices warned in almost startling unison.

"What?"

"Ain't got much." Nandi confessed. "Can offer it in trade or food and lodgings."

The merc recoiled almost comically. "Like all my bits." He snorted, his upper lip curling.

"Never thought I'd live to see the gorram day." Mal muttered as he shook his head. "Ain't looking to be paid for this." He clarified to Nandi. "I drew on Burgess. Know what I did." He turned signaling for Jayne and Zoe to follow him out. "I'll talk to my people."

Alone together, Inara took a seat directly beside Nandi and wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. "He won't abandon you here. He really is a good man."

"You wouldn't have married him if he wasn't." Nandi didn't argue.

"What?" Inara nearly choked. "We're not actually married. It was all a cover."

Nandi leaned away from her to look at her face. "_Mei-mei_, body language doesn't lie, that man stepped in front of a laser pistol for you. If he ain't your husband, I'm gonna give you fair warning right now." She smiled tiredly at her, yet humor managed to tick its way around the corners of the expression.

"He's insufferable." Inara rolled her eyes. "Arrogant, rude, hard-headed, stubborn, high-handed, impulsive…"

"Oh, _mei-mei_, you have it bad, don't you?" Nandi laughed openly despite herself and the throbbing in her jaw.

"_Rang ta xiuxi _(let it rest)." Inara retorted with more harshness than she intended.

"I will, if you answer me this-," the older woman replied coyly, "-if you're not forging your register for the handsome captain, then who are you forging it for?"

Inara, much to her chagrin didn't have an answer her oldest friend wouldn't have seen through as easily as glass. "Suddenly I haven't the slightest idea as to why I missed you at all."

*T*F*C*

"Those who have a mind are welcome to join. Those who'd just as soon as stay on ship can do that, too." Zoe informed the crew after outlining the job ahead. "Ain't no pay in it, but the captain-," she ticked her head to where Mal was leaned back in his chair at the head of the mess table, "-he's already decided somethin's got to be done on some level in some way."

"'Gain, I'm gonna state, for the record-," Jayne began, "-have 'nough trouble of our own without addin' the troubles of others."

"What does it matter?" Book countered. "These people need assistance."

"They're 'Nara's people, ain't just gonna let 'em hang." Kaylee snapped at him.

"No one's gonna force you to go, Jayne-," Zoe replied, her irritation evident, "-as has been stated. You in or out?"

"Aw, hell, 'course I'm in. 'Ready told ya'll I take a particular sort of intense dislike to them's that beat on women folk anyhow." The merc grunted.

"Doc? Book?" Mal asked.

"I couldn't let Petaline deliver alone." Simon answered immediately.

"You already know my answer, Captain." Book nodded.

"Kaylee?" Mal turned to her.

"'Course I'm in, Cap." She shrugged. "Ain't I always?"

Mal grinned at her. "Good, 'cause they're runnin' offa solar sheetin' and I'd lay good coin on their water pump bein' as old as this rock is itself. If it comes to a fight, like we know it will, they'll try and burn us out, save their bullets and sweat. I'm gonna need you to look to boostin' what they got."

"I'll hafta talk to _Serenity_, see what she's got to offer, but I can handle it." The mechanic replied.

"This is going to get real ugly, Mal." Riddick warned. "Only one way to stop a man like Burgess. You let me and River go out tonight and we'll be gone by dawn before his blood even has a chance to cool." The curve to his lips could only be described as anticipatory.

"Well, don't that just take all the fun outta it." Jayne muttered in disgruntlement.

"You ain't sneakin' off to off nobody." Mal said firmly. "Ain't no need to bring extra bounties down on our heads." The captain argued. "That goes for you, too." He added to River, given the girl's penchant for sliding around wording when it suited her.

"Death is the only absolute." River spoke as her head ticked and her eyes glazed. The shift was abrupt as her body tensed and her voice became small and distant. "He won't stop coming. They don't lie down. They never lay down. Don't know why they come, but they come. They bring the Rage from the stars." Her head ticked again, her eyes clearing.

The table around her fell quiet, the silence in the air as heavy and as tangible as the smog on Beaumonde; while the others exchanged looks, Riddick's eyes were focused solely on her.

"They?" Mal asked as he and Zoe exchanged a look. "We talkin' on the same folk, Riv?" He asked cautiously, half-expecting a tangent of offended Mandarin to come flying back at him.

Much to the collective surprise of those gathered, it didn't, and instead a rather unsettling look crossed River's features as her brow furrowed. "I don't know." She answered in honest confusion.

"Give me a yes or a no, Bit." Mal ordered; the question vague and layered with multiple meanings, his voice a mixture of concern and authority. He had no real desire to lose River on this job but, if she wasn't up for it, he wasn't willing to risk pushing it. He was, however, willing to trust her enough to make the call.

"Yes." River replied without hesitation. "I am fine." She forced the world around her back into the lines it belonged in and focused her energy on keeping it there.

Mal acknowledged it with only a brief nod, attempting to downplay the truth of the girl's tentative grasp on reality.

_/You with me?/_ Riddick pressed to River as the conversation carried on around the table.

_/Always./_ She replied without looking in his direction.

_/That 'they'?/_

_ /Take your pick. It circles./_

_ /What circles?/_

_ /The Universe./_

_ /Anytime you want to make sense./_

_ /I will let you know./ _She thought miserably_. /Take your seat, it's almost time for the show./_

_ /This show or a different show?/_

_ /The puppet theater./_

_ /You know what? Fuck it. I like surprises./ _ Riddick mentally snorted, giving up entirely on trying to figure out what she knew. Shit was coming. They'd deal with it when it got to their door. Until then, they had other shit to worry about, like Mal not getting them killed in some fucked up cowboy showdown; and how soon he could get her back into bed.

"Riddick, you in or out?" Mal's question brought the convict back into the verbal conversation.

"Girl said yes, didn't she?" He replied.

Mal nodded his approval as his gaze made a circuit around the table. "Full gear then, all times, I don't give a rat's ass if you're meltin' in it." He ordered and it was met with a less than favorable response.

The combat armor they'd purchased on Beaumonde was constructed of a dark grey, flexible underlay, interwoven with thermal dissipaters and thin Kevlar wire that could stop most small-caliber pistol rounds, and was worn beneath several different independent pieces of gray-green ceramic-polymer blend plates. A molded torso segment which split along the side, so that the wearer could don it more easily, protected the vital organs of the midsection. Rounded shoulder pads overlapped upper armguards that were designed to expand with the biceps, and thick forearm guards were fitted with sheathes for a combat knife as well as a compartment for a powerful portable comp. The thighs were protected by rectangular ceramic plates bound together by spidersilk bands to allow freedom of movement; each plate having a pouch that could be used to store whatever the wearer had in mind. The kneepads were hard plates as well, though they offered only minimal protection from the rear, and alongside articulated shin guards made up the lower body armor. The gear was completed with a full helmet that Jayne hadn't stopped complaining about since the purchase, and while the bodysuit itself might have been woven with thermal dissipaters, there was little relief to be found in temperatures that reached well over forty–three degrees Celsius on a cool day.

"Helmet has blind spots." The merc complained.

"I am faster without the extra weight." River added.

"Can't pivot right with those fucking shin plates." Riddick argued.

"Got a point about those shin plates." The complaint even slipped from Zoe's mouth.

"Ya'll complain over bein' shot at, and then when I buy the armor so's you can at least live through bein' shot at, ya'll complain even more. Ain't no gorram pleasin' a single ruttin' one of you." Mal retorted. "We ain't debatin' this point." He said firmly.

"I don't know, I think the helmets are kind of nifty." Wash mused.

"You would." Jayne muttered.

"Coulda at least gotten 'em in a better color." Kaylee remarked.

"Are you serious?" Jayne whipped his neck around to look at his girl incredulously.

"What?" It was turn her to shrug. "Least it coulda come in somethin' better than vomit green."

"This is really what this conversation's turned into?" Mal asked no one in particular. "Unbelievable." He groaned. "Can we focus here, people?"

"Can I paint mine?" Kaylee asked. "Like maybe just a coupla daisies or somethin? Ya know, just somethin' to give it a little bit of color."

"I got a nekkid lady stencil." Jayne waggled his eyebrows at her. "Should put that on your gear."

"I should paint Marshall on mine! Or maybe Tom juggling?" Wash jumped on the idea.

"I would think you'd work a goose on there somewhere." Book chuckled.

"Could always make it a battle to the death between Tom and one of his geese." The pilot gave it consideration.

"How the fuck are you people still alive?" Riddick snorted. "Shit's the color it is for a reason."

"Please, ain't like we ain't gonna stick out like a busted thumb wearin' puke green in the middle of a ruttin' desert anyhow." Kaylee retorted.

Mal repressed the urge to let his head slam against the table as the benefits of being identified by crew verses the benefits of standard uniformity turned the conversation into an actual rational argument. He whistled an ear piercing, two-fingered call. "I don't give a shit what you put on it as long as your asses are in it." He stated firmly for the record. "Now, if there ain't any other useless _goushi_ I gotta ruttin' referee, we might as well go and set the terms of this to Nandi and her people."

"Which are?" Riddick prompted.

"Our game, our ruttin' rules, minute somebody takes an issue with how we play is the minute we walk. I'll admit, some of this shit storm is a result of the way I handled it today, but I didn't see 'nother course. And, if I hadn't of stopped it, that girl woulda had a whole mess of other problems. Don't change the fact that we ain't bein' paid, so we ain't takin' orders."

"I got a question." Wash cut in.

Mal bit the inside of his cheek. "Go ahead."

"If you and Inara get fake names, does that mean the rest of us get them too?"

"Oh, for the love of-," Mal moaned, "-whatever, sure. Let's just keep 'em within the realm of possible please?"

"Sarg Splatter is not within that realm." River commented absently on Jayne's thoughts.

"Sounded better in my head." The merc snapped as several pairs of eyes landed critically on him.

"Really, how the fuck are you people still alive?" Riddick asked again.

"Too damn pretty to die." Mal snorted his usual response, however, this time, he felt as though Riddick might have asked a very valid question indeed.

*T*F*C*

Rance tore open the door to his office; it slammed against the wall so hard the paintings shook and the one frightened maid who occupied the room made a hasty departure with no more than a warning look shot in her direction. The six men who had accompanied him to The Heart of Gold and, also made up his personal bodyguard, shuffled in behind him.

"Boss?" Milo, Rance's second-in-command ventured cautiously as the man in question gripped the edge of his desk, his breath coming in erratic spurts as his face turned an unhealthy shade of red.

"Well, I certainly wasn't counting on a battle." He replied, his voice too calm and controlled to be trusted. "The whore wants a war-," He seethed, losing the illusion of control entirely as he grabbed the lamp from his desk and hurled it against the far wall, "-I'll give her a fucking war!" He cleared his desk with one fell swoop of his arm, a vicious roar breaking free from his lips. "I will get my kid if I have to cut it from her goddamn filthy womb!" He swore to himself more than the others. "Call in every gorram debt I'm owed. Green Dragon, Triad, every merc and two-bit con that can hold a fucking gun!" He spat as he yelled his orders, his eyes rabid with intensity. "You call the fucking 'Golls."

"The 'Golls?" Milo swallowed.

"Yes, the fucking 'Golls!" Rance yelled at him. "You deaf?" He demanded as he attempted to calm himself. "They've been raiding the Salisbury colonies; it's been all over the Cortex. They've worked for me before and they'll do it again. Tell them they can have every fucking whore in that house and won't a body know they'd even been here. I'll cut my kid out of that bitch and let them stitch her back together if they think she's worth it and, if she ain't, she can rot in the fucking dust."

"Boss, you ain't thinkin' straight-," Milo tried to talk some sense into the man. After all, without the DNA test they had gone to get, they couldn't even be sure the child was his. Petaline was after all, in the most literal sense, a whore.

Rance spun on his second, ripping the laser pistol from his waist and pressing the barrel against the man's forehead. "If you weren't my wife's brother, you'd be dead." Rance assured him. "Make the calls, Milo. You got twenty-four hours to call in every piece of shit we know 'cause, in two days, I'm burning that whorehouse to the ground. _Dong ma?_"

"I'll see it done, Boss." Milo managed to keep the tremble of fear out of his voice, its steadiness surprising even him.

"You do that." Rance lowered his gun and straightened his lapels. "Now I got to go and tell Belinda we ain't makin' it to the theater tonight. Woman's liable to skin me." He chuckled, all traces of his outburst gone.

*T*F*C*

The atmosphere in the main parlor of The Heart of Gold was appropriately tense given the situation. The captain of_ Serenity_ let his eyes make a circle of the room, his nerves all the more uneasy as he took in the frightened faces, and he knew they had every reason to be afraid. The reality of their situation was that they were a handful of whores against, potentially, an entire cavalry of folk. The circuit of his eyes around the room ended on his crew. They had taken their post in the rear left corner with a clear sightline to both the back and front exits where the bar met the staircase. Their relaxed state practically oozed cockiness in trademark _Serenity_ fashion; all were armed and wearing their armor as if it was their standard Sunday's best minus the almost universally detested helmets. The armor plating was, as of yet, unadorned and, for the moment, they actually looked the role of hardened criminals and ex-soldiers.

Jayne's bandolier of grenades would have been intimidating enough but with Vera slung across his arm and a matching set of submachine guns holstered in a shoulder-rig, he would have given even a contingent of Alliance pause as he leaned against the bar, chewing on the end of his cigar. Kaylee was perched on the stool beside him, her gun slung through the hammer slot of her tool belt and worn over her armor where a holster should have rested, a smear of grease already across her cheek. Her pigtails and the daisy patches on her belt somehow suited her entirely in just that moment, ironically making her seem as if she really did know how to use the gun she wore.

Zoe sat a step above her husband on the stairs, leaning against the wall rail with one arm propped up on her Winchester as Wash reclined between her legs. Her features were set in the same hard, stoic lines the captain had come to rely on; there was no one in the 'Verse he depended on as he did Zoe and there never would be. She might not have been a Reader like River or nearly as dangerous as Riddick but her loyalty and determination, in his opinion, made her just as lethal as the two. In a drastic contrast to his wife, Wash looked utterly unconcerned and lighthearted as he twirled a gun in his right hand and Mal prayed he still had the safety on as he tossed it in the air. Despite Wash's penchant for dinosaurs and geese, not to mention his tendency towards frantic panic, the man was unstoppable behind the controls of a ship; flying _Serenity_ as though she was an extension of himself.

Book also leaned against the rail, his armor making him seem more like the man Mal imagined he had once been, rather than the mild-mannered Shepherd he knew today. The green-gray hue of the plating turned the previously speckled highlights of his hair to steely greys that mimicked gunmetal, and had Mal rethinking River's previous assertions that the man's hair really was dangerous. The course of his life, though, was still evident in his eyes which looked almost regretful at the same time as violently resolute. He was the grandfather that didn't want to take a switch to your hide but knew tough love was the only route.

His eyes landed next on River and Riddick. The two people most responsible for _Serenity's_ new found glory and the two that had the most to lose because of it as well. Riddick wore his ulaks unapologetically out in the open; the holster for his 10mm was, as always unfastened, though the pump-action shotgun he'd acquired at some point on Tyrus was slung causally over his arm as if it was an afterthought and, knowing the man, it probably was. Much like Mal, Riddick wasn't the same as he had been when he'd boarded; though the captain wasn't naïve enough to think _Serenity_ had domesticated the killer but, as was her way, she'd changed something in him clear enough. It no longer mattered to Mal who he'd been before; Richard B. Riddick was one of his people now and that's all that did.

River had perched herself on top of the bar, between Kaylee and Riddick; her chunky boots dangling from the edge as she glared daggers alternatively at Nandi, who kept glancing nervously at Riddick, and a poor, unsuspecting redhead on a chaise across the room. It didn't take a genius to figure out it had something to do with the seductive looks the redhead was shooting Riddick and Nandi's abrasively curious ones. Vaguely, Mal considered whether or not he should be concerned over the likelihood of River throwing one of the stilettos he knew she, literally, kept up her sleeve. He was unsurprised to find himself the recipient of _The Look_ as the thought crossed his mind. He couldn't help his slight smirk in response even given their situation. She was a far cry from the girl who had popped screaming out of a box and he couldn't have been prouder or more grateful to call her one of his.

Simon and Inara were the only two who stood away from the group; ever the doctor, Simon hovered over Petaline, asking quiet questions as the others settled in. His gun, Mal knew, was stashed inside his med-kit and, the captain realized for the first time, the doctor's usual nervousness was absent. There was a new kind of confidence in the set of his shoulders and it wasn't just because of the mustache or the combat armor. His dark eyes had taken to mirroring his sister's in the way they darted around a room as if he was constantly analyzing and evaluating his surroundings. He was smart, not as sharp as his sister, but the man's mind moved faster than most and Mal had to give credit where it was due; for a boy born and bred in the Core, he was learning and adapting to the new rules better than most could ever hope to.

Inara was seated just to Mal's left, as he had found her often to be as of late. There was a small, unrecognized as of yet, hope in the captain that the action was done consciously. Everyone knew Zoe's place was his right but he wouldn't be opposed to Inara taking up his left. The spark he'd seen buried in her eyes on the day he'd rented her the shuttle was alive now and raw with hunger. There was no denying it; though there was a real possibility she hadn't yet realized what she'd actually signed on for, Mal had every reason to believe she'd hold her ground when push came to shove. The 'Verse was a big place, despite recent evidence to the contrary, and she'd only had a taste of it just yet. They had brought her armor but she wore only the bodysuit and comm. bracers; her chest plate somewhat uselessly sitting on her lap after a heated and not at all quietly whispered debate between them. One in which he had clearly and unequivocally lost in record time.

"Captain?" Nandi prompted expectantly after a long moment passed.

"We had some time to think on your situation. This fella Burgess… well, there's only one way to handle a man like him, otherwise I believe he'll have what he thinks is his." Mal said bluntly, not sparing a thing. "He's the kinda man that feeds off the helpless and weak. The kind that doesn't understand the pain he inflicts because he's never been made to feel it himself."

"And how do we handle him?" Nandi asked impatiently.

"Only way we can, see just how he likes it when the feast bites back." The captain replied, a dangerous grin playing at the corners of his lips as his head cocked to the right. "We fight and that's the only choice you got if you lot want to keep what's yours." He paused to let that sink into their minds. "Those of you who can't or won't, for whatever reason, are free to take shelter on our ship. Ain't no shame in it but we'll make the stand here. Law says, if he's on your land, you have every right to defend it. We go after him on his and the Feds'll be swarmin' us 'fore we can blink."

Nandi moved to stand behind Petaline, who sat on the sofa, and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to give it a brief squeeze before speaking to her people. "Any of you want to take the Captain up on his offer, I won't hold it against you. You do it with my blessing and you'll be welcome back here once the dust settles." She let her own eyes wander to each one of her charges. "But this is my land and this is where I stay."

"Ain't leavin' you, Nandi." Helen shook her head as she stepped forward. "This is my home, too. Ain't a place in the 'Verse I got elsewhere."

"I ain't much of a shot but I'm stayin'." A thin, wiry boy named Frankie added hesitantly.

"Me, too." Lucy, a petite blonde spoke up, her voice far less confident than Helen's. "Don't have another place that would want me but here." The sentiment was echoed by every resident of The Heart of Gold in some form or the other.

"Not goin' either." Petaline said resolutely as she cradled her stomach. "This is our home."

"This is crazy! Gorram suicide." The last voice to chime in was that of a slender strawberry blonde by the name of Chari.

River's head ticked nearly imperceptibly at the blonde's statement; something elusive and serpentine twisted inside her mind. Something that reeked and burned like venom. She forced her attention away from Nandi and the revolting redhead, whose name she learned was Lily, to learn more. She had felt eight threads of negative intent surrounding the captain during the conflict; however, his memory had only supplied her with seven. It didn't take her long to realize why she couldn't place the eighth before. The movement of her head and the sudden glaze in hers eyes did not go unobserved by Riddick, nor Jayne who stood close enough to see it.

"Well, there's your answer, Captain." Nandi told Mal, her own impersonation of the trademark _Serenity_ smirk in place, and the declaration tore River's focus once again.

The captain nodded in approval. "Then we got work to do." He pointed at Jayne, who was slouched against the bar, mid-sip on a glass of liquor he'd helped himself to. "That man there, his name's Tank-," Mal mentally rolled his eyes at his merc, "-he's gonna make sure each and every one of you can fire a gorram rifle without shooting yourselves in the foot. Pay attention." Mal barked at them roughly, his voice lined with a quality that had his first mate straightening her spine and shoulders on reflex. "He's the best there is with a gun." He turned immediately back to Nandi but held his hand out to Kaylee and made a 'come here' motion with his fingers. "This here is Sunshine." He placed both his hands on Kaylee's shoulders. "You show her the guts of this place; power, water, gas, anything you got that holds a current or runs an engine." He looked down at Kaylee proudly.

"Ain't so much worried on the power as I am these walls." Kaylee frowned as she scratched at a piece of plaster with her fingernail. "Can't be, what, more than a few inches? Betcha even Hope's .22 could tear a hole in it." She snorted. "Whaddya think, Shepherd Tuck?" She asked Book.

Book cracked a wry, amused smile. "Not something I'd want to hide behind." He agreed. "We have some scrap steel on the ship, and I'm sure we can rummage some more. We bolt it under the window frames and it'll give decent cover." He looked about the room. "We'll need to board up every window. Any heavy furniture, extra beds; anything we can use for barricades and fall-backs, too."

"See it done, Tuck. House fortifications will be on you." Mal nodded before pointing out Zoe. "This here is my First." Zoe, the Tams and Riddick were the only ones that had opted out of fake names. The Tams and Riddick already had cover idents while she had just merely promised to shot anyone that called out her name. Mal was pretty gorram sure she meant it, too; especially given their new armor. "Follow her orders like mine."

On her cue, Zoe took up the dialogue. "Me and Maverick-," she repressed the urge to roll her eyes at her husband's choice of moniker, "-we'll take the outside perimeter; trip lines, pit traps, anything that'll scatter their horses and screw with their frontline."

"Just go easy on the explosives this time. Ain't no need to go blowin' a crater in every rock we land on." Mal ordered. "Tank, take half now for shootin', let the other start boardin' up the place. Two hours you got to teach 'em and then rotate 'em out." He added. "We got four hours 'tween us and dark and I want everyone in and accounted for by then."

"Just take all the fun outta it don'tcha, Cap?" Jayne grumbled as he eyed the crowd and, seeing no easier way of dividing them up, simply said, "If you're blonde, you're shootin' first."

"Anna, Rick, few words." Mal ticked his head back towards the door, catching Nandi out of the corner of his eye. "Got a few jobs for the two of you."

Obediently, the pair followed him out the door. River returning Nandi's curious gaze with a dark warning glare of her own that was lost on the woman, so singular was her fixation. The corners of Riddick's lips ticked smugly upward and, with a severe amount of self-control, she resisted the urge to shoot him herself.

Mal lead them a little ways off the porch to ensure they were out of unfriendly earshot before he turned to speak. "Rick, you need to squash whatever shit has Nandi giving you those looks. Ain't nothin' but a beacon drawin' attention and I think the Bit here is close 'nough to puttin' one 'tween her and the redhead's eyes as it is." He pointedly ignored the rather large mark on River's neck he'd noticed earlier; refusing to allow the reason for it to enter his mind. They were sharing a bunk after all and it really was none of his gorram business, as he'd been told on numerous occasions.

Riddick nodded in reply as he leaned against the wall of the utility shed. "Anything else?"

"Tonight, you two are ridin' into town. Find out what that man is planning. Be as sneaky and as ghost-like as I know ya both can be. Ain't a body that catches anything more than your shadows tonight, _dong ma?"_

"_Tong che._ (understood)." River nodded tersely, not at all pleased by the captain's insistence on a conversation between Riddick and Nandi. "There is more to be made aware of." She added. "A fox in the henhouse."

"One of Nandi's people?" Riddick asked, picking up on her meaning despite the veiled wording.

River nodded. "Chari." The name even tasted poisonous her tongue.

Mal muttered a curse under his breath and cast his eyes up at the stars as he mulled over the different options. "Keep your distance but keep a brain ear on her. I'll inform Zo and Jayne but let's keep this to ourselves for now. Might be able to use this girl if the cards fall right."

"And if they don't?" River asked the question that sprung to the forefront of both her and Riddick's mind.

"Then they don't." Mal replied evenly. "And we handle it accordingly."

*T*F*C*

ENDNOTE: Mal's little bit about the feast biting back, is a convoluted quote stolen from Riddick, in _Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena._


	81. Heart of Gold III

"_Ta ma duh_ (phonectically, fuck me blind)!" Nandi gasped, one hand shooting up to clutch her chest as a pair of unnerving mercurial eyes met hers in the dimness of her room.

"Not interested." Riddick rumbled, repressing the almost instinctual smirk which threatened to break against his lips as the sweet bouquet of pheromones indicating fear tingled his nostrils.

"Still haunting the shadows, I see." Nandi replied wryly as she calmed herself and stepped fully inside her room; closing the door behind her in an attempt to avert her eyes from his intense gaze. There was a power in the man's eyes that she had almost forgotten; hypnotic and enticing, like the eyes of a predator peering out from the brush. You knew you should run but fear or fascination, or some sick combination of both, held you enraptured.

Despite her efforts, however, she could not seem to slow her rapidly beating heart. When they had parted ways all those years ago, she had never expected to see him again; he'd told her as much. There had even been times in the last few years where it hadn't even seemed real, more like something out of some trashy romance novel, and yet here he was again riding in on a somewhat greyish colored horse to save her.

"For what it's worth, never did think you were dead." She added.

"I'm a hard man to kill." He replied succinctly.

"I was wondering when you were going to get around to explaining to me how you wound up on the same ship as my _mei-mei_. According to you, you worked alone."

"Things change." Riddick replied vaguely. "Didn't come here to give you an explanation."

"There another reason you're in my bedroom then?" She asked coyly, her eyes sliding sideways to her bed.

"Like I said, not interested."

"Then just why are you here?" She asked curiously, unsure on whether or not she wanted an answer.

"You don't know me, Nandi." He informed her as he pushed off the wall and slowly closed the distance between them. "We don't have a history. Stop looking at me like we do." He warned her. "That ship? This crew? All figments of your imagination." He continued even as the space between them narrowed to a handful of inches. "You get asked by any of your people, or anybody else that might come looking; it was the Sanguine crew that landed. In fact, forget that name you saw painted on the side of our ship."

"Kept your secrets for all these years, haven't I? Thought we trusted each other." She snapped at him, angered by his insinuations.

"If you ever thought that, you don't know me half as well as you seem to think." He hovered over her a moment longer before brushing past, pausing before opening the door to pull down his goggles. "I find out my real name ever crossed your lips, you'll find out exactly how little your life means to me, Nandi."

"Why did you save me?" She asked quietly, far more so than an average person would have been able to hear.

Riddick did smirk then and the edges of the expression were sharp and cruel as he turned to face her once more. "I needed a ride out of the system, thought it'd be fun to get another kind of ride out of it, too. I could smell the whore on you then." He inhaled deeply. "Still can now. How's that working out for you?"

"Fuck you." She spat at him.

"Already told you, Nandi, not interested." He chuckled cruelly at her as he left.

The sound shuddered through her entire body and she closed her eyes as she attempted to quell the tumult of anger and indignation that twisted sickeningly in her stomach. When she opened them again, she exhaled long and slow, forcing her anxieties out intermingled with her breath. Regardless of how much she now loathed the man, the situation she was in didn't allow for it. She'd deal with her own feelings later. Right now, she needed him and the crew he ran with, though it grated on her to not be able to defend her own land. Petaline, the child she carried, and every other one of her people and their safety was what mattered, and for them she'd lay down her own life.

*T*F*C*

"Welcome to the Cobb School For Killin' Folk." Jayne grinned around the cigar which hung from the corner of his mouth as he stood in front of the lineup of whores. "Now right here-," he began again as he stepped over to a somewhat awkward folding table and picked up a semi-automatic combat pistol in one hand and a rifle in the other, "-we got the two types of guns we're goin' be firin' when all hell breaks loose. First round, we're gonna shoot the pistols, and I reckon most of you will be a better hand at the 'em than the rifles but, for those of you who are crap with both, you'll be stationed as a loader. Real simple, alls you do is watch the other person shoot, when their gun goes empty you hand 'em a new one and load the one that's out."

A tall blonde, Helen, stepped away from the line and walked directly up to Jayne. She grabbed a rifle from the table, checked the magazine, worked the bolt, and leveled it. She fired six shots, rapidly pinging off each one of the cans set up on the rail post some meters away. Needless to say, the merc nearly lost his cigar as he gaped at the display.

"Rabbits." Helen smirked at him. "Daddy wanted boys; he got girls."

"Well, holy shit, girl." He chuckled. "Any of you other whores got tricks like that?"

"Honey, we got tricks you ain't ever seen." Helen pushed the rifle back at him. "Might wanna be more specific 'round these folks." She winked.

*T*F*C*

The walls of the upstairs' hall were littered with worn and faded tapestries, woven from imitation fibers and dyed with cheap chemicals. River frowned as she studied one, noticing the blatant disregard for proper calligraphy with more than a little distaste. The hall was long and narrow; where there weren't tapestries, there were doors with a name written in the hand of its owner across each one. Her precognitive ability was almost entirely absent; however, her retrocognitive perception was as strong as ever as she watched ghost-like figments drift between planks of wood. She extended her arms to let her fingers run along the fabric of the tapestries and graze the rough wood of the doors as she sifted through the echoes of memories and conversations; the wisps of spent emotion which clung to every battered board and rusted nail.

Abruptly she halted, turning her body fully to the right as she regarded a particular door. In bright orange paint, written in playful script, was the name 'Chari'. Dark thoughts seeped through the cracks in it; jealousy, greed, bitterness, the wrath of a discarded favorite. Her happily ever after had been stolen and she ached for vengeance.

"Your thoughts are poison and you plot." River whispered to the wood as she traced a finger over the painted name. "Nothing escapes _The_ _River_."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than did _The_ _River_ wash over something else and, as abruptly as she had stopped, her head jerked to follow its source. Her footsteps were silent against the floorboards which would have creaked under the weight of any other, even one as small as she, but her booted feet moved like a caress against them. The last door at the end of the hall and rear servant's stairwell which lead from the kitchen beckoned her; Simon's voice dancing behind it in the same soothing tones he'd used often with her. She stopped to touch it before pushing it open; to trace the soft yellow script of the name 'Petaline', the eye dotted with a whimsical flower.

The door, despite her skill, opened with the creak of age and both Petaline and her brother looked up immediately.

"Anna?" Simon called her name, jarring her focused and stealing the glaze from her eyes. "Is everything alright?"

"Perfectly." She replied distractedly.

"Petaline, this is my sister Anna." He turned back to the girl on the bed to make introductions. "I was telling you about her."

"Nice to meet ya." Petaline nodded, forcing a smile to her tired features. "Don't take this the wrong way none but ain't you a bit young to be in all that getup?" She gestured at River's combat gear but more pointedly at her sidearm. "Ain't you got a momma goin' out of her mind with worry somewheres? Both ya'll are awful young." Her tone was full of maternal concern and River found herself smiling slightly from its warmth as she watched the girl caress the swollen bump of her stomach.

"It's just Anna and I; we do what we have to get by." Simon answered a bit guardedly.

"I didn't mean to offend. I know all 'bout that." She rushed out hurriedly. "I'm more'n grateful ya'll're stayin' to help us. Call it selfish if ya want but I'm just too damn pregnant and scared to take on airs 'bout who's willin' to help me."

"Well, with any luck, at least one of those situations will be remedied soon." Simon offered, diverting the topic away from him and his sister. "By the looks of it, you're due any day now."

"Can't protect 'im on the outside." Petaline replied sadly, wrapping her hands more firmly around her swollen belly.

River tentatively set herself down on the right side of the bed; reaching out almost reverently for the woman's swollen stomach. The closer her proximity to the small soul, the louder the faint stream of consciousness, that had teased the edges of her mind and called to her, grew and River couldn't help but be awed by it.

"May I?" She whispered.

"Oh, sure." Petaline unabashedly lifted her blouse to reveal her smooth, engorged abdomen. "Don't mind a bit. Everybody here's been fussin' since I first started to show. Just gave up tryin' to keep 'em away." She shrugged tiredly. "Wouldn't believe the pervs that get off on it." She snorted contemptuously and River did her best to cover the reflexive wince from the imagery which assaulted her.

The Reader spread her hands wide on either side of Petaline's stomach, a slow smile caressing her face as the naturally empathic mind of the unborn child touched hers. It was a boy; the tone of his mind was deep and bass-y. Healthy, strong and whole with every necessary part and no extraneous. He was sleeping now, dreaming of sensations and emotions; dreaming in such a way that River had never encountered. His dream was a mass of swirling intangible wisps; of the tactile sensations of wet, soft, and warm. There were no images, for he had never seen anything, but that would soon change. She felt his urge. An instinctual knowledge he did not know he possessed; to breathe and be. The man-child was swathed in the combined love of the roughly dozen inhabitants of The Heart of Gold. He did not know their names but, through the barrier of the womb, he could distinguish who it was that spoke and there was one he loved above all others. Mother; the word, the person, though he knew her not yet, he did, and the ideal was sacred, his love already devout.

"Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children." River whispered as she looked up at the woman whose stomach she cradled in her small hands. "He loves you even now."

Petaline smiled broadly. "What a pretty thing to say." She covered River's hands with her own. "I wish it was true."

"It is." River insisted.

"Actually, she's right." Simon interrupted in hopes of cutting off River before she exposed herself. "A fetus can distinguish different voices even inside the womb and they do respond best to their mother's."

"It is a boy." River told her earnestly. "I have a gift-," she smiled brightly, "-for knowing these things."

"I was thinking Jonah, if it was a boy." Petaline told River eagerly. Having spent her entire life surrounded by women, she gave no thought to the curious statement; a woman's intuition was as good as any doctor's in cases such as these.

"Dove." River replied reflexively.

"Hmm?" Petaline asked.

"Jonah. It means dove." River clarified.

"How would you know such a thing?"

"Anna's always liked names." Simon interjected quickly, his manner changed entirely, however, when Petaline began to cry suddenly. "Is everything all right?" His brow furrowed. "There's no pain, is there?"

Petaline forced a laugh as she wiped the corners of her eyes. "Don't mind me, Doc. I'm leakin' from everywhere these days. Can't seem to stop cryin' and ya'll are bein' so kind to us. Helpin' us as ya are; helpin' me and Jonah." She sniffled as she furiously wiped her eyes.

Flashes of Petaline's memories pulsated inside River's head; most vividly, the look in Rance's eyes the moment before Mal had stopped him from violating the sanctity of a mother's womb. Her light touch on Petaline's stomach became an almost protective embrace as the baby himself seemed to feel his mother's fear and pain even through his dream. The vision of the needle intertwined with River's own nightmares and something in her flared violently in response.

"This small soul is yours." River's eyes darkened, a new purpose rippling beneath her skin as she cradled the fragile life in her hands. "He will not be permitted to take him."

A severe sort of clarity fell across her mind as the parameters of the objective she had been given changed, shifting seamlessly as thousands of scenarios flickered behind her eyes and broke apart her physical vision as the lines between things blurred. It happened in milliseconds and, when Petaline spoke to her, she came back into herself as seamlessly as she had left.

"Rance ain't right." Petaline tightened her grip on River's hand. "He won't stop comin' 'til he gets what he wants. Ain't a body on this rock strong enough to stand against him, ain't one that tells him no."

River rose from the bed, pausing to look down at Petaline. "Until now." She replied in a voice that Simon recalled from one terrifying night aboard Niska's Skyplex; catching his comparison, she caught his eye and fought the urge to recoil from the suspicion in his gaze. She didn't bother to defend herself, mainly because she felt she had no reason to, but alternatively because nothing she could say would change the look in his eyes. He was not afraid, but the wariness she found there cut nearly as deeply as fear. She left them wordlessly and it was a brief moment before Petaline broke the silence.

"She meant that, didn't she?" She asked, a hopeful lilt to her voice which had been absent for months.

"More than you know." Simon answered without thinking, but quickly caught himself. "She's speaking for the crew though. Ruddy's got a thing for lost causes." He added with a degree of bitter humor.

"Speakin' from experience?" She asked curiously.

"You should get some rest." He dodged the question as he picked up his kit.

"Will you send Chari in?" Petaline asked. "She's a small blonde; somebody will point 'er out." She yawned. "Been so sweet to me ever since this mess started; fretted over this baby more'n anybody."

"I'll find her." Simon assured her gently. "Just get some rest."

*T*F*C

Riddick waited for River to join him on the roof of the brothel, only vaguely taking notice of the lessons currently taking place below him at The Cobb School For Killin' Folk. The slow, crisp hiss of his Bowie knife as it passed over the whetstone in his hand drowned out the biting reverberation of Jayne's voice. He knew somehow, and he didn't care to reflect on where the knowledge had come from; that Jayne was only running on about seventy to eighty percent of his lung capacity. The thought, provided another distraction, why the hell did he care? Because the guy on his six needed to be at the top of his game, he told himself and moved on; back to counting swipes of his blade. He focused on the sound, the Constant amidst the chaos; if darkness was his blanket, the soothing shriek of a sharpening blade was his lullaby.

He was as grateful for River's absence as he was irritated by it. She should have been finished by now and he wanted answers but, at the same time, she'd see right through the measured motions and deliberate inhales and want to fucking talk about it; everybody on the goddamn ship always wanted to fucking talk about it.

The pregnant girl ate at him, watching her shuffle backwards terrified and sobbing; a contradiction to his own mother, he thought, and surprisingly it was laced with a reverence he had not been aware of. Briefly, the urge to smirk ticked at his lips though they remained obstinately unmovable. River would have told him he was compartmentalizing or projecting or some such shit; and he would have told her to shut the fuck up.

He halted in his own movements, his position shifting as his head cocked itself in a fashion reminiscent of River's and, this time, when the memory of his mother replayed in his head he savored it. He watched her die; a blade in her hand and a death curse on her lips, over and over again, until he could recall every minute detail of the armor her attackers wore. Until he knew the man's voice better than his own. He analyzed the memory as River would have without acknowledging the fact; etching the only knowledge he had of himself into his very core.

The echo the demon-soldier's boots made suggested there was more to the armor than its ornate design and their weapons, something like pulse energy, but not. He found the weak spots, counted the seconds between shots, places where the metal of the armor broke to allow for movement; and, much like how he had realized Jayne's lung capacity, he knew the exact degrees of range of motion their armor allowed for. It was, however, their eyes he studied the longest; there was a hollowness in them, as if they were already dead and just hadn't realized it yet.

The moment River hoisted herself over the roof eave she felt him nearly pulsating in the air. His mind was calculating, analyzing; fully consumed by a slow-festering hate. It was the same slow burning she felt in the captain every time the Alliance was mentioned; but colder, more focused, and a thousand times more lethal. His skin was humming with energy but the color was restrained and it drew her in; beckoning to her as her biometric systems fell into perfect rhythm with his and the rest of the universe bled away. Dark whispers, raspy voices, they murmured along her veins; causing her fingers to twitch above the gun at her hip.

_/You are projecting./ _She thought, forcing calm into herself as she cajoled him back into the present moment in an odd sort of reversal of roles. His mental state was dangerous to her own tentative grip on the violence that hissed beneath her skin as a result of her conversation with Petaline.

An involuntary growl rumbled through Riddick's chest as he fought back a wave of irritation over the fact that he hadn't noticed her arrival. It was quickly tempered by sardonic amusement at her accusation.

_/ Not willing to talk about this./ _ He warned her without looking towards where he could feel the source of the thought.

_/Acceptable./_ She conceded, surprising him.

In truth, she didn't press because she did not wish to be pressed herself. The look in Simon's eyes had burrowed into the same part of her mind that still felt like screaming every time her gun brushed against her hip. She didn't wish to argue with Riddick, not when she craved the solace and clarity of mind his presence gave her. Riddick couldn't make the dark and twisted urgings which circled her mind and lapped at her fingertips go away but under his gaze and inspection they turned into things of artistry and beauty. Riddick didn't watch her because he was afraid or wary. He watched her because he liked what he saw and he liked what he saw even more when she twirled a blade. There was no walking up the downslide and she wasn't sure anymore if she even would if she could. Riddick relished what he was, he gloried in it, and there was a freedom in that the others would never know.

After years of being locked away from the sun, of being sliced, electrocuted, prodded and starved; made to dance for the amusement of old men who had sparkled with clean hands as they forced others into blood and rotting flesh. Years of being forced to hear and see things that made her want to claw out her eyes and burst her eardrums but she couldn't because they'd restrained her hands; of being made to carry burdens and lies and secrets that weren't hers to have to bear. She wanted that freedom; craved it with every bit of her body and soul. Zoe had said she moved forward because freedom was always just one more step within her reach. River understood that now; except it wasn't Zoe's type of freedom she reached for... it was Riddick's.

_/Chari?/ _ Riddick questioned, breaking her from her thoughts.

_/She's been whispering secrets./_ River scowled, welcoming the diversion. _/She has been his eyes and ears and hands./_

_/She got a plan yet?/_

_/She will not go to him empty handed. We must give her opportunity and she will not disappoint./_

_/If she Waves, it'll save us the trouble of tailing her. He'll send her back if she runs to him. /_

_/Strategically, it is to his advantage to do so./_ River agreed. _/To ours as well. The variables are not necessary when one knows the solution./_

_/She recognize any of us?/_

_/No. Her mind is consumed with trivial and treacherous things./_

_/Any of them do?/_

_/No. Most are too afraid to allow their eyes to linger long./_

_/Most?/_

River stiffened, her bottom lip unmercifully pinned beneath her teeth. _/Lily likes to stare and think./ _

_/Which one's Lily?/ _ He let his curiosity peak.

_/Does it matter?/_ She hissed back vehemently.

Riddick audibly chuckled, though the sound was regulated to a low rumble in his chest as he pulled her down and situated her between his legs. He brushed away her hair and traced, with his fingertips, a mark left behind there.

_/You know what you smell like?/ _ He asked, banishing thoughts of his mother and Furyans hunted by demon-soldiers and replacing it with River's scent which could numb his other senses like no other.

_/Like a drug./ _River thought, because it was so much easier than trying to form words. _/Like lies, and secrets, and blood./_

_/Smell like mine./_ The thought caressed her mind, mimicking the calloused touch of his fingertips.

_/We are working./_ River warned him, their exposed location more than a little unsettling as his lips brushed her neckline where her armor broke.

_/We'll hear them before they come./_ He dismissed her protest, only to grunt as she flicked his ear.

_/ Did you not hear?/_

Riddick pulled away from her, his lips twisted downward unpleasantly. _/You lose the ability to multitask at some real inconvenient times./_

_ /He should be pleased that his touch blocks out all else./ _River smiled at him, an expression that wasn't nearly as innocent as it should have been for someone with her lack of experience.

_ /Keep talking like that and see what happens./ _ He thought in disgruntlement as he picked his blade up and slid it back into its sheathe on his shin plate. _/Anyone out there?/_

_ / Nothing save the silence./_ She didn't have to see the tick of his eyebrow to know it was there. _ /The silence that heralds the storm./ _

*T*F*C*

"All I'm sayin'-," Wash looked over his shoulder at his wife as he kicked dirt over a freshly laid line with his boot, "-is we're livin' pretty deep in the rough and tumble, especially these days, and I just don't see that changing anytime soon."

"Nor do I." Zoe agreed, mimicking his actions at the opposite end of the line.

"Well, I'm not sure now is the best time to bring a tiny, little helpless person into our lives." He retorted practically.

"That excuse is gettin' a little worn, honey." Zoe replied dryly.

"It's not an excuse, dear." He said turning to face her and squinting against the sun. "It's subjective assessment. I can't help that it stays relevant."

"I don't give a good gorram about relevant, Wash-," Zoe closed the distance between them, "-and I ain't so afraid of losin' somethin' that I ain't gonna try and have it. You and I would make a beautiful baby-," her tone softened as she placed her hands on his chest, "-and I want to meet that baby one day. Period." She punctuated her statement with a finger jab to his chest and a smile.

"Even if it grows up on a spaceship full of…well, us?" He asked skeptically.

Whatever softness had fallen into Zoe's tone and look dissipated instantly. "Worked fine for me. Unless you think something different." She took a step backwards, her hands planting themselves firmly on her hips; eyes narrowed and lips pursed.

Wash knew that look and he felt his knees tremble in a very unmanly fashion at it. That look said he'd just stepped into a big old pile of _goushi_ and he needed a way out and fast. It was lucky for him that, at that particular moment, Kaylee's voice, followed by Jayne's, reached them both at a pitch and volume that hinted at possible violence in the near future.

"Gorramit!" Zoe swore. "What the Hell is goin' on now?" She took two steps away from him and towards the commotion before she spun back around. "This conversation ain't over." She warned her husband who waited until her back was turned to let his shoulders sag in relief.

It wasn't that Wash didn't want kids; he just didn't think it was in the realm of possibility given the life they led. He worried and lost enough sleep over Zoe as it was; he didn't think his heart could handle the stress over worrying about a pregnant Zoe on a job or a momma Zoe kissing her baby goodbye for the last time. Hell, sometimes he had palpitations over kissing the current non-pregnant, non-momma Zoe goodbye before she went out on a job.

The pilot ran an anxious hand through his sweat-soaked hair as he watched her disappear around the side of the house and he turned something she'd said over in his head. Was he really just too afraid of losing it all? Or was he really being the only rational one of the two of them? Zoe had been raised by people like them and she was absolutely everything to him. Could they raise a little somebody to be like her? The better question was, could he really deny her something she wanted as badly as this? He knew without having to think about it that the answer was no. He just needed a little bit more time to digest what that meant.

*T*F*C*

"Was just kiddin'!" Jayne yelled back inside the utility shed, dodging a screwdriver that was trailed by a stream of obscene Mandarin and a threat to 'Wave his Ma. "You really wanna tell Ma I said that?" The merc balked. "Girl, wasn't even serious!" He ducked at the last second to avoid a projectile that vaguely resembled an old oil can.

"Tank!" Zoe barked. "What the Hell did your dumb ass say now?" She demanded as she stormed towards him. "Really need our mechanic to be focused; clock's ticking. I know you got plenty of work to get done."

"Didn't say nothin'!" Jayne yelled indignantly. "Mighta just suggested somethin' but it was a joke!" He grumbled. "And we took a break ta eat a bit."

"Well, 'pparently you're done eatin', so get the hell back to work." Zoe ordered.

"Been tellin' him to get the hell outta here myself!" A disembodied voice yelled from inside the shed.

Zoe shook her head as she watched Jayne storm away, cussing inaudibly as he kicked at the air. "Sunshine?" She called cautiously as she slowly stepped inside of the shed, alert for anymore possible projectiles.

"What?" A heavily grease-stained face popped out from behind a large mechanical pump of undetermined antiquity.

"Everythin' okay?" The first mate ventured.

"Oh, yeah. Shiny. Super. Ruttin' gorram la-da-dandy da!" She huffed as she blew a strand of hair from her face. "This pump's just older than dirt. Threw that gorram idiot Frankie right the hell out. Boy don't know a switch from a knob. Nevermind it's a billion degrees inside here; I've cut myself, shocked myself, damn near blew myself up at one point but it's just shiny!" She rattled belligerently. "Doin' it for free, too! Ain't that grand? Then he's gotta come in here-," she continued on as she slammed down a tool and yanked a handful of wires from the pump's control panel, "-bein' all sweet, bringin' me a snack. Then he's got to ruin it all by openin' his gorram fat mouth." She huffed as she swiped at the same obstinate strand of hair. "Says to me-," she puffed up her chest and deepened her voice to impersonate Jayne, "-'So's there's this blonde out there and she takes girls and we got credit for the job and all.'"

"He said what?" Zoe balked in disbelief.

"Yeah." She snorted. "Then he's all like, 'Only jokin' unless you think it's an idea.'" She slammed the lid of her tool box down.

"Want me to shoot him?" Zoe offered. "After the job's done of course."

"There's a thought." She snorted.

"Aw, hell, Kaylee, you know you can't hold that man accountable for what falls outta his mouth." She said as she sat herself down on an empty barrel. "You weren't really serious 'bout tellin' Ma that?" She quirked her eyebrow.

Kaylee giggled. "'Course not, didn't have somethin' else to throw at him handy and I needed to say somethin'. God, could you imagine?" She nearly fell over laughing. "Think I'm startin' to go a bit crazy bein' locked up in this shed." She shook herself. "Kinda feel bad, that screwdriver woulda hurt, and I was really aimin' for him that time."

"He ruttin' deserved it. Shoot, my husband'd be missin' a body part if he suggested that to me." Zoe laughed. "How much longer you think you got left on this junk?" She asked after sobering.

"Naught but 'nother hour or two. Maybe a bit more if this beast's got anymore nasty surprises." The mechanic glared unforgivingly at the ancient machinery. "Why?"

"Little over an hour now 'til we lose the light. Wanna have all bodies accounted for and in the main house not long after that."

"So's we're really on the bloody side of sanguine here?"

"'Fraid so." Zoe nodded. "Anna and Rick-," she stuck with cover idents on the off chance a wandering unwelcome ear passed by, "-are taking a first round watch on the rooftop now. Doubt we'll see anything come dark but dawn might bring a different story."

"That soon?" Kaylee asked, with a significantly less amount of trepidation in the question than might have been present in the pre-Jayne era of her life.

"Longer it takes, more worried I'll be." The first mate replied simply as she hefted herself up from the barrel. Her armor, while not entirely foreign to her as it was to some of the others, still encumbered her somewhat and made the task of rising slightly more difficult than it should have been. "If he don't ride in by tomorrow, you can bet solid coin on the fact this ain't gonna be just a little dust-up. Means, most-like, he's rallin' some numbers."

"Seems like an awful lot of trouble over a baby that might not even be his." Kaylee remarked as she got back to work.

"Burgess' gotten too used to folks bendin' a knee and treatin' him like his shit's worth platinum. I reckon we might be the first that's come around and told the man no in a good long time. This is about more'n a kid now."

*T*F*C*

"That ain't nuthin'! Ya'll are pullin', not squeezin' like I said! Come on, you're whores, ya'll should know the difference!"

Mal grimaced as he watched the inaugural class of Cobb's School For Killin' Folk from the upstairs window of Nandi's bedroom. "That man really is a special kind of horrific at times." He shook his head as he set down a rifle and lifted another board to nail across the window.

"They know better than to pay his words any mind." Nandi assured him as she dug through her bureau in her search for a long forgotten case. "So long as he can teach them to hold their own with a gun, he can call them just about anything he likes."

"He's about the best you'll find with one." Mal told her as he hammered the last nail into place.

"Better than Rick?" She asked as she found what she was looking for and removed the somewhat large wooden box from her bottom drawer.

"We all got our specialties-," Mal replied carefully as he crossed to look at the box the Madame had laid out on her bed, "-Rick might be a hell of a fighter but even he'll tell you, if Tank got him in his scope, distance of five yards or a thousand, he'd be eatin' dirt faster than you could spit." He added as he eyed the contents of the box; a handful of guns, all modified and embellished. He picked up a customized .32 with an ivory-embedded grip. "These are fetchin' little pieces-," he remarked in genuine admiration, "-they good for anything 'sides lookin' at?"

"Don't got many rounds for the Chaplain there-," she nodded her chin at the piece Mal was holding, "-but they'll do fine enough." She picked up a larger pistol. "This one's my favorite. A 686 Wesson, six-inch."

"What's its history?" Mal asked curiously as he took the .38 from her, eyeing the brass-plated antiqued modeling with a small twinge of envy; the captain had always had a soft spot for the throwback pieces.

"Violence and crime, sad to say." She smirked slightly. "She's the one who's responsible for mine and Rick's previous meeting."

"Never did get that story." He said as he handed it back.

"Don't suppose you would. He's not much of a talker."

"He has his days." Mal shrugged. "So, how is it you two came to meet?

"How's it anybody comes to meet anybody in this 'Verse?" She replied evasively. "Or how's it that you ain't looked at one of my girls, or boys for that matter, as long and lovin' as you're starin' at these guns?"

Mal only mentally grumbled at the woman's refusal and pointed subject change. "Not interested in complications, here to clean up a mess I feel like I had a bit of a hand in."

"Hand you wouldn't of stuck in if it wasn't for my _mei-mei_." It wasn't a question; the slight inflection held a more teasing quality than curious.

"She's crew. Her people are ours." He replied dismissively, growing more uncomfortable by the second.

"I don't know why Inara left-," Nandi began casually, "-I never thought she would. There were forty women in House Madressa and you could pick her out in a second. Coulda been House Priestess in a few years' time. Everyone said Nayla had her eyes on her as a successor."

"Is that right?" Mal asked.

"It is-," Nandi nodded, "-and Inara had her eyes on it, too, from the very first day she entered training. Some people, like you-," she pointed at him, "-wear their hearts on their sleeves. Whole 'Verse can tell what they're feeling. Inara, she keeps it inside, makes you work for it. It's worth it, Captain, and the way she looks at you tells me she's hoping you think so, too."

"Really don't know what you're talking about." Mal cleared his throat as he shifted his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. "This all the hardware ya'll got?" He tried to redirect the topic of conversation.

Nandi concealed her disappointment in his not-so-subtle subject change. "Got another rifle or two, but this is pretty much The Heart of Gold's arsenal."

Mal let his eyes run across the scant conglomeration of weapons. "Sorry to hear it, was hopin' for a bit more, but we got a fair share ourselves we can make do with. Lucky you caught us fresh off a big money job and restock. We'd'a crossed paths a few months ago and I don't think I woulda had the stores to pull this off."

"Fate isn't always as cruel a mistress as she seems." The Madame remarked with wry humor. "Brought my _mei-mei _to your ship and, in consequence, you to us when we needed it. I am grateful, Captain." She told him. "For what it's worth, your many secrets _are_ safe with me. I should check on Petaline if you'll excuse me." She dipped her head slightly and exited the room carrying her gun case and leaving the captain to his thoughts.

Mal dropped down onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair. The woman had to be wrong. Inara had never looked at him with anything but disdain and contempt until recently and those two emotions still hung around; only now it was intermittent with what he thought was amusement. Laughing at him wasn't all that large of a step away from contempt. At least he wasn't just a petty crook in her eyes anymore; he didn't think so anyway. Would she have agreed to be crew if she thought they were just petty crooks? Her opinion of him had to be improving but as much as Nandi insisted, he doubted. Inara did consider the woman a sister though; did women talk about things like that with their sisters?

It occurred to him then that he did have a mind-reader on his crew and, while he didn't think she'd give up the information easily, he thought enough bars of chocolate could do the trick. She did say the only one whose secrets couldn't be bought were Riddick's. The only question was; was he really ready to admit out loud to another person what he'd barely allowed himself the opportunity to consider in his own head? In the end, he figured it didn't make a difference. River probably knew it all anyway better than he did. He decided after only another minute's consideration, he would get through this job and once they were safely back in the Black, he'd ask. It'd be a lot harder for Inara to run if they were a billion kilometers from nowhere. Then, he reasoned, worst case scenario, he could just lock down her shuttle if she tried to run.

*T*F*C*

Riddick and River took several wide circles around the settlement of Burgess Hill before stashing the hovercycle a kilometer west of it and heading in on foot. Despite Mal's orders of maintaining full gear, both the convict and reader had stripped down solely to their bodysuits and bracers which held their comms. and limited their weapons to an assortment of blades. The weight reduction alone allowing for stealthier movements than the cumbersome equipment would have.

Burgess Hill was as unremarkable as any other border town they'd come across; dusty streets and clapboard buildings, sun-bleached and weather worn, held together at the seams by sheer defiance of the natural order. The settlement wasn't quite large enough to be called a city and had nowhere near the tech of one either; it was, however, larger than your average town and boasted its own comm. dish as well as a full-service docking station.

River didn't need to be a Reader, however, to determine the mindset of the town. Nearly every storefront or business boasted the name Burgess and while Rance might not have been the Law in town per say, he owned enough of it to be considered so. They kept their own route, ignoring fences and buildings as the insignificant obstacles they were, and came to a halt in the darkened alleyway between Burgess's operations building and the magistrate's office.

"Population: fifteen hundred, sixty-five. Fifty-four percent is male. Local security force numbered at sixty-three, supplemented by an additional fifteen of Rance Burgess's own private security. The ground is poisoned by self-serving moral righteousness." River's features twisted slightly. "It oozes from their pores. We will find no quarter here. They will make themselves blind to not feel his wrath."

"Whole town versus _Serenity."_ Riddick smirked as he leaned against the wall of the alleyway. "Sounds like fun."

"Their loyalty only runs as deep as his pockets. They will fight because he pays but they will run because they will not die." River added, as her eyes ticked rapidly.

"He home?" He asked and, off of River's annoyed glare, added, "What?"

"He has not yet committed the crime."

"Not the one we're here for." Riddick shrugged.

"Conceded, but not valid." River acknowledged reluctantly. "Intention and thought have not yet evolved to action. There is always a choice."

"Mal always wants a fucking shoot-out. Always one last stand. We hang back, slip into his house tonight? No casualties but him; in and out, nice, quiet and clean."

"Repetition is irksome." She rolled her eyes at him. "We have orders." River reminded him.

A somewhat irritated, guttural noise built itself in Riddick's chest before he exhaled it in a contemptuous snort but he dropped the topic for the moment and settled himself more comfortably against the wall. He wasn't entirely sure whether to be annoyed by the fact that his role was currently regulated to glorified bodyguard while River sifted through the collective mental-fabric of the settlement or if he should have been reassured of their success thanks to the range of her abilities. Following orders was beginning to grate on the man, just as saving Mal's ass constantly was. He ignored the look River shot him as the thought passed through his mind, though he did allow himself to indulge in a brief fantasy of mutiny aboard _Serenity._

Riddick could make out several distinct vague murmurs through the wall he leaned against but not enough of the sounds pieced together to make any kind of real sense to him. He counted off the different tones to figure the number and waited for River to fill in the blanks.

"You have become complacent." River murmured.

"Fuck you, too." He snorted as he twirled one of her stilettos between his fingers.

She glared at him, more over his possession of one of her blades than the remark. "I am finished here." She scowled.

His lips twitched as he tracked the line of her glare to the blade in his hands. "Hide your shit better." He resisted the urge to blatantly laugh at her responding look as he turned back into the shadows.

*T*F*C*

Mal was sitting on the ramp of _Serenity_ as River and Riddick pulled into her bay. "Anything useful?" He asked as he crossed to meet them; choosing to ignore their disregard of the crew's current mandatory dress code to save himself yet another argument he would undoubtedly lose.

"We have two dawns." River informed him as she slid off the back of the bike. "He is attempting to rally a force which cannot be denied."

"Who's he callin' in?" Mal asked next.

"Anyone who will answer." She replied. "There are rumors, though nothing concrete. The only that have answered thus far are those well below our standard."

"That arrogance or truth?" He asked her with a cheeky grin.

"Both." She shrugged unapologetically.

He couldn't help but chuckle slightly at that.

"We'll go back out tomorrow night." Riddick added. "Whoever's coming for the party will be there by then. Get a better idea about the numbers we're looking at. Docking yard was half full, nothing impressive. Rim crap." He said dismissively.

"Girl ain't made a move yet." Mal remarked, referring to Chari. "Been hoverin' over the Doc and Petaline though and, when she's not, she's peekin' 'round the rest of the crew."

River's head ticked to the right and her eyes took on the familiar glaze of searching. "She has intention." She paused as her head snapped back to rights. "We need to give her opportunity." It was then she noticed the odd sort of jittery energy which seemed to pulsate from the captain's skin. His usual aura of cocky assurance was almost entirely absent and she let _The River_ bleed through the cracks of his metaphorical armor to trace the source of his distress.

"Anybody see you?" Mal asked, and neither River nor Riddick chose to dignify that with a response. "Right…"

"You gonna leave the ship right here in the yard?" Riddick asked.

"We'll move 'er tomorrow night. Keep her up the sleeve since our Ace is gonna be in the thick of things." He replied as he headed for the access door. "Stay on the ship for the night, don't need anybody gettin' too familiar with either one of your faces."

"Your anxieties are ill-founded." River informed him, just before he opened the hatch access door to head back up to the main house.

"On what course?" He asked hesitatingly, unsure as to whether or not she meant her and Riddick getting ID'ed or his own almost obsessive thoughts over their resident Ambassador.

"The one that matters most." She replied sagely.

Mal ran an uneasy hand through his already well-tousled hair and gave her a brief nod before dipping out the door.

"What was that about?" Riddick asked after he had gone.

River merely frowned. "He would have paid well."

"Paid for what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Information." She replied as though it should have been obvious.

Riddick opened his mouth, but abruptly snapped it closed; the retort on the tip of his tongue dying before it had even formed into a sound. It was absolutely useless to try and pull coherency from her when she was hell bent on being vague and cryptic. "Hungry?" He asked instead.

"Ravenous." She replied.

Endnote: Yes, that was a quote from Eric Draven/Brandon Lee in Crow; _Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children._ I've always loved that movie and I thought that was an amazing line for the scene.


	82. Heart of Gold IV

Day came to Calliope as Delphi, the small moon's orbital anchor hung above the southern horizon, while Himinbjorg the protostar, lit up the northern; paling the distant medium-sized yellow sun which crept along above the eastern. Rays of light reflected off the solar sheeted walls of the brothel and gleamed across the more modest grey metal of _Serenity_. The natural light filtering in through the forward viewport only served to highlight the deep purple bruises under River's eyes from lack of sleep as she sat on the bridge with Wash and Zoe.

"So you're really okay with this?" Wash asked, abandoning any attempt he had been making at subtlety as he swiveled in his chair to face River.

"Baby." Zoe shot him a dark look.

"What?" He shrugged clueless.

"I am fine." River replied with an eye roll.

"Are you really?" Wash pressed. "I mean, if we were flyin' in to rescue one of Zoe's old flames, I'd be-," he hesitated on his wife's increasingly dangerously glare, "-I'd be first in line." He finished with a flourish. "Yes, ma'am, I would." He nodded perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

"Are you tryin' to give her a complex?" Zoe asked archly.

River frowned. "The whore is disposable. She could kill her and he would not stop her. He would be disturbed if I were to die. There is no comparison."

"Well, that's a morbid way of looking at it." Wash replied.

River merely shrugged, but after a moment she looked up to ask Zoe, "Am I wrong?"

"No, sweetie, you're not." Zoe told her gently. "Don't listen to a thing that man says." She shot her husband another look. "If he doesn't care if you kill her, she don't mean much." She paused, realizing the oddness of the current conversation but, resigning herself to it, she added, "Riddick would kill any man that even _thought_ about coming after you."

"Probably in some really twisted and drawn out, painful, Niska type of way." Wash added with a snort.

"Your willingness to reference your monster in a humorous diversion signifies that you are compartmentalizing. You should be pleased." River smiled at him.

Wash merely quirked an eyebrow. "Sure." He forced a chuckle.

"I should not have announced it." River frowned deeply, chastising herself once more on remarking on emotional climates. "You're regressing even now."

"Well, thanks for the play-by-play on my mental state, but weren't we talking about you?" He changed the subject pointedly.

"Are her diversionary tactics that transparent?" River sighed.

"Crystal clear." Zoe chuckled. "You know, Riv, it's perfectly sane to be jealous."

"If she is not?"

"What? Sane or jealous?" Wash asked a little confused.

"Jealous." She clarified nervously as she twisted her hands in her lap.

"You're not jealous?" Zoe asked. "Really? Not at all?"

"Who's giving her a complex now?" Wash laughed at her.

"It is a nonissue." River shook herself and straightened her shoulders. "She was merely convenient sexual gratification."

"Okay, if you're so alright with this how come you haven't slept?" Wash challenged.

"There are far uglier things in the realm of unconscious surreality." River replied quietly.

"Don't even think of playin' the crazy card right now, little girl." Zoe shook her head.

River frowned at them. "Your observational skills are increasingly irritating."

"Hey-," Zoe held up her hands in mock defense, "-you're the one that spilled the beans on that on Haven."

"It was not a confession." River reminded them.

"Might as well have been." Wash teased, but his expression turned serious quickly. "Really now, how come you're not sleeping?"

"Drop it." Riddick's rough voice came from behind them as the convict loomed in the doorway and River seized the distraction to leap out of her chair and duck beneath one of his arms. He lowered it from the frame to drop it across her shoulders. "You still see Niska when you close your eyes-," his voice trembled with warning first to Wash and then Zoe, "-and I'd lay coin on you seeing the valley. What the _**fuck**_ do you think she sees?" He didn't wait for an answer as he turned them and headed off the bridge.

"I do believe that was an _ask-her-again-and-I'll-beat-you-to-death-with-your-own-arms_ tone." Wash said to his wife after Riddick's footsteps disappeared from his range of hearing.

"Somebody's got to ask her." Zoe glared at the empty space the two had momentarily occupied. "That shit festers when left."

"Dreams aren't that bad anymore." Wash said quietly as he fiddled with a knob.

Zoe's look softened as she turned her head to regard her husband. "Man's dead, baby, ain't no reason for him to still be inside your head." She cradled his face in her hands and kissed his forehead sweetly.

"Yeah, only 'cause she killed him." He pulled away from her slightly to rub his hands across his face. "God, hearing her scream at night, it kills me. She saves us all the time and there's nothing I can do to help her, or any of us."

"_Xu jintian_ (Hush now)-," Zoe chastised him, "-every night you sit up here with her you help her. Every time you make her laugh instead of leavin' her inside her head alone, you help. You keep doin' just that. All kinds of ways to save people, baby. You saved me, didn't you?" She smiled down at him and gave him another kiss.

"Poor Mr. Beasley." Wash shook his head, forcing his usual cheerfulness back into his voice, even if it was only for his wife's benefit. "A casualty of battle whose worthy sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Zoe chuckled as she took her husband's chin in hand. "That's my man."

*T*F*C*

"This is an order, ain't a request." Mal bit off tersely as he followed Inara up the staircase inside The Heart of Gold.

"I'm not entirely useless!" She snapped back in a harsh whisper.

"And I ain't sayin' you are. I'm sayin' I need an extra pilot." He insisted.

"I am not going to hide away from the danger I brought on our crew." She hissed, halting her step and turning on her heel to face him.

"It ain't hidin', you _jiang _(stubborn) woman!" Mal matched her tone while he tried to fight back the irrational surge of pride hearing her say 'our crew' caused to fill his chest.

"Just admit it; you don't think I can handle myself in a fight." She challenged.

"That ain't it at all." He argued.

"Then what? What is it?" She insisted.

The captain ran a frustrated hand through his hair, a huff of air escaping through his nostrils. "Gorramit, woman! Why's it always gotta be a fight with you?"

"You're avoiding the question." She replied plainly, as her eyes narrowed and her hands came to a rest on her hips.

He took a step closer. "Just for once since we met, follow a gorram order." He almost pleaded.

Her lips twisted upwards in a coy smile. "Now, Ruddy, what kind of wife would I be if I followed orders?"

"'Na-Hope." He exhaled deeply in frustration, turning in an aimless circle as if the answer to his problems would sudden appear in from thin air.

Inara matched his sigh with one of her own; the only difference hers was filled with irritation. "I'll do it, Mal." She continued on before he could reply. "I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for Petaline."

"What in the ruttin' hell do you think this whole mess is about?" He retorted incredulously. "Do you really think I'd risk sending _you_ out there alone if I thought there was another way?"

"Why did you say it like that?" She demanded.

"Huh?" He asked confused, running his hand through his hair and a bit surprised he had any left at all given the frequency he now found himself repeating the frustrated gesture.

"You. You said 'you' funny." She insisted.

"Aw hell, 'Nara." He threw his hands back up in the air as he silently cursed himself for letting her name slip. However, River's assurances rolled around the back of his mind, and with them he steeled his resolve. "You know damn well why." He told her, holding her gaze. "But now ain't the time to dance around this like we do."

"Ma-," Inara words died before his name completely left her lips. She was not at all prepared to have this conversation with him.

"Don't. Just don't." He told her firmly. "Figure out what it is you ruttin' want and let me know. 'Cause I sure as hell ain't got the faintest." He didn't give her a chance to argue; he turned on his heel immediately and headed down the stairs.

_If I knew what that was, Malcolm, I would have never stepped foot on your ship. _ She thought to herself.

"Don't be a gorram fool." Nandi appeared from seemingly nowhere.

"Nandi." It was a plea. "Not now please."

"Somebody needs to crack some sense into that stubborn head of yours." She shook her head. "Thought you left the House to be your own woman; to make your own way." Nandi, much like Mal didn't give her a chance to defend herself. "Well, there's a damn fine man standing right in your way and your stubborn self keeps trying to step around him. Love ain't the fairytale they made us believe."

Inara opened her mouth to argue but, rather than words, released a long slow exhale. "Was everything they taught a lie?" She asked, refusing to meet the older woman's eyes.

"Not everything." Nandi shook her head as she wrapped her arm around Inara's waist. "Just the stuff that counted." She let a smile play around her lips. "You ready to admit you missed me yet?" She teased.

"Not at all." Inara laughed lightly.

"Liar." Nandi laughed with her.

*T*F*C*

"_Hey there_." The words dripped off the redheaded whore's lips like warm honey; a greeting, invitation, and promise, rolled into two syllables drawled together in such a way it made them one.

Riddick pointedly ignored her. "We got a problem." He informed Mal and Jayne, who sat at the bar finishing their lunch. He didn't wait for the redhead to open her mouth again or even for Mal and Jayne to acknowledge his statement before he walked back out and into the afternoon sun.

The captain and merc exchanged a cautious look before rising; Jayne quickly shoving the last bit of his sandwich into his mouth before abandoning his plate and following the convict out the door. They walked out to the clapboard fence where Riddick was seated; his back to the desert and facing the brothel.

"What's the problem now?" Mal asked, almost afraid to do so.

"Over my left shoulder, there's a glint of metal. They're tucked in on a rise but they're upwind; smells like two." He informed them causally.

Both Jayne and the captain let their peripherals drift; Jayne's sharper sniper eyes catching what Mal still couldn't see. However, Mal was smart enough to take their word for it.

"We're bein' staked out." Jayne growled. "Ain't a big surprise."

"Mal?" Riddick pressed expectantly.

The captain turn to lean his back against the fence Riddick sat on. Rance wanted to know how big their bite was and it took Mal a lot less time than he was comfortable with to figure his course. "Send a message." He ordered; the finality of his tone sending a clear message in and of itself.

"What kinda message we talkin', Cap?" Jayne asked, just to make sure he understood his captain completely as a malicious grin slowly curled around his lips.

"That's what I pay my public relations team for, ain't it?"

"I reckon so." Jayne chuckled.

"See it done then." Mal ordered as he turned and stalked back towards the ship to find Zoe.

"How you want to play this?" Jayne asked. "Split it down the middle? You get one, I get one?"

"Find yourself a clear line of sight. I'll get him to stand." Riddick offered, taking the merc's penchant for sniper shots in mind. "I got a few ideas."

"Vera it is." Jayne grinned gleefully as he tapped his earpiece. "I'm on four. I'll letcha know when I got my sight line." He said before heading off.

_/River./_ Riddick thought as he slid off the fence.

_/It takes five seconds to breathe. Two to inhale, three to exhale; more than twenty-three thousand complete cycles in one day, moving approximately twelve cubic meters of air. I have seen many last breathes; never have I seen a first./_

_ /Really don't have time for this right now./_

_/Simon has seen a first./_ River replied, the tone of her mental words unfazed by the harshness of his rebuke. _/ He is life and I am death. A savior and a killer./_

_ /You in the game?/ _He asked impatiently as he walked around behind the brothel, shielding himself from the line-of-sight of their watchers.

_/The question becomes irritating./_

_ /Can't help if it's valid, girl./ _

_ /It no longer is. She will always be crazy, damaged... morbidly whimsical, as Sunshine thinks it. Where you see three dimensionally, she will always see several more./ _

_ /Not even gonna bother. Get your ass down here. We're taking a walk./_ The thought itself was a punctuation point on the conversation. He hadn't planned on taking her but giving her a purpose, as opposed to letting her brain twist itself into knots he'd just have to sort out later, seemed like the much better idea; especially if she got a peep inside their heads to see what Rance had been up to since they'd vacated town last night. He shed his torso plate and his shinguards and stowed them beneath the back porch, while he waited for her arrival, preferring stealth and speed over defense.

"You will require a thinner blade." River informed him as she slipped out the back door, begrudgingly holding out the stiletto she had reclaimed from him last night. "Your penchant for theatrics is borderline sadistic." She informed him without the faintest trace of reproach as she shed her own armor in the same fashion he had and stowed it alongside his beneath the porch.

"Thought blinding eyes was your specialty?" He spun the thin blade between his fingers.

"It is."

"Then we got work to do."

*T*F*C*

"Anythin' yet, Bobby?" Harry, a scraggly middle-aged man with fewer teeth in his head than toes and fingers, asked as he lay on his back and sipped whiskey from his flask.

"Nah, ain't nobody movin' round really in the yard. Don't see what all the fuss is. Ship ain't even got guns on her." Bobby replied as he lowered his binoculars. "How the hell long we supposed to wait out here anyhow?"

"Shit, rather be out here than 'round Burgess right now. Crazy bastard's got a bug up his lily-white, rich ass." He retorted.

"Don't see why's he's all riled 'bout a kid that might not even be his. Hell, I'll sell 'im my youngest for less coin than what he's throwin' 'round. Got more'n a few I can spare." Bobby snorted as he traded the binoculars for the flask and Harry rolled back onto his stomach.

"You don't even know if half of 'em is yours anyhow." He grunted.

"Oh, fuck you." Bobby snapped.

"What ya get for marryin' a whore." Harry chuckled.

"She _used_ to be a whore. She ain't no more."

"Keep tellin' yerself that, kid."

"Ya know, there's a reason nobody likes you." Bobby glared at him as he belly-crawled backwards down the side of the rise.

"Where the hell ya goin'?"

"To take a ruttin' piss." Bobby shot back.

Harry grunted in acknowledgment and went back to the view in his binoculars; magnifying in on the second story windows, hoping for a flash of skin between the rotten boards they'd used to barricade them.

"Boo!"

Harry flipped over onto his back and scrambled to his feet, yanking free his sidearm at the sound of the teasing, feminine voice. His eyes locked with his own miniature reflection in a pair of mirrored goggles, only briefly registering a struggling Bobby trying to break free from an iron clad headlock. The girl beside them giggled and the sound tingled down his spine; it was the last sound he ever heard before a 7.62mm brass cartridge pierced his skull from six hundred yards.

"Oh… God." Bobby choked out around Riddick's muscled arm as the convict held him.

Riddick threw his head back and barked out a raspy chuckle. "Not even close."

"Don't kill me." Bobby pleaded. "I… I got kids…this was just a job."

River tilted her head as she regarded the young man. "I just wanted to dance." She informed him, her eyes ticking rapidly but her expression otherwise void. She shook herself and nodded at Riddick.

"Need you to take a message to your boss." Riddick rumbled close to Bobby's ear as he reached back behind him with his free arm to unsheathe one of his ulaks.

"Six hundred yards or six centimeters-," River giggled as the tip of Riddick's claw pierced skin just to the left of Bobby's spine, fourth lumbar down, "-Death is the absolute." The serrated edge of Riddick's blade shredded through the abdominal aorta as he ripped upward and released his hold on the man, shoving his bleeding body forward and into the dirt.

The dying man let loose a few feeble sobs as he vainly struggled to crawl away with his lifeblood spilling forth in a torrent from the gash in his back while his killers watched as though it were a vid-show. Soon, Bobby's death throes came to a feeble end.

"It's a gusher." River commented as Riddick wiped his blade clean on his thigh; another giggle slipped from a shadow inside her mind and she forced herself to tear her gaze from the rapidly pooling crimson which blossomed in the tawny sand. "Dead men sing prettily enough."

_"Don't want to hear shit about finesse."_ Jayne chuckled over the comm.

"I fucking bleed finesse." Riddick retorted as he toed over the body and crouched down in front of it.

_"All over the fucking desert. One hell of a message."_

"Not done yet." River answered for Riddick as she watched her stiletto dance between his skilled fingers with rapt fascination.

*T*F*C*

"Bit." Mal acknowledged River's sudden appearance next to him with a slight nod. "It done then?" He asked.

"It is." River nodded.

"Where's my PR's? They send you to brief me so I wouldn't kill them?" He asked humorlessly.

"You yielded to their profession opinion." River pointed out.

"Know I did." He replied quietly. "Learn anything useful?" He asked, looking at her for the first time and attempting to ignore a faint speckling of blood across her exposed neck.

"Green Dragon and Triad factions are confirmed. Independent mercenaries and various undesirables." River frowned slightly. "As of now, forty is a generous estimate." She added somewhat uneasily.

"Why'd that last bit sound funny?" He let his lips quirk a little.

"There are unsubstantiated rumors of a Rykengoll scouter ship."

"Ha!" Mal barked out a sarcastic laugh. "'Course there ruttin' is." He added bitterly.

"You are thinking loudly." The Reader remarked almost causally as she lifted herself up to take a seat on the fence rail beside him.

"I'll work on that." He drawled.

"You drew a line." She replied pointedly. "It was him that crossed it."

"Wasn't our business to draw the line. People are gonna die because of it." He held her eyes. "Few already have."

"There comes a time when one decides whether to be hung or wield the hammer."

"What I say about that quotin' thing?"

"It is a truth you need to be reminded of." She replied sagely.

"Truth?" He shook his head. "Truth is, Bit, hammer's heavier than the cross. They left that part outta the stories."

"You wouldn't deserve to wield it if you didn't think so."

"Make it sound like a privilege." He retorted bitterly.

"It was not her intention." River exhaled deeply and let her gaze wander. "It is a burden. Blood never washes away." She lifted her own hands and held them in front of her face, letting her fingers dance in the air. "Riddick believes there is nothing wrong with being a killer."

"And you?" He looked at her expectantly, not entirely sure he even wanted an answer at all.

"There is no sin in survival." She answered plainly as she lowered her hands.

"Doesn't that make us like them?" He asked the girl half his age.

"It makes us alive."

"Suppose it does." He replied with a long exhale.

River let the silence between them remain as she trained her gaze on the horizon and allowed him to lose himself to his thoughts. He thought on faces that no longer had voices, and names carved into stone, and walls of corpses he'd built to not become one of the bricks himself. She didn't need to look at him to know he stared at his hands, seeing only the stain of death in the cracks and lines etched into his calloused palms.

"It ain't the killin' that bothers me. Always did what had to be done. It's the fact it comes so easy these days." He broke the silence after several long moments.

"You are not alone in that." She replied quietly. "I do not wish to become…"

"Like Riddick?" He finished for her.

"Callous." She corrected with a narrowing of her eyes. "It should be hard." She managed as she twisted her fingers together. What she wanted to say was, _I shouldn't enjoy it. _ "But I find it is not." _But I do._

"Awful lucid right now." He remarked, oblivious to her internal thoughts.

River growled low in her throat. "That is not the compliment everyone seems to believe it is."

Mal chuckled. "Didn't mean it as one. Just an observation, Bit." He ran a hand across his face roughly.

"Purpose breeds clarity." Her gaze wandered to the window belonging to Petaline's bedroom.

The captain followed her line of vision. "Couldn't let that man do it."

"No, you couldn't." She nodded slightly. "There is a difference between a killer and a hero, Daddy."

"Hero's just another name for a person that gets other people dead. They're the same damn thing." The bitterness was back and heavier before in his tone. "Even if they weren't, I ain't a hero anymore, Bit. Just a crook, that's all. Turned in my hero card on Hera."

"You believe your God abandoned you. Why do you care for his version of morality?" She asked, genuinely curious.

"Not his. Just bothers me I don't know what mine is anymore." He replied honestly.

*T*F*C*

"The house is as secure as its going to get." Book informed Mal as they, along with Kaylee, Zoe, Jayne, Wash, and Riddick sat around the bar in the parlor, several sheets of hand-drawn layouts provided by River scattered among them. They were all more than aware of the set of ears not far to their left by the large fireplace and the thin blonde they belonged to. "Tank handed out positions to them earlier; morale could be better but I'd say we're as prepared as we can be."

"Water and power's as good as it's gonna get too." Kaylee added. "I got some barrels of water out around the shed, just in case, and the hose is hooked directly to the pump."

"We'll have to sandbag, for cover, around it." Zoe pointed out. "Aside from that though, the perimeter's laid. Just try and keep these idiots from walkin' about. That girl Emma nearly got herself a broken kneecap earlier."

"Browncoat markers?" Riddick looked up from the yard layout.

"Not quite but close enough." She gave a vague shrug.

"Old habits die hard." Mal mimicked her shrug.

"Or get you killed." Riddick countered.

"I'll be taking the ship out to the canyon east of here soon as I have enough dark for cover." Wash interrupted before the debate could get heated. "Can't afford any damage."

"Ya'll talk like this ain't nuthin' for you." A deceptively sweet voice asked and the crew turned collectively to regard none other than Chari.

"It ain't. I've shit out meaner turds than this Rance fella." Jayne blew a cloud of cigar smoke at the whore. "We lookin' to keep more than just a rooftop post?" He dismissed her entirely as he looked back at the captain.

"One on the roof, one on the ship scanners." Mal replied casually. "Scanners will give us a more'n decent radius."

"And what's that?" Chari asked.

"Ain't you just full of questions?" Kaylee retorted.

"Always been a curious one." Chari shrugged nervously.

"Curiosity killed the whore." Riddick's graveled voice was rougher than usual and yet, at the same time, almost indifferent.

"Really don't think that's the way that one goes." Mal scrunched his brow. "Pretty sure it was a cat."

"Pussy's a pussy." Jayne chortled.

"Saw that coming." Wash rolled his eyes.

"Really, Tank?" Zoe glared at him. "Can you be anymore horrific than you are?"

"Could give it a shot." He shrugged.

Chari shifted her weight, uncertain if they had forgotten her presence and unsure of the wisdom of pressing her question again. Wisely, or so she thought, she decided to press a different one. "Are you all mercs then? Do ya run with one of them Guilds? "

The only reply she received to her inquiry was a collective rush of barking laughter.

"Whew." Mal wiped a bit of wetness from the corner of his eye as he collected himself. "Let's get a move on, people, still got work to be done 'fore we lose the daylight and we need to move all our arms off the ship and prep 'em." The crew rose, albeit with a few begrudging remarks, still pointedly ignoring Chari and headed out together back towards the ship.

"So that's Chari?" Zoe said as soon as they were out of earshot. "Girl coulda been a little less obvious."

"Know she ain't quite up to 'Nara's standards but you'd think she'd have a trace of some kinda wiles." Mal agreed.

"Almost insultin' really." Jayne snorted.

"You left those sheets out, right?" Mal asked Book.

Book nodded. "Let's hope she takes the bait."

*T*F*C*

Milo Turner did not consider himself a soft man; it wasn't Rance that had made him hard, however, it was merely a side effect of growing up an orphan on the Rim. He and his sister had been on their own for nearly a decade before what had once been Jordan's Rest became Burgess Hill and five years later, when Rance asked for Belinda's hand, they thought their troubles were over; for a time, they had been. They had gone from living off stale bread and canned beans to feasting on fresh fruits and meats nearly over night.

It was only now, eighteen years later, that Milo began to wonder if perhaps they would have been better off sticking with the beans. His stomach rolled, threatening to force its way up his throat and out past his lips as he stared at the pair of horses that had been rounded up just outside of town. A rag over his mouth to block out the smell, he lifted the first rider's head by the hair; the second didn't have much of a skull left to identify it by.

"_Duh liou mahng_ (son of a bitch)." He swore quietly as Bobby's empty eye sockets stared back at him. "Where the fuck are his eyes?" He demanded.

"Same here." Riley, Milo's own right hand grimaced as he turned the head of who they assumed was Harry. The skull was severely mangled, a sniper shot probably, but the missing eyeballs were still blatantly obvious despite it.

Milo swallowed back the bile that had crept its way up and built in his mouth as he released Bobby's head and stepped back, trying and failing to escape the smell of the sun-baked corpse. The body slid off the horse, collapsing into a stiff heap on its back; the black, bloody holes where his eyes should have been stared up at Milo accusingly but it wasn't the empty sockets that caught his attention. The word 'NO' had been carved crudely into the center of Bobby's chest; lines that would have been clean and neat if they hadn't been thickened by multiple strokes of the blade.

"Flip Harry." He ordered, his voice thick in his throat.

Riley complied wordlessly and shoved the second corpse of the horse with as little ceremony and touching as was possible. He toed him over to his back using his boot to reveal the word 'PEEKING'.

"_Ke ai de muqin shen_ (Sweet mother of God)." Riley breathed, covering his mouth and forcing back the chucks of ham he'd eaten for lunch which threatened to come back up on him. "What kind of fucking _feng le_ (crazy), twisted fuck carves on dead people?" He asked, not really expecting the answer.

"The kind Rance has picked a fight with." Milo answered with a grimace, regardless of the rhetorical nature of the question. "Close kill and a sniper kill... they're fucking with our heads." He added uneasily.

"Yeah, well, its fucking working. Who the fuck are these people?" Riley stammered.

"Sanguine." Milo replied, having difficulty looking away from the two bodies. "Captain's name was Sanguine."

"Why's it they're hell bent on defendin' the whorehouse?" Riley demanded next, his voice lilting.

"Old friends of Nandi's, from what I figure." Milo answered on reflex, his mind wasn't quite focusing on the questions entirely as the eyeless voids of his friends still held his rapt attention. "Riley, get these bodies out of here." He ordered as he looked around. "Don't need these spookin' the hired help." He added as he cleared his throat.

"Well, they've fuckin' spooked me. I ain't ridin' 'gainst this!" He flailed his arm out towards the corpses. "Fuck that, and fuck Rance. Don't even know if the kid's his!" He added, nearly hysterically. "I didn't sign up to fight against psychos and I sure as hell didn't sign up to fight for one."

"Fuck me?" A calm, cold voice spoke up from behind them, freezing Riley in his spot. "Is that how you really feel, Riley?"

"Boss." Milo nodded turning.

"These the scouts we sent?" Rance asked, stepping around Riley and ignoring the younger man, a fact that didn't ease Riley's mind in the least.

"Yes, sir." Milo swallowed and nodded again.

Rance stared at the bodies for a long moment before speaking again. "Get them out of here before anybody else sees them." He ordered to Riley.

"Yes, sir." Riley nodded quickly, more than grateful to have a reason to get out of his Boss's immediate eyesight. "I'll just fetch a wagon."

"He lives through tomorrow-," Rance informed Milo after Riley ducked out of the barn, "-kill him once we're done."

"Boss?" Milo stammered, taking a step back.

"You heard me, Milo." Rance replied harshly as he turned on his heel and headed back inside.

*T*F*C*

"Doctor?" Nandi asked breathlessly as she hurried into Petaline's bedroom, Inara just a step behind her as they brushed past Chari, who was hovering in the doorway.

"It's starting." Simon nodded, only glancing up briefly from his watch. "Petaline, I need you to keep breathing. Be strong." He told her strictly but gently.

"Oh, Doc, it hurts!" Petaline panted between breaths, eagerly grabbing Nandi's hand.

"I know, I know, but this is only the beginning and it's too soon to give you anything for the pain."

"You know?" Petaline shot back angrily. "Just tell me Doc, how the hell you think you know what this feels like?" She demanded.

"Well, I uh… I was speaking strictly… that's to say I can only imagine…" Simon stammered.

"Do yourself a favor, Doc, go on downstairs and get yourself a cup of coffee. This is gonna be a long night." Nandi rescued him with a poorly restrained laugh.

"I'll do that." Simon nodded gratefully but was stopped by Chari just outside the door.

"She okay, Doc?" The blonde asked.

"As well as can be expected." Simon replied with a false smile as he placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her away from the door, closing it firmly behind him. "First time deliveries can be unpredictable so you should let her rest while she can."

"Sure thing, Doc, I just wanted to make sure the baby was okay so far." She feigned a yawn. "I was off to bed anyhow. Ya know, big shoot-out and all tomorrow." She stopped in front of her door. "You think the baby will beat Rance out?"

"It's hard to tell right now." Simon answered honestly.

"But she's really in labor, right?" Chari asked, perhaps a bit too anxiously. "This ain't like that fake labor right?"

"She's really in labor." Simon assured her, repressing the urge to roll his eyes; even without River, he thought the crew would have realized something wasn't right with the blonde.

"You take good care of that baby then." Chari smiled at him, the expression dripping of insincerity.

Simon waited for her door to close and the faint sound of ruffling to begin behind it before he quietly turned back around and entered the room directly next to Petaline's.

"If we are going to move her it needs to be soon." Simon informed his sister and Riddick, averting his eyes to look at his watch rather than the couple whose limbs were tangled together on the large bed.

"She is gathering her courage as we speak." River replied as she sat up and leaned her ear against the wall as if she could hear the girl two rooms away and Simon supposed, in a way, she could; though he had to wonder as to why she even bothered to put her ear to the wall at all.

"And you're sure he'll send her back?" The doctor pressed.

"If he doesn't, that's what the phony layouts were for." Riddick shrugged.

"Either way the rat moves for the cheese and snap!" River giggled as she mimicked a rat trap snapping closed with her hands. "Greed is the fall of man."

"Thought we were talking about rats?" Riddick looked up at her as he propped his back up against the headboard.

"You know what she means." River narrowed her eyes.

"She or I?" Riddick pushed.

"Fuck you." She huffed at him.

"Got close." He smirked at her.

"And on that note-," Simon cleared his throat to remind them of his presence, "-I will inform the captain." He said uncomfortably and, as quickly as possible, ducked back out of the room.

*T*F*C*

River and Riddick gave Chari a twenty minute lead before dipping out into the darkness a few hours post-dusk to trail her. The two moons which shared Delphi as their anchor were full and a quarter, respectively, and the night sky near cloudless; lighting up the desert near enough to full daylight for the Furyan. They moved on foot, following the stench cloud her perfume left behind that might as well have been a line of neon arrows lighting up the trail. Neither spoke, verbally nor mentally, at such times as these they felt no need for conversation; instead they traveled together in tandem. River's smaller steps falling into the convict's and leaving behind a trail of one rather than two as they moved at what they both considered to be a mind-numbingly slow pace to keep their distance.

The air was hot and dry; the ghost of the day's heat was still present in the sand and chased up the scent of the creatures which lived just below ground. It was quiet, nearly still as only a desert could be, the languid silence broken only occasionally by the tumbling of a rock or the howl of a wild dog. Riddick shutdown his mind and allowed his instincts to take over. Tracking the young whore was nothing, a task which he could have completed with his eyes closed and both hands behind his back but it felt good to lose himself in a scent trail; to give in to the hunt, regardless of the lack thereof of a challenge in his quarry.

It was over too soon as they came within the sight of borders of Burgess Hill and Riddick found himself mildly disappointed by the fact. The conflict of the earlier afternoon was nothing more than a tease, a brief taste of what his life had once been; a feast of violence and death. He could still smell the kid's blood on his arm; disinfectant would have scoured it clean, but he had no desire to wash it away. He wore the borrowed smell of death and blood with a dark sort of pride, only regretting none could smell it as he did.

Wordlessly, as they crossed into the shadows which edged the town, he slowed his pace and allowed River to take the lead and guide them through the alleyways and back streets. Chari's scent mixed with hundreds of others and, while it still could have been followed, River had the added advantage of being able to steer them away from any eyes or ears, seen or unseen. If she was following his thoughts, she gave no indication; neither reproach nor even a narrowing of eyes as his mind drifted from the job at hand to past jobs and kills, close calls and narrow escapes. He almost missed Johns for the challenge the merc had presented.

Instead of using the alleyway between the magistrate's office and Rance's base of operations, they climbed the roof of the latter and hunkered down behind the shelter of a cooling unit. Riddick let his eyes drift across the town's skyline; his mind subconsciously tracing a path of shadows leading to Rance's private residence as he contemplated the possibility of ending the whole charade tonight as River's head ticked and eyes danced glazed over and distant. In his peripheral, he caught the noiseless movement of her lips and, he wondered vaguely, if the conversation was playing through her mind and pushing past her lips reflexively. It was a small thought, however, regulated to an idle musing as the majority of his mind tried to figure the advantages and the consequences of telling Mal to go fuck himself and just taking Rance out tonight.

_/It is ill-advised./_ River thought at him, commenting on his thoughts for the first time since they left The Heart of Gold. _/You would not be forgiven for such a gross violation of orders./_

_ /Don't you have a job to do?/_ He replied harshly.

She merely rolled her eyes. _/I am finished./_

_ /Well?/_ He thought expectantly.

River sighed, a rush of air that affected a long-suffering tone. _/She has played her part impeccably well and he has given her a mission. It is as expected. / _ River's face twisted into an expression somewhere between disgust and contempt. _/His mind is vile. I do not wish to witness his concept of a motivational speech./_

Riddick merely let his curiosity roll of him by way of answer; to which River resolutely shook her head.

_/And those 'Goll rumors?/ _ He asked, realizing she wasn't going to budge.

_ /True./_ River grimaced._ /They have not yet arrived./_

_ /He get our message?/_

_ /Yes./ _A dark smile curled around her own lips. _/He felt fear. A flash, a glimpse, a moment of mortality that has seeded in his mind./_

When River rose, he followed her without question. There was more to be accomplished than just following the whore-rat. They stuck to the rooftops as they crossed the town, only returning to the ground when the spaces between the buildings became too much to risk jumping; though the shadows of the shipping yard concealed them well enough.

The docking yard was considerably fuller than it had been the previous night; however, Riddick wasn't impressed or threatened by the quality of ships that filled the spaces. The majority were one or two man puddle-jumpers without deep space capability; which meant they couldn't have come from any farther out than Calliope or one of the other moons.

The Triad and Green Dragon ships were easy to spot amongst the secondhand and patched together equipment the independent mercs had flown in on. The two separate medium-class transports looked to have no more than a max capacity of ten, fifteen if they'd made the trip in cryo. Where they had come from was a different question altogether. Two days wasn't much time to make a trip across a system; but they weren't traveling in the same _goushi_ the other hired help was either and it was just as likely they had been passing through and picked up the signal.

The duo remained in the shadowy cover provided by a lane of large of shipping crates and Riddick pulled back into the moment as River went to work. Her head was angled, her eyes glazing over once more but, instead of her lips silently moving, it was the fingers of her right hand which moved as though she was using a touch screen; scrolling and flicking through the infinite amount of information which drifted through the 'Verse on electronic signals and pulses organically.

_/Green Dragon numbers at ten. Triad eleven. Independent malcontents both local and imported, thirty-three. The Rkyengolls are unknown./_

_ /Fifty-four./_ Riddick did the tally in his head. _/Thought forty was the generous estimate?/ _

_/The universe is fluid./_ She mentally huffed. _/I am not omniscient nor infallible. Our message invoked fear. He reacted as one would predict, and called more lambs to pose as wolves. It is irrelevant he leads them to a slaughter they know not is coming./_

The beginning of Riddick's mental reply was forming in his mind when a faint gust of wind pushed passed his nostrils from an auxiliary fan in the wall of the warehouse to their left reached him. It was familiar and yet, at the same time, foreign; spicy yet acidic, a contradiction to his senses that caused a slight upwards pull to his lips.

_/Tobacco, Saki, leather, and Yuzu./_ River rambled off the notes the Furyan seemed distracted by, following the quick turning of his mind as a series of faces attempted to connect themselves to the scent.

A voice came next, sharp and biting, reeking of authority; the syllables which rolled out in Mandarin were crisp, broken only by inhales of a cigarette. The voice was accompanied by several sets of footsteps, and when answers were given they were spoken with respect, if not tinged with reverence.

At first, the identity of the man eluded Riddick; irritating tingles rolled along his spine telling him he knew that scent and voice. Curiosity overruled caution and he signaled for River to stay while he peered around the shipping crate.

_/Johnny Tran./_ The convict's mind offered the moment the group of men crossed into his vision. _/Disappear./_ It wasn't a request, the tremble of finality the word brought with it as it pressed into her mind could not have been ignored as the group unknowingly closed the distance between them.

She rolled her eyes, gifting the convict with a wave of irritation and annoyance, but otherwise complied. Finding a handhold on the large crate, she climbed on top of it; flattening herself against the metal.

Riddick leaned against the end of the crate and waited until they had nearly passed him entirely before he called out to the man. "Tran."

The group of eight turned in unison, several guns appearing and accompanied by the melodic hiss of their electronic firing systems whirring to life. Riddick stepped from the shadows slowly, the right corner of his mouth ever so slightly curved upwards.

The man in question remained partially shielded behind his men, his eyes narrowed at first, the slow curl of the blue-grey smoke from his cigarette rolling out from the tip as an almost question mark before recognition lit his features.

"Richard B. Riddick." The Furyan's name twisted from his thin lips, the emotion behind it indecipherable in his tone. "And so the rumors are true." He stepped in front of his human shields, resting his left hand on the shoulder of the largest man, and the guns which had appeared, disappeared as quickly as they had been drawn.

Riddick didn't speak, nor did Tran for a long moment as he puffed on his smoke and circled the convict, there was something undeniably powerful in the man's movements despite his seemingly thin frame; from the strength of his stride to the elegant, long, almost delicate fingers which held the slender white cigarette.

"My sister will be pleased." He finally said as he came to a stop in front of Riddick once more. "So, tell me, is this a ghost I see before me? Or is my sister correct? Has the _Yingzi Emo_ (Shadow Demon) found his immortality as the old stories say?" He asked, humor coating his curiosity as his words rolled past his lips.

"All got secrets." Riddick replied; his tone even and rumbling as his form seemed to grow in length to the faint shadow it cast across the yard.

"That we do." Tran conceded with a tick of his head. "And what brings you here, into my path?"

"Traveling in different directions." Riddick replied, his expression darkening fractionally.

Tran's face faltered momentarily, a slight crack in the confidence and arrogance etched across the fine lines of features before the mask was solidly in place once more. "Golden Tiger has a long memory, _Yingzi Emo._"

"How is the old man?" Riddick asked with a smirk.

"Dead." Tran frowned. "But so is all that was of Glorious Dagger." His frown shifted back into a slight curl; it wasn't a quite a smile, it was far too malicious, and dripped with dark pleasures.

"Changes the game." Riddick remarked. "There a reason the _Shan Chu_ (Triad hierarchy ranking, Mountain Master/Dragon Head/ Mountain Lord) is fucking around on this piece of shit rock?"

"Burgess turns a blind eye to certain dealings we have here." Tran replied cautiously.

"Gotta say, Golden Tiger has fallen if they are fucking with this rock." Riddick shook his head in disapproval.

Tran threw back his head and laughed as he tossed the stub of his cigarette to the ground. "You cannot bait me so easily, old friend. We both know very well it is in the forgotten places that secrets remain the safest."

"Old friend?" He arched his brow and it was his turn to be amused.

"As I said, _Yingzi Emo_, Golden Tiger has a long memory, and my father admired you greatly." Tran's expression was serious as he continued. "The debt owed to you from my father lives on his children. We honor our ancestors." He gave the convict the barest trace of a bow, expecting none in return from the only man his father had allowed to sit in his presence. "We will be gone before dawn." He took a step back as he raised his head, not turning his back to the convict. "Provided you can guarantee the death of Burgess as to not interfere with our business dealings here."

"Man's already dead, just doesn't know it yet." Riddick assured him.

Tran nodded. "My sister would very much like to see you again." He added with what could qualify for a real smile. "Golden Tiger would welcome a revival of old alliances. Your contact?" He asked, not giving Riddick the opportunity to refuse.

"Find a weird little hacker shit by the name of Mr. Universe and you'll find me." Riddick nodded, neither accepting nor refusing Tran's offer.

"Until our paths cross again, _Yingzi Emo."_ Tran took two more steps backwards before turning, his men moving in seamless tandem with him.

River dropped off the crate the moment the shadows swallowed the Golden Tiger members. _/His sister?/_ She mentally hissed accusingly at him.

_/Girl's blind. Doesn't fight like she is though./_ His lips curled into a smile of his own as he replied, not bothering to look down at her, preferring instead to keep his eyes and other senses focused on where the Triad members had disappeared. They were sneaky little fast fucks and even he tended to avoid a confrontation with them. It was from Tran's father that he had learned how to properly fight with a sword. There was a scar on his right leg from that lesson, a consequence of assuming using a sword was just like using a long knife. One-on-one they weren't an obstacle; eight-on-one, with a Tran being one of them, and he could kiss his ass goodbye.

_/You are a whore./ _ River spat her assumption into his mind as her arms crossed and she glared at him.

An uncontrollable burst of barking laughter broke past his lips on her thought. _/Jealousy smells good on you, girl./_ He looked down at her then. _/Not dumb enough to fuck a Shan Chu's daughter./ _ He added as he turned back into the protective shadows of the shipping crates. _/You're missing the point./_

_/Am I?/ _ She retorted bitterly.

_/Fifty-four just became forty-three./_

*T*F*C*

"Where is she?" Nandi demanded as she whirled on Mal in Petaline's empty bedroom.

The captain closed the door quietly and locked it, his face set into grim lines as he turned back to face the Madame. "Safe."

"Oh, you will do better than that." Nandi's voice came out cold and hard. "Where's Inara?" She asked as it occurred to her that the other woman was missing from the room as well.

"With Petaline." Mal replied using the same vagueness as he had with his first answer. He removed a comm unit from the folds of his jacket and turned it on. Petaline's voice instantly crackled across it intermingled with the young doctor's as he turned the volume to its highest.

"Explain." Her eyebrows arched in a form of punctuation.

"You got yourself a traitor here at The Heart of Gold." Mal said plainly as he took a seat in a chair that had been pulled close to the boarded window and set down the rifle he had carried in with him against the wall.

Nandi's face paled immediately. "No. None of them would do that to me." She shook her head in denial.

"You ever wonder how Rance _knew_ Petaline was here or how his boys found her hiding place so fast when they came looking?" He asked causally as he inspected an old stain on his pant leg. "Well, we know."

"And you plan on tellin' me?" She asked tersely.

"I've been advised against it." Mal shrugged. "Few of mine seem to think you won't be able to hold your temper and we got a really cunnin' trap laid for our boy Burgess that I'd hate for ya to throw a wrench in."

Nandi made an impatient gesture with her hand indicating for him to continue as she started to pace; running the names and faces of her girls and boys through her mind as she tried to figure who turned on her.

He pointed to the comm unit which was still blaring on the bed. "That's the cheese."

"What?" Nandi stopped pacing as her head jerked back around towards him.

Mal sighed, his eyes rolling in a fashion terribly reminiscent of his Reader. "Easiest way to kill a man is to make him walk into the bullet."

*T*F*C*

"Triad." Jayne choked on his whiskey. "Didn't think they worked with anyone outside their club."

"They're not so bad." Riddick leaned back in his chair.

"The Triad are businessmen first, and crime lords second." Book informed the merc. "Golden Tiger, you said? Their feud with Glorious Dagger destroyed half of downtown Vivane on Beaumonde."

"And just when I start to forget you wasn't always a shepherd, shit like that falls out yer mouth." Jayne grunted.

"Also made Johnny the new _Shan Chu._" Riddick informed him. "He's got a twin sister he's sharing the reins with, most likely. Their old man used to call Johnny his wrath and the girl, Maylin, his lily. If he sent Johnny, you were dead; if he sent his girl, there was a chance he was willing to talk."

"A chance?" Zoe asked.

"Girl's blind, made a lot of people underestimate her."

"I'm assuming that's a mistake." Zoe ventured.

"One you only live long enough to make once." Riddick replied.

"And he offered ya a job?" Jayne asked.

"Something like that. I might have neglected to mention I'm running with a crew now." He tossed a blade in his hand. "Might be pissed about that when they find out."

"Why?"

"The offer was for me, not the nine other people I crew with. They're anal retentive fucks like that." Riddick shrugged and killed off his glass. "We done here?" He asked Zoe.

"Where's Anna?" She asked.

"Rooftop." He replied. "We beat Chari back, something about some kind of fucked up motivational speech."

"Come again?" Zoe pressed.

"Fuck if I know." He shrugged again as he rose from his chair. "She's watching for the girl now."

"Any chance those boys would fight for us?" Zoe asked before he could leave the kitchen.

"Don't they owe you a debt?" Book asked. "He said he and his sister would honor the debt their father owed you."

Riddick snorted humorously. "If anybody dies tomorrow won't be one us. Why would I waste a Triad debt on a whore's life?"

"Because it's still a life." Book rebuked harshly.

"Not one I give a shit about." He shrugged and ducked out into the hall.


	83. Heart of Gold V

Riddick opened his eyes to meet Shirah's directly.

The familiar scents he had come to associate with her were absent; replaced now by that of cinnamon scented wood burning in a hearth to his left and the musty heaviness of underground air.

There was another scent, one he had never encountered; pungent and spicy, caustic and yet somehow almost aromatic.

It wafted in a steaming cloud from a stone bowl in Shirah's hands and Riddick watched, almost hypnotized by her actions, as she dipped her hand into the bowl and coated her palm in the pasty concoction.

The sound of drumbeats reached him from somewhere in the depths of the mountain; the steadying pounding bounced off the walls, magnifying itself, until he could feel it against his skin.

The woman's dreadlocked hair was wild and loose about her body. Her naked flesh was inked in the same substance as was in the bowl; intricate, swirling patterns lacing through symbols he could not begin to interpret.

_**Richard,**_

_**Son of Siarl,**_

_**Son of Lolek,**_

_**Last of the Fury Lords,**_

Her tone was reverent and powerful as it rounded her syllables. The veins beneath her skin began to pulsate in near unison with the drum beats. Her eyes lit up in cerulean flames, the hue vivid and alive even in his limited color spectrum, as the swirls painted on her flesh seemed to dance across it.

He felt that thing stir, a mass of snarls and rage building in his chest and rippling outward; strength and power flooding his veins as his own skin lit up in response.

She pressed her coated palm firmly in the center of his chest and Riddick felt the substance sear into his skin; an actual burning sensation that ate into muscle and bone.

His mind gloried in the pain, feeding on the rush of endorphins and adrenaline.

The world around him was alive and breathing, pulsating rapidly as it thrummed against his skin and in his veins.

Shirah's lips curled around the edges and into a malevolent smirk; her hand not leaving his chest as the combined hum of their veins lit up the cavern, throwing shadows which danced in rhythm to the drumbeats along the walls.

_**You are my harbinger.**_

_**You are our vengeance.**_

_**And soon the stars will tremble at your name.**_

_**May the ground be stained by the blood of your enemies and may you die before you kneel.**_

_**Furyan, live this dawn well.**_

Riddick's eyes snapped open, falling immediately to the empty space River should have occupied next to him on the bed in one of the brothel's spare rooms. Unconsciously, his hand went to his chest where the ghost of a burning sensation remained behind as he forced his breathing back under control.

*T*F*C*

"…forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. Amen." Book's voice rolled with power and conviction as he continued on into another prayer; one which was less traditional but no less pleading nor useless in Riddick's opinion as he joined River on the front porch of the brothel. Just beyond the banister of the porch, Book stood before a half-dozen or so whores, both men and women, on their knees with their heads bowed in devotion.

_**May you die before you kneel.**_

"You have been dreaming loudly again." River remarked in a voice all but inaudible to anyone aside from Riddick though she kept her eyes on the prayer meeting in front of her.

"Why are you listening to this crap?" He nodded his head towards the group and spoke loud enough to be offensive. "Tell me you don't think this shit will help."

River scoffed at him; the sound bitter and dark as it pushed out on a rush of air from her lungs. "She prayed once. To be turned to stone. To be made a bird. To make it stop." She turned away from the devoted on their knees to face him completely. "It was _ge-ge_ that opened the cage door and carried her away after they'd broken her wings. It was men that broke her and a man that freed her. His God promises salvation only in death. I have no desire to die."

"Then why are you out here?" He pressed.

"Their faith hurts less than your dream."

Riddick's face hardened. "You called me the last of the Fury Lords." It was more of a question then a statement, spoken in a quiet rumble River could read the intention behind clearly enough. "So did she."

_/You can only be what you are, Furyan. Just as I can only be what I am./_

_/And what's that?/ _He asked, having asked it before and knowing the answer, it was still one he loved to hear her admit to.

She turned to look at him fully, her expression unreadable as something absolutely lethal flashed behind her eyes; sending a delicious and, if Riddick was going to be honest, erotic shiver down his spine.

_/A death dealer, a secret keeper, a mind breaker./ _ Her answers flickered around his consciousness like flames seemingly coming from everywhere at once as they heated his flesh from the inside out, an incomprehensible contradiction to the coldness in her eyes.

*T*F*C*

Mal jolted awake as Petaline's cries carried over the still blaring comm.-unit. His sudden shift caused the rifle in his lap to clatter to the floor, waking Nandi who sat in the chair directly across from him by the window.

Nandi hissed as the shafts of light which broke through the boarded up window pierced her eyes. She didn't have time to process either Petaline's cries nor the freshly risen sun as a knock came on the door, followed by Chari's voice calling out to be let in.

Nandi and Mal exchanged a look and, on the captain's nod, the Madame stood warily and made her way to the door. She opened it only far enough to slide through and closed it carefully behind her. Unaware that The Heart of Gold's traitor was standing before her, she smiled. "Need somethin'?"

"Just been listenin' to Petaline cry out; thought she might like another hand to hold. Least wanted to check up on her."

"Don't you fret. Girl's in good hands. Doc doesn't want any more fingers in the mix then needs to be. Petaline's gotta put all her energy into bringing that little bundle into this world." She wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulder and led her away.

Mal waited for the sound of their footsteps to disappear before he tapped his earpiece comm. "Papa, come back."

*T*F*C*

Wash blinked groggily, confused as to why he was asleep in his chair, why Kaylee was asleep in the co.'s, and what the hell had woken him, before Mal's voice repeated over the comm. and clarity came rushing back to him.

"I'm up!" Kaylee jolted forward, nearly throwing herself from the chair. She shook her head and rubbed at her eyes. "You gonna answer that?" She asked the pilot critically.

"Oh, uh, yeah." Wash nodded sheepishly as he reached for the receiver. "Mornin', Cap. Nice day for a last stand, innit?"

_"Nope."_ Mal replied. _"Plan to make a healthy few stands after this one. Just checkin' in to make sure my air support's ready when the time comes."_

"Coupla of low fly-overs, engines tipped earthward at full blast, anything to give our guests something to think on other than killin' you. I think we can handle it."

_"That'd be the long and short of it. Warm up her engines and make sure you're ready to fly when we need you."_

"Roger that Cap, Nest, out." Wash hung up the receiver and rubbed his face thoroughly before shaking out the residual twinges that accompanied spending the night in his chair. "So, you ready for some thrilling heroics?" He asked Kaylee.

The mechanic snorted. "Not hardly." She cracked her neck before rolling it. "Coffee first. Darin' avi-arical stunts after."

"Seconded." Wash yawned. "Can't die without having one last cup." He joked.

"You know, sometimes you really ain't as funny as you think." She griped at him.

Wash gasped clutching his chest with one hand as he feigned an affronted look. "Now you're just being mean."

"Yeah, well nice don't start 'til I reach the bottom of my first cup." She groused as she pushed herself out of the chair. "I'll make it up ta ya by seein' if there's any of the preacher's dumplings left in the freezer."

"You are forgiven." Wash informed her.

"Just let me crank on her engines first, case Burgess is rude 'nough to interrupt breakfast."

"Sounds good." Wash nodded with a yawn. "Gonna be a long day."

*T*F*C*

There were few things in this life that Jayne enjoyed more than what he was best at; picking folks off from a distance most of the human race would have found impossible. It might have been a small claim to pride, especially considering the caliber of Riddick and River, but he would rot in Book's special Hell before he'd let anyone take that away from him.

"I ain't gonna lie, people is gonna die today-," Jayne informed his newest girl, the .50 caliber anti-material _Long _(Dragon) he'd picked up from Riddick's weird friends on Beaumonde, "-but it ain't gonna be one of ours." He chuckled throatily as he wiped a bit of dust from her barrel.

The _Long's_ scope could magnify on a target two miles away to such a degree that Jayne had been able to read the print off a can of peaches. He'd left the massive manual with River, who had read the damn thing in less than four hours, and then given him a much easier rundown on the in-and-outs of the anti-material rifle and its scope.

"Now, girl-," he said, switching over to Vera whom was set up beneath the second window, "-ain't no need to be jealous. There's gonna be plenty of action to go 'round today." He assured her as he let his fingers caress her metal in turn.

Most people, even shooters well versed in Callahan tech, had no idea just how much it was possible to modify their line of weapons; Jayne was not one of those people, and alongside the underbarrel grenade launcher attachment he'd brought, he had also purchased a variety of other goodies for his favorite. Vera was an assault rifle which could fire as accurately as a semi-automatic under the right conditions; but with enough time, patience, and money it was possible to convert Vera into a light SAW. All three of which Jayne had had in ample supply. Her normal ammo, 7.62mm, essentially meant that a properly dressed Vera was a .30-caliber automatic weapon. Unfortunately, Jayne had to make due with only three box magazines that contained two hundred steel-core FMJ rounds each. It would do well enough, he supposed.

"Um." The girl, Jessica, Jayne thought her name was, that had been assigned to be his loader cleared her throat. "Were ya talkin' to me?"

Jayne looked up; he'd forgotten about her presence for a moment. "Can you blow a hole through a man's skull the size of my fist from more than a kilometer away?"

"Um, no." She eyed him uneasily.

"Then obviously I wasn't." He rolled his eyes and got back to his girls.

*T*F*C*

"You ladies all locked and loaded?" Zoe questioned as she made a pass by the upstairs balcony which wrapped around the open-air ceiling of the first floor parlor.

"Yes ma'am." Helen nodded, cocking the bolt of her rifle for effect.

"Good." Zoe nodded. "Remember-," she announced loudly, "-shoot the man, not the horse. Horse ain't ever did nothin' to ya'll and a dead one provides a nice bit of cover. A live one, well, that's a nice pile of panic; might even see a few of the dumber boys get trampled by that. So, let's remember, the horses are our friends."

"Horses are our friends?" Mal joked as he came down the hall.

"I'll take the ones we can get." Zoe replied. "Fine mornin' to make a stand, sir."

"Couldn'ta asked for a better." He remarked as he peeked between one of the boarded up windows. "Everything set?"

"Yes, sir." Zoe nodded.

_"Visual in two minutes."_ Riddick's voice rumbled across the comms. of the crew and Mal felt the familiar tremble of anticipation rush through his veins.

"This is it, people!" He yelled, his voice carrying down to the first floor below him. "We got no shortage of ugly ridin' in on us! Anybody goes down, you drag 'em back and take their place! If you've stopped shootin', you best be dead!" He turned to face Zoe one last time. "You good?"

Zoe levered a round into her Winchester. "To the job, sir." She smirked at him.

"To the job." He grinned back tapping the barrel of his .44 against her Winchester's before turning to rejoin Nandi in Petaline's bedroom. "Overwatch, you got a visual yet?" He radioed through his comms to Jayne, who was tucked into one of the attic bedrooms.

"_Not yet, Cap, but I got a hell of a dust cloud bein' kicked up over the rise."_

"Just remember, Tank, hold yer fire 'til they clear the first of the markers."

"_Roger that, Cap."_

Mal passed into Petaline's room and threw the lock. "You ready for this?" He asked Nandi.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She replied from her position at the window.

*T*F*C*

"Doc!" Petaline cried shrilly. "This baby's ready ta be born, I know it!"

"You're not completely dilated yet." Simon told her. "We're almost there but don't try to force it. These contractions are still preliminary." His voice was controlled and soothing as he kept one eye on his watch and the other glancing up at the mother to be.

Despite his comforting tone, Petaline looked up at him blankly between strands of sweat-matted hair, her teeth gritted tightly against the onslaught of pain. "What's he sayin?" She asked Inara who sat beside her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders and the other hand firmly clasped in Petaline's.

"Just a bit longer, sweetheart." Inara soothed as she pushed the strands of hair off Petaline's forehead and pressed a kiss there. She released the young girl to pour water from a jug on her vanity into a small dish and dipped a rag in to cool Petaline's forehead.

"Tell me, doctor, how many babies have you delivered?" Inara asked quietly as he came up beside her to wash his hands.

"As the primary… this would be my first." His reply was in no way as reassuring as Inara had hoped it would be. "You?" He tried to lighten the mood with a joke.

"Mine too." Inara answered weakly.

Whatever reply Simon was about to make was abruptly cut off by another cry of pain.

"You'll be wonderful, Doctor." She pecked a quick kiss on his cheek as they both hurried back to Petaline's side.

*T*F*C

"Ya'll seein' this?" Jayne's voice crackled over the comm. as he watched the horde of horses, hovercycles, and hovercrafts come in sight over the rise; leading the charge was one of several armored hover transports, mounted with a heavy gun.

_"Hard to miss."_ Zoe retorted sarcastically.

_"Papa, we got some imminent violence headed our way; like my sky to be a lot less clear 'fore we start tradin' injuries."_

Jayne listened to Mal give the order to Wash but it registered in a different part of his mind as he kept his sights trained on the lead vehicle which was his first target. His breathing became measured, matching his calm and steady heartbeat as the world outside his scope began to fade away. He didn't care about the finer mechanics of how and why the button on the side of his scope broke the transport down into a wireframe view, River had left that part out of her explanation; and it just didn't seem necessary as the height of the driver appeared in a small print statistics bar alongside it. He realized with a dark sort of glee, his new girl just might give Vera a run for her money. He just needed to name her still, but that was a problem he set aside for later.

"Come on, you _hundans,_ come to Big Daddy." He whispered to himself.

Jayne was not even consciously aware of pulling the trigger as soon as the distance indicator flashed bright green, signaling his mark was within his desired range. The earth-shaking report of the weapon and the massive kick let him know what he had done. He knew that his shoulder would not be thanking him in the morning but he ignored it, as well as the dust that was resettling around him after the air displacement caused by firing the .50-cal. He worked the bolt and found his next target; his first careening into the side of a hover-car that had been on its left flank after Jayne had put a round through the driver's chest and probably through a few people behind him. The sniper did not waste time on watching the transport nosedive into the ground and careen several meters into the air; no, he simply found his next target and fired again before it completed its first revolution.

The attackers increased their speed to close the distance as Jayne fired. Their only saving grace was the fact that Jayne's _Long_ had a six round magazine. Four more vehicles; one hovercraft and three cycles were destroyed before the weapon clicked empty.

"Reload!" He barked to Jessica as he rolled from the cover of one steel plate to another where Vera stood ready and waiting to dance; while a medium sized grouping of pissed-off men surrounded the front of the house in an arc using whatever they could find for cover and the horsemen that remained after the trip lines, which had been five meters farther from the house than what the stolen layouts had indicated, had been triggered, fired their less than effectual sidearms at the house.

He sighted on a trio of goons with assault rifles still peppering his old firing position and gave them three, relatively short, bursts. Vera's sound was different after the conversion; the normal sharp, piercing bursts were deeper and choppier as the bolt flew back in a blur and the goons disappeared in a shower of blood and cloth. He was, however, far from finished and fired a long line of suppressive fire, forcing the overly confident fools to take cover. He'd emptied nearly half a magazine before he settled back behind his own cover with a laugh; sheltering himself as the raiders fired upon him with a vengeance. The _tink-tink-tink_ of bullets hitting his steel cover only made him laugh harder.

"I think I made 'em mad Cap." He chuckled across his comm.

_"I think you did at that. Good work, Overwatch."_

"All in a day's." He nodded towards Jessica whom had finished reloading the _Long,_ just as Zoe's line took the opportunity to open up a cacophony of fire; keeping the men outside pinned behind cover.

T*F*C

"Cover!" Zoe yelled as she ducked behind the steel-reinforced wall just beneath the window she was firing through. She'd barely got her own head down in time before a round of rapid-fire burst through the windows, shattering what was left of the glass. To her left, a girl screamed, grabbing her shoulder as she was pitched backwards by the force of the hit; another boy, Frankie, she thought vaguely, took one somewhere that had him reeling backwards as well. "Goddamnit, Tank! We're gettin' torn up down here!" She barked over the comm. "Take out them guns!"

"_Had ta reload!" _ Jayne shot back defensively. _"I got 'im in my sights."_

Zoe held her breath, visualizing Jayne's trigger pull; listening to the sweet bursting pops she could hear even one floor below him. "Anytime you want to show up, Papa." She gritted out across her comms.

"_Less than a minute now, Mama."_ Wash's voice anxiously filtered back over. "_I'm comin', baby, don't you worry."_

*T*F*C*

Rance Burgess was not having a good day. The self-proclaimed king of the moon had ridden in on a single-person hovercycle at the very rear of the formation; taking the message they'd sent to heart and trying like hell to stay off Sanguine's sniper's radar. That decision had been a fortuitous one. He had blanched at the sight of one of the heavy Mitsubishi transports flipping through the air like a damn toy. He'd been livid with rage at first to see his heavy guns picked off one-by-one but even the rage couldn't swallow back the tiny worm of fear growing inside him. His little whore informant had told him Sanguine had enough arms for a small army but he had dismissed her declaration off-hand; obviously she had been on to something.

Now Rance found himself huddled behind the dubious cover of a deactivated hover-vehicle with Milo on one side and one of the nameless pieces of trash he'd hired on the other. His laser pistol was in one sweating hand but he didn't dare stick his head up for fear of the sniper finding him. The bastard with the machinegun on the top floor was wreaking havoc on anyone still in the open. At his best guess, he had less than fifteen men left, several horses were still alive but grievously injured and he could hear the screams of the wounded over the gunfire occasionally. There was a gnawing in the pit of his stomach telling him he was out of his league but that gnawing only served to fuel his anger and determination. _**No one**_ turned away Rance Burgess.

"Boss!" Milo had to shout at the top of his lungs. "We're pinned down! This ain't good!"

Rance's reply was cut off by a crazed yell from the merc beside him as the man raised a cheap repeater and, leaning around their cover, unloaded the magazine as fast as the gun would fire.

"Come and get it!" He shouted, not bothering to duck back behind cover to reload. He did, however, look up just in time to have his blonde head snapped backwards; a perfect circle just off center of his forehead spurting a stream of crimson.

Rance watched in horrified disbelief as the body crumpled to the ground. "Call in Green Dragon! Give the order to burn 'em out! And where the fuck are the 'Golls? You get their asses here before there ain't none of us left!" Rance barked as he looked around desperately.

"Hell if I know!" Milo yelled back as he raised his comm. to call in the Green Dragon reinforcements.

"Goddamnit!" The cuss passed Rance's lips as a violent gust of wind knocked them both back on their asses and he looked up to see Sanguine's ship hovering too close to the ground for comfort. The backdraft off the engines sent what remained of his army scattering for cover from the debris the thrusters kicked up. A few men were blown straight out from their respective covers and into open ground. Those few were quickly picked off by precision shots coming from somewhere on the ground.

*T*F*C*

"Behold my wrath!" Wash's voice boomed on the empty bridge, echoing oddly inside his own head beneath the combat helmet he had donned. "Guns?" He scoffed. "We don't need no stinkin' guns."

*T*F*C*

The infamous Green Dragon had risen from the humble beginnings of a hovercycle racing gang on Gonghe to the feared multi-system black market runners and loan sharks they were today in less than two decades. Usually, raids on whorehouses were below their notice, but Burgess had offered them immunity on Calliope, and an offer like that was simply too good to pass up. With a multitude of enthusiastic roars, the ten riders twisted their throttles and hurled themselves out of their holding zone a few kilometers from The Heart of Gold. Black market thrusters, from stolen replacement parts for military vehicles, boomed like rolling thunder across the region. The lieutenant-in-charge, wearing synthetic leather pants, a form-fitting shirt, and a thick racing jacket, brandished an incendiary grenade over her head as they rapidly closed in on the house.

The riders split around the edge of the battle; their lieutenant taking the lead towards the well house and the second grouping weaving in between the burning wrecks of transports firing deftly from their bikes and distracting the sniper's fire; buying time for their leader to take out the well and power supply.

"Show them why Green Dragon is feared!" She roared through the integrated comm. in their helmets.

There was only a flash of movement that indicated something was wrong before the grenade in the lieutenant's hand exploded into fiery brilliance, taking her hand with it. With a horrible scream, the lead cycle nosedived into the ground. It was a testament to the obsessive focus that had made Green Dragon what it was that the cyclists following her did nothing more than weave out of the path of her destruction; her second-in-command stepping into leadership seamlessly as he hurled yet another incendiary grenade towards the power shed. Only to have the grenade _shot_ out of mid-air.

"How the fuck-," His question was never finished, nor answered, as a 9mm round pierced straight through his throat, sending him flying off the back of his bike.

His death was followed quickly by that of another of his comrades-in-arms; a slightly larger 10mm straight through the heart. In the midst of the chaos and crossfire, two fully armored figures, one significantly smaller and thinner than the other, popped in and out cover from behind a barricade of sandbags and corrugated metal; while a third wielded a firehose strong enough to knock more than one rider from his bike.

"Overload them with gren-," the frantic command was cut off by the 10mm bullet that sliced through the visor of a helmet.

*T*F*C*

Petaline let out a cry somewhere between a scream and a moan as her head lolled onto Inara's shoulder. "Oh, Doc, it's hurts. It hurts so bad!"

"I know it does, Petaline, but it's finally time to push. Are you ready?" Simon asked, using his wrist to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Doc, I can't do this! I can't! I can't!"

"Petaline, listen to me-," Inara turned the girl's head to lock eyes with her, "-you keep looking at me. You're stronger than this." When Petaline shook her head furiously in the negative, Inara's expression turned from sympathetic to hardened. "Yes, you are. I know you are. I can feel it in your grip. It's just a moment in time, this pain. It will end. Take yourself away, step outside of it and let it happen."

*T*F*C*

Rance ducked back behind cover after firing an appropriated chopped-down assault rifle from one of the dead freelance mercs. He didn't dare use his laser pistol and scream out his location to the sharpshooter.

"Why ain't that whorehouse burnin' yet?" He demanded to his second; grimacing at the shrill quality his voice had taken on even though it was half-drowned in the ever present rush of wind provided by Sanguine's damn ship.

"I can't get 'em on the line!" Milo yelled back. "They're dead! All dead! We gotta pull back! Get the hell outta here!" Milo was officially past the point of panicking now and it shined through his wide, bloodshot eyes.

Rance slapped Milo across the face as hard as he could; sending his second's head flying into the hot metal of the hover-vehicle and then pulled him by his collar so their faces were only inches from each other. "You pull yourself together! We can still beat them! They have to run outta ammo sometime!" Rance bellowed but he could practically read the thought behind Milo's terrified eyes.

_Yeah, but we might all be dead by then._

Before Rance could say another word, the noise and pressure from the thrusters of Sanguine's ship was countered by another engine; as his hired 'Golls finally made their appearance. The scouter ship that challenged the larger transport was heavily armored and obscenely ugly, boasting two heavy guns that opened fire on the larger ship.

*T*F*C*

"_Niao shi de dugi _ (urine soaked gamblers)!" Wash yelped as he banked the ship hard to port and slammed up on the thrusters to execute a move which very nearly defied the laws of physics and gravity. "They have guns! I need guns!" He slammed down on the wireless mic for the ship-wide, ignoring the choking feeling in his chest as he was forced to release one hand from the controls for that fraction of a second. "Kaylee, they have ships with guns!" He yelled.

"I told the Cap!" She yelled back, followed by a muted swear and what Wash really hoped wasn't a mini-explosion in his engine room.

"Time to run, _mei-mei_." He forced calm into his voice. "We gotta go as hard and fast as she'll take us or she won't be leaving this rock." He gritted out as he took yet another suicidal bank, barely avoiding a rain of bullets; he forced the ship upwards.

"Like hell she won't!"

*T*F*C*

"_Captain!" _Wash's voice screeched in his ear.

"I see it, Papa, get her the hell out of here!" Mal ordered.

"_Wang bao dahn-_ (phonectically, dirty sons-of-)!" Nandi swore as she tossed aside her rifle and grabbed a fully loaded one.

Mal barely spared her a glance. "Tank! Cover fire on the ship!"

_"I'll do you one better, Cap."_ The merc replied his voice eerily controlled and icy. _"That's my girl in the air, you gorram sumabitches!"_

*T*F*C*

"Move!" Rance screamed as he yanked Milo with him to his feet and the pair took a running lunge from their cover to a more exposed position behind a semi-large boulder to avoid the quickly descending scouter-ship that had just had a rapid series of heavy caliber bullets rip through its port-side thruster. For one horrifying moment, Rance thought the ship was down for the count, until the pilot regained control at the last second and managed to slow his spin enough to make their landing qualify as an emergency, non-fiery crash.

There were at least a dozen of them that spilled out from the hatchway despite their brush with fiery doom; ranging from short-to-tall and from scrawny-to-grotesquely muscular. Several of the men were shirtless except for a single bandoleer of magazines for the short-barreled, stocky rifles they carried. Their lack of armor, however, was less unnerving than the dozens of thick tubes which entered and exited their torsos at odd angles and the fact that those short-barreled riffles where clutched in mechanical hands attached to machine built arms. The rest had various amounts of a thick, metallic silver armor that was nearly blinding in the sunlight; their 'enhancements' no less the noticeable, however, as metal plates were bolted into the bone of their skulls, giving them the appearance of true machines whose artificial flesh had merely melted away in places.

The obvious leader of the 'Golls was armored from head-to-toe in something straight out of an Earth-That-Was science fiction movie. He was not the tallest but he certainly could have been the brawniest. The only bare portion of the man's face was his eyes and they both were an unnatural electric blue. Rance could have sworn he felt the ground shake as the cybernetic monster approached him. The man, or rather, half-man strode over to his boulder as if all hell wasn't breaking lose; barley acknowledging the bullet that bounced off his armor as though it was a ping-pong ball.

Years ago, Rance had made a deal with a small clan of 'Golls to eliminate some of his rivals for ownership of the moon. He had paid off three Alliance officials to shut down the NavSat for maintenance giving the 'Golls a six hour window as they raided, enslaved, and killed three thousand-odd residents of a town some hundred kilometers to the west of Burgess Hill. He'd come up smelling like daisies too, having protected his town from the 'Goll threat. The representative he had dealt with then had been a coldly beautiful woman with tasteful cybernetic implants around her eyes and hands. She had been absolutely nothing like the cybernetic abominations before him now.

"Rance Burgess?" Even the 'Goll's voice was artificially deep and resonant; as though he had picked it purely to intimidate those weaker than himself.

"That's me!" Rance shouted, after swallowing his initial fear and finding some sort of reserve of steel in his spine, he added, "Where the _**fuck **_have you been?"

The 'Goll didn't bother to answer, he merely lifted Rance up fully to his feet by his collar and half-dragged the man the few scant meters to better cover behind his fallen ship; leaving Milo to fend for himself behind the boulder.

"Your safety is a priority." The 'Goll informed him as he abruptly released his grip and sent Rance stumbling backwards. "Lady Freyja sends her greetings. With your permission, Host, I will begin the first wave of a ground assault."

Rance was slightly taken aback by the formal speech of the otherwise, in appearance, Neanderthal of a man; the sudden sound of metal tearing as Sanguine's sharpshooter pelted the downed craft with another round, however, brought him quickly back into the moment. "Yes! Yes, goddamnit! Why else would you be here?"

"As you wish, Host." The 'Goll leader, whom had not even given his name, turned back to his men. "Spread out. Flank the domicile. Lay down suppressing fire. Senior men lead. Priority One: eliminate the shooter on the third floor."

Two teams, led by the more heavily armored of their number, swept right and left from the monstrous armored ship; as the cybernetic raiders followed their orders without hesitation. To Rance's utter bewildered amazement, they did not run or even seem that concerned with the gunfire coming from the whorehouse. He watched as the lead 'Goll on the left, maybe the second heaviest among them with an exposed metal plate composing a quarter of his skull, came under fire. The rounds proved ineffectual as he squared his hips to the house, raised his squat assault rifle to hip-level, and hosed it with disturbingly precise fire. It quickly quieted Sanguine's weapons but only for an instant; before the cyber-man had even ended his rain of fire, his head exploded in a shower of gore and bits of metal from the plate in his skull.

"Fuck!" Milo screamed, still cowering behind the boulder and Rance, through sheer force of will, managed not to do the same.

The thunderous report from the sniper rifle was followed a moment later by the sharper crack of a lighter caliber weapon. That was sufficient to send one of the unarmored 'Golls to the ground in a convulsive fit as a foam geyser shot from his mouth.

_Who the fuck are these guys?_ Rance had a moment to wonder before the 'Goll leader calmly began to speak.

"They have knowledge of 'Goll cybernetics. We must move quickly and accurately."

Rance turned to look to the right as that quarter of 'Golls suddenly spread out in a shockingly fast maneuver. They raised their rifles and fired; the strange screeching of the guns making an effective terror weapon by itself, as they slowly advanced on the whorehouse. Two of the shooters concentrated on the lower floor while the others focused their fire on the window the sniper had come from. That was when the machinegun chose to reenter the fray and rake a line of deadly fire across the 'Golls on the right. This time the most heavily armored 'Goll did a shuddering dance as the rounds ripped through his armor. One other 'Goll was taken down before the others managed to dive behind a bullet-hole riddled mess that had once been a vehicle.

Rance expected the 'Goll to react with shock and fury but the cyborg only said one, clipped word, "Brother." His electric blue eyes flashing red for only a fraction of a second; but it was gone so quickly Rance thought he might have imagined it.

One of the remaining 'Golls on the right pulled what vaguely resembled a snub-nosed pump-action, chrome-plated shotgun. He rose to his feet from behind his cover, pulled the weapon to his shoulder, and fired at the window between the sniper and the gunner. Then, to Rance's bewilderment, the man dropped back down and covered his ears.

"What the-" Whatever else Rance would have said was drowned out by a sudden explosion that seemed to shake the very air. Rance peeked around the side of the 'Goll ship and his face blanched at the sight before him. The attic of the whorehouse, even the roof to some extent, was completely gone in a thick cloud of debris that was slowly fading. There was no celebration from the 'Golls and their leader, as Rance was coming to expect, was simple and direct in his response.

"Obstacle eliminated."

T*F*C

Jayne's first thought, after watching one of the 'Golls drop, twitching and spewing out green foam from the mouth like a volcano, had been, _Ain't that all sorts of fucked up?_ He didn't have long to dwell on the fact as a barrage of fire pelted his perch and sent him and Jessica both crouching for cover behind the steel plates.

"Get the gorram hell out of here!" Jayne yelled at Jessica as he took the risk of raising himself back up to Vera, as there was only one round left in his _Long_ that he was saving as a 'just in case'.

The girl needed no further encouragement and, on his nod, she scrambled out the door and practically threw herself down the stairs; ducking behind an open door as another burst of fire broke through the second story windows.

Jayne didn't celebrate as he took down the _hun dan_ wearing a thousand kilos of armor; short a loader now, he left himself without cover fire as he paused to load his final magazine into Vera. Mid-motion, River's voice hit his ears through their comms.

"Jayne!" She shrieked, forgoing his moniker, her tone enough to send a fresh rush of adrenaline through his veins.

Much as Zoe had responded immediately to River's warning on Greenleaf, Jayne did the same. He dropped the magazine in his hand and threw himself out the doorway into the back bedroom across the hall. In the same motion, he skidded directly beneath the bed just as the house violently rocked with an explosion around him.

*T*F*C*

Mal rose from where he had instinctively ducked and covered as soon as the explosion went off above him. Dust rained down from the ceiling but the house didn't collapse on itself as he had half-expected. It seemed as though the event had caught everyone, including the attackers, by surprise as even the sounds of exchanging gunfire went silent.

"Overwatch! Report!" He shouted into the mic-boom that extended from his helmet. "Overwatch! Report!" He fought to keep the tremble of fear from his voice at the very real possibility Jayne could be in several million pieces just above his head.

"_He is whole, Daddy._" River's voice was smooth, almost amused as the words came out slightly sing-songy. _"He has only one thought. 'My turn.'"_

"Good to know, Bit. I almost feel sorry for the poor sum'bitch that did that." Mal calmly placed a fresh magazine in his semi-auto .308 as he waited for Jayne to drop the hammer.

_Almost. _ He thought as the trademark _Serenity_ smirk twitched at his lips and he leveled his rifle.

T*F*C

"Obstacle eliminated!" Rance shouted, shooting to his feet and drawing his laser pistol in one motion. "You stupid piece of shit! What if the baby was up there!" Rance leveled his energy weapon at the giant 'Golls chrome-dome. "You tryin' to cross me!"

Moving far faster than Rance would have given him credit for, the 'Goll leader snatched him up the by the wrist and throat. Soon, the two were eye-to-eye, while Rance's feet were several inches off the ground. Milo, wisely, had not drawn his weapon as another 'Goll stepped behind his leader with an obscenely large handgun in one meaty fist.

"Your boy was not there." The leader's eyes flared a fiery crimson that made Rance's stomach churn uneasily. "Unless these fighters are far more callous than I believe, they would never place their primary near a weapon that would draw so much fire. We are not here by your request. We are here by _our_ acceptance. You would be wise to remember this in your future dealings with my kind."

Before Rance could reply, one of the local enforcers that was still standing shouted, "Look! Look at that!"

The sheer panic and disbelief in the man's voice caused the 'Goll leader to drop Rance. Burgess sat on his ass in the dirt, rubbing his throat, while all eyes turned towards the shattered remnants of the third story of The Heart of Gold. The cloud of debris had cleared enough for the silhouette of a man to be clearly visible as he stood amongst the rubble. The lit end of a cigarette, possibly a cigar, brightened as the figure took a deep puff just before raising something over his head. With slow, ponderous swings, the man whirled the object around in his hand. The remaining raiders were so dumbstruck by his survival after looking at the sheer destruction the RPG had created, that in the moment it took to register, no one took a shot at him.

Then someone did; but either they were a crappy shot or the hit didn't faze him at all. "I know I got him!" Someone screamed.

The defender of The Heart of Gold launched the long, serpentine object from his hands and, when it had gone a number of feet, springs popped off and a dozen objects hurled themselves into the midst of Rance's surviving men.

"Grenades." The 'Goll leader sounded almost impressed as he calmly stepped into the protection afforded by his armored ship.

Rance and Milo, who had scrambled to his boss's side from the boulder dove into the ship as the multiple grenade detonations rocked the very earth beneath their feet. There was barely a pause before the booming of an automatic shotgun heralded the return of fire once again accompanied by the crack of semi-automatic rifles. Then, above it all, rose the thunderclap that was that accursed sniper rifle. Rance looked up from the ground at the Goll leader, whose face for the first time showed the barest traces of emotion; anger.

"My brother is dead." There was an icy chill to the statement which prickled at Rance's heart as the cybernetic man slowly nodded to himself as if he'd come to a decision. He turned his head to the two overly large men behind him. "Miniguns."

"Miniguns!" Rance choked. "My kid's in there!"

"Silence, you pathetic piece of flesh." The man's eyes flashed red as his hulking form towered over the much smaller man. "You misinformed my mistress of the situation. These are no ordinary mercenaries. My brother is dead. They must pay for their transgression. If the flesh bags all expire, I will collect our payment from your town. I will **not**return to My Lady empty-handed." The 'Goll brought his face less than an inch from Rance's. "Now... leave me." He almost growled as his eyes burned a ferocious red and he shoved Rance backwards to sprawl into the dirt several feet away.

Milo was there to help Rance back to his feet but Burgess shoved off his help angrily. "We have to get my boy!" Rance growled. "Those fucking 'Golls are out of control. They're gonna level the place! You send the whore the signal! Now!"

"Yeah, Boss. Yeah." Milo's shaking hands fumbled a small black, cylindrical transmitter, no larger or wider than his pinky, and pressed the button on one end. On the first floor, inside the brothel, an identically shaped receiver hidden inside Chari's corset vibrated.

*T*F*C*

"Tank! Get your ass down from there and quit showin' off! Got no cover left up there and the place is startin' to burn!" Despite himself, Mal almost wanted to laugh the order across the comms. "Rally with Mama on the second floor!"

_"Ruttin' spoilsport."_ The merc grunted. "_Roger that, Cap."_

"Tuck, get that fire out!" He ordered next.

"_On it, Captain."_ Book radioed back.

Any humor Mal had felt was quickly doused by a sickening pit of dread as two of the 'Golls stepped around their downed craft. Strapped against each one of their chests was a weight no man should have been able to carry; a tri-barreled minigun. As soon as the image registered, River's voice filtered into his ears through their comms.

_"It is time."_

Mal didn't hesitate on his next order. "Blind 'em." He didn't understand the next two sentences which crossed their comm.-links, and, in that exact moment, he knew he probably didn't want to.

"_Time for my favorite game, Baby."_ Riddick's voice rumbled, ending as it broke apart into an icy chuckle. The first of the smoke canisters flew out from behind the barricade of sandbags and corrugated metal which protected the utility shed, and rolled out from breaks in the boarded windows of the first floor of the brothel.

_"Try and keep up." _ River's giggle sang out alongside the second wave of smoke canisters just as the first round of fire from the miniguns pelted the walls of the brothel; forcing almost all those posted back behind the fallback points.

*T*F*C*

The smoke from the canisters was thick and in the windless, hot air it hung heavy; clouding the vision of the handful of remaining raiders and choking at their dry throats though the 'Golls were less than deterred. Their fire, however, slowed and became more precise as the second wave of canisters cut visibility drastically. The exchange of gunfire became one-sided as the defenders inside the house buckled down behind their fallback points and the gunfire of the raiders dwindled from an incessant peppering to sporadic, wild bursts. The two armored figures that had cut through Green Dragon so easily took the opportunity to slice through the smoke as well. The sealed combat helmets the pair wore preventing the smoke from choking them and filtering in clean air.

Riddick let himself go at the precise moment he felt the shift in River. It was the first time since before Tracey he had felt the change in her so drastically and, beneath his armor, he could feel his skin hum in answer. The sound of wild heartbeats was dulled beneath the helmet but not gone; not now, as he felt that awareness alight through every inch of his mind. He could smell the traces of the impossibly sweet and tangy bouquet of fear and panic despite the filtered air. Even sweeter however, was the pulsation of anticipation and excitement which beat across the telepathic bond he shared with River. This was what he had wanted for her ever since the first taste of what she really was on Higgin's Moon; for her to glory in what she could do, in what she was, a predator.

His first kills were quick, precision military-style execution shots that tore through skulls and hearts. Riddick abandoned his gun, however, as it clicked empty and rather than spare the seconds it would take to stop and reload, he holstered it. The sound of sharpened metal hissed like a snake through the smoke and he ran as he unsheathed one of his ulaks; vaulting over a wreck, he slammed the curved blade into the surprised throat of a 'Goll, taking both their bodies to the ground as he landed. His step didn't falter; the fluidity of his movements rivaling Rivers as he rolled immediately, tearing through the well-muscled throat as he rose to his feet and launched himself forward letting his momentum carry him. The semi-bulky armor was of no hindrance, having lived in it the last few days it became as little of an obstacle to him as his skin was.

The tide of Riddick's malicious enthusiasm flooded River's mind as waves of it crashed against her. She didn't allow herself to drown it. Instead she rode it, her toes dipping beneath the surface as it crested around her body and carried her. River didn't fire a shot; instead she danced between bullets, guiding the flow of death and leading the streams into her targets for her. A giggle escaped her as she spun behind cover, narrowly avoiding a spray of bullets from a 'Goll's rifle. A stiletto appeared in left hand and, as she spun back out from cover, the blade was released into the air as she drew her 9mm with the right. In the same breathe the stiletto found its mark in a 'Goll power cell, a bullet pierced the skull of an unmodified human.

"_Those miniguns are shredding the place! Take 'em out!" _Zoe yelled into across the comms.

The convict made an attempt to circle wide around the minigun wielders but one of the 'Golls caught the flash of grey-green through the bluish-grey smoke. The cybernetically-enhanced monstrosity swung round and unleashed the full fury of the minigun in Riddick's direction. Riddick managed to pivot, but the shinguard articulation did not move as the Furyan did, and the defensive maneuver tripped over itself, slowing his step by mere fractions of a second but it was enough. One of the heavy caliber bullets shattered through the side of his torso armor, cutting through the polymer plates and into skin as it sliced through the air.

Riddick threw himself the rest of the way behind cover, bleeding from the left side with broken bits of polymer plate and thin Kevlar wire sticking out from the nasty graze. His cover was less than adequate; another one of the downed hovercrafts whose twisted, burning metal left much to be desired by way of a solid metal barrier.

The veins beneath Riddick's skin blazed violently; the cerulean color leaking out from the hole is his armor. River's presence in his head, which had always before been an undefined wisp with no tangible shape or borders, was crisp now; every curve and edge of it sharpened into lethal clarity as a shriek of fury filled the smoked choked air. The pain of his wound was nothing, doused as his body was with adrenaline and the laugh that broke from his lips sounded maniacal to those around and left alive to hear it as he felt River layer her vision across his.

He felt the distance between them close and, when she broke through the smoke riding one of Green Dragon's undamaged cycles, he was ready for her. His position shifted from his stomach to a crouch and when her arm shot out his hand latched solidly onto it just below the elbow and he leapt onto the back of the bike at the same moment River hit the downed transport; using the wreck as a ramp, she flicked on the illegal thrusters and caught air. There were no words spoken between them, no thoughts passed as the bike arched over the minigun-wielders and he ripped the 9mm from her hip.

Time slowed for the Furyan, much as it had on Greenleaf; the minuscule recoil of the modified sidearm rippled through the muscles of his forearm. His eyes followed the fiery trails of the three bullets he shot; each one piercing the skull of his attacker in a different place. Once more, there was no communication between the pair, their minds so tightly woven together they moved as extensions of each other when River yanked up hard on the steering bars of the bike. They let their bodies slide off it, landing together crouched on the roof of the downed scouter craft.

_/Big one's mine./_ Riddick's snarled thought was barely a cohesion of words and they were moving again, once more in opposite directions.

River's last stiletto found its way into her hand as she leapt from the top of the ship and onto the back of the final minigun-wielder, driving it into the power cell at the base of his skull and riding his bucking, foaming body to the ground.

On the opposite side of the scouter ship, Riddick's boots hit dirt at the same time the cycle did, landing him behind the 'Goll's leader. He ripped off his helmet as he rose to his full height and the massive cybernetic hybrid turned. His red eyes burning back at him in the reflection of Riddick's mirrored goggles.

"Let's dance." The convict growled in invitation.

The only reply Riddick received was the booming of the half-man's short-barreled rifle.

*T*F*C*

Rance and Milo fumbled through the thick smoke; stumbling from one piece of cover to the next until they made their way around the back of the brothel. Rance lead the way with his laser pistol drawn and ready to fire; he was well beyond the point of caution now. It was a rush of pure relief, the first he'd felt since dawn, that Chari was ready and waiting for them.

"Find me somethin' to get the hell out of here with." Rance quietly ordered to Milo before crossing the threshold.

"Nandi's horse is still in the barn." Chari informed him as her head nervously ducked around the empty kitchen, a measly closed door and wall the only thing keeping them from discovery. "It won't carry the both of ya though."

"Get me that horse, Milo." Rance hissed.

"What 'bout me?" Milo demanded incredulously.

"I pay you to worry about my ass, not yours." Rance spat back as he shoved the man slightly. "Do your fucking job."

Rance turned away too quickly to see the look that fell across Milo's face. It was unfortunate for the man that he missed it. Had he seen it, he would have realized that he no longer had a second-in-command. Milo did fetch the horse, only he used it to get himself the hell out of dodge. The man rode hard, leaving the battle in a cloud of dust. He stopped only once, to collect his sister, whom he informed Rance ordered him to take her and run. It would be another eight weeks, two systems, and trillions of kilometers before he stopped a second time; picking up work from a cockney criminal with a penchant for bowler hats.

*T*F*C*

A safe distance away from the battle, but close enough to hear the echo of violence across the desert, the pilot and mechanic of _Serenity_ stood outside the ship. Wash's eyes were trained on the large plume of smoke beginning to dissipate on the horizon, holding a comm. receiver in a death grip and hanging off every bit of muttered profanity that spewed from it.

Kaylee's eyes, however, were directed upward in the opposite direction a deep frown marring her face as she eyed the bullet ridden starboard hull. Most of the damage was superficial; however a hull integrity scan revealed three minuscule breaches that would need to be patch-welded before they could even think about breaking atmo. The bigger issue, however, was a synchronizer rod that had been damaged and some wiring that had shorted because of it. She wasn't overly worriedly; the patches needed wouldn't take more than an hour, and by some odd coincidence she'd stumbled across a few spare synchronizers on Ariel. With an extra set of hands or two, all-in-all, the repairs she thought, wouldn't take more than the bad side of four hours.

"How are you not panicking?" Wash finally broke and snapped at her.

Kaylee rolled her eyes as she turned back around to face him. "Riddick glows in the dark and can smell where me and Jayne had sex. Riv reads minds and calculates faster than a computer inside her head. Mal and Zoe made it from beginnin' to end in the War without more'n a coupla of scars to show for it, not to mention the last almost seven years of the Capt'n's plans." She ticked the names off on her fingers as she continued. "Book's an ex-Ranger with the Big Guy on his side. Jayne can pick off an apple stem from a mile away, and 'Nara and Simon are halfway 'cross this ruttin' rock. What in the gorram Hell do I got to be worried 'bout that's more important than our girl bein' hurt?"

"Everybody's got a bullet with their name on it." Wash replied tersely, quoting the captain.

"And Riv will tell 'em to duck for it gets close."

"It doesn't work like that and you know it!" Wash snapped, his breathing became ragged as he felt the beginnings of a full-fledged panic attack come on. "She can't hear or see or feel everything! She didn't know Mal and I got took until it was too late!"

"What else do ya want me to do, Wash?" She challenged. "We got orders to stay with the ship; no matter what. All's I can do is get my girl patched up, I let my head walk out there and where do ya think it'll end up? The same place yours is. This is what we do! This is our life!" She reminded him. "Gotta trust they's can handle it." She added more gently.

Wash tried to hold onto his glare, but it left him with a rush of air as he exhaled deeply and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll grab a welding kit."

*T*F*C*

Riddick dodged another shot from the 'Goll's rifle; pivoting away at seemingly the last moment, his eyes tracking every millimeter of each round the abomination fired. He didn't know if time really was slowing or if it was merely a trick of his mind as his senses processed intention of movement before the 'Goll himself knew he was making the moves. He felt the change in the air as each bullet cut a path through it and every sidestep, duck and dip he executed brought him a step closer to the 'Goll. For the Furyan, it felt as though it took several minutes to close in, had anyone been there to bear witness however, they would have merely seen a flash of dark green-grey oddly speckled by cerulean in the few places his armor broke to reveal skin.

The 'Goll held his weapon in a two-handed grip and Riddick's left hand latched onto his barrel yanking it down in a counterclockwise motion as he brought up his bent right arm to deliver a vicious double elbow slash. The Goll's grip slackened as his head was thrown back and the gun clattered into the dust as Riddick spun back up and pounded into the man's torso with a left handed shovel hook that would have cracked ribs if it had not been for the man's armor. Without skipping a beat, as the 'Goll attempted to spin around and recover, Riddick drove his heavily booted foot into the back of his kneecaps and sent him crashing to the ground face first.

"Get up!" Riddick roared, only vaguely aware that the usual cerulean of his veins had flashed to a vivid electric-blue drowning out the caramel of his skin entirely as he backed away a few steps; kicking the gun even further away.

Slowly the 'Goll rose to the challenge, his eyes darkened from vibrant red to a dangerous deep crimson that was utterly lost on the convict due to his color range. It wouldn't have mattered much even if it hadn't been. The Furyan was lost to his conscious mind; his actions driven purely by an unadulterated bloodlust fueled by a wildfire of instinct and fury.

They circled each other. Riddick could heard the sound of Book's modified .45 joining River's 9mm backed by fleeing footsteps and the pained neighing of more than one horse which shouldn't have been made to carry a rider. It would be over soon but not before he took a piece of the hybrid freak in front of him.

His wound was still bleeding, he paid it no mind; already he could feel the skin tightening, the flow hardening as the platelets and plasma began to clot around it. He was aware of the pain; the nociceptors relayed it to the dorsal horn, the dorsal horn passed the sensations on to his thalamus, activating the somatosensory response; reflexively, he shut it down. The synapses in his brain redirected the flow of endorphins and adrenaline, mutating pain into anger which cooled as soon as it boiled; solidifying and hardening into an intense focus. The pulsation of color in his veins traveled up his neck, crept along his jaw line, and up his cheeks to reach his temples, vine-like and edged with thorns.

"What are you?" The question bled past the 'Goll's lips tinged with an odd sort of awe as tiny vid-cam hidden in the crest of his helmet relayed images across the system.

A dark curl wormed its way to Riddick's lips.

_**Soon the stars will tremble at your name.**_

He crooked his fingers in the universal sign for 'bring it'. "Name's Riddick." He rumbled, an inhuman growl vibrating the entirety of his body as it moved from his chest and out his mouth. "Richard B., Furyan."

"You fight well. You would be a boon to the Lady's service." The 'Goll offered, eyeing the wound which did not even seem to faze the man. "We can make you stronger. Kneel and convert; or die and be forgotten, Furyan."

"I kneel to no one."

"As you wish." The 'Goll lunged.

He was fast but Riddick was faster. The Furyan sidestepped, latching on to the 'Goll's outstretched arm and ducking beneath it; a roar broke from him as he used the man's momentum against him and he flipped the cyborg effortlessly into the dirt. The very ground beneath their feet seemed to shake as the monstrous body collided with it.

"I said get up!" Riddick snarled at him as he circled the man at his feet; his ulaks hissing from their sheaths as he prepared himself to go for the kill.

The 'Goll flipped himself back up, with a level of agility that shouldn't have been possible given his armor and size and ripped a large, wickedly serrated knife from his hip. Riddick bent backwards to avoid the first wild swipe of the blade, taking a step backwards as he fluidly moved his body, still bent, to circle back up to take his own swipe. The tip of his right ulak sang out in a screeching metal hiss as it scraped across the man's chest armor. He carried his spin to the ground, sweeping out the 'Golls legs.

On his back once more and looking up from the ground, the silhouette of the Furyan blocked out the sun. He registered the man's boot stomping down only the moment it slammed into his throat. Riddick let his body drop with his boot, his free leg coming down to crouch at his knee and he raised both arms to slam his ulaks down, piercing through the wide glowing eyes of the 'Goll. When he met the resistance of bone, he snapped his wrists out, rending the skull nearly in two.

"Fuck you." Riddick spat a wad of saliva onto the now twitching 'Goll's face and, with a grunt, ripped his ulaks free as he rose.

He was, however, wholly unprepared for the sudden rush of vertigo which wildly screamed through his head. He felt his knees hit the dirt once more next to the corpse before he realized he was falling. His stomach rolled as the world spun and the onslaught of information his senses only moments before had no trouble processing suddenly overwhelmed him. He fell forward onto his hands, spewing up stomach bile and mucus as his head felt like it was tearing itself up from the inside out. He let himself collapse onto the dirt; the wound on his torso screaming in agony and he tasted his own blood in his mouth mixing with the coating of bile. The last thing Riddick saw was River's face, her lips moved, but whatever sound she made was lost to him as he surrendered to the cold bliss of unconsciousness.

*T*F*C*

"I can see the shoulders, Petaline! Just one more big push." Simon encouraged her.

"Oh God!" Petaline screamed as she braced herself agaist Inara's makeshift headboard and pushed with every last bit of strength she had in her body.

The shrieking shrill cry of the newly born replaced her's as she collapsed against Inara. A shaky laugh escaped her as she took in the doctor's awestruck expression as he held the naked and bloody babe up before her.

"It's a boy!" He grinned broadly at her.

*T*F*C*

Rance and Chari reached Petaline's door just in time to hear a male voice announce, "It's a boy!"

_A son._ Burgess's mind barely swallowed the information before his foot kicked in the bedroom door; his laser pistol charged and leveled. Shock and confusion replaced the mixture of excitement and determination on his face as he first took in the empty bed, the comm. device, and the two rifles aimed directly at his head.

"Hello, Rance." Mal grinned cheekily.

There was, however, no grin on Nandi's face as she caught sight of Chari peeking just around Rance's body. "You bitch." Her voice was as icy as her gaze as she spat the insult out at Chari. "They said one of my own turned on me, but I couldn't…I wouldn't. You rotten, cow sucking, cunt!" She hissed venomously.

"He was mine first!" Chari yelled defensively. "Wouldn'ta none of this happened if it wasn't for that ruttin' bitch Petaline!"

Rance ignored the women, his glare fixed solidly on Sanguine, though his eyes held the comm. unit in his peripheral. "Where's. My. Son?" His voice was controlled, each syllable harsh and demanding.

"Believe you been told before-," Mal replied carefully, "-ain't nothin' here that belongs to you."

_**"Where is he?"**_ Rance roared, his laser pistol jabbing at the air.

"Drop your gun." Mal replied calmly, though the steel in his voice was not to be misjudged.

"Ain't scared of those guns." Rance rapped his chest. "Got a bit of armor myself." He chuckled. "And I doubt yer's is rated for laser tech. Hell, maybe I'll just draw a line across the two of y-," Rance never had a chance to finish his sentence. Chari's scream as his brain matter splattered across her body was punctuation point enough. The sound of a bolt cocking was lost beneath Chari's hysterical cries but that sound died as abruptly as Rance's threat had before Nandi lowered the smoking barrel of her rifle.

"Suppose he walked into that." Mal broke the quiet which followed, a little taken aback by the woman's actions himself. It had honestly not gone as he had planned in his head, but then again, whatever did?

"Long time ago." Nandi merely nodded.

*T*F*C*

Metal bubbled and crackled alongside flesh as corpses burned together under the dusk encroaching sky and the somber mournful chorus of Amazing Grace drifted along, twisting in the smoke of the funeral pyres; but paying homage only to those they felt were worthy of burial. It was the scent which tingled Riddick's nostrils into wakefulness as it drifted through the still boarded and now curtained window above the bed he woke in. His eyes remained closed as he took in the scents which intermingled with it; his own blood, disinfectant, vague traces of sex left behind on the sheets, and cheap perfume which had permanently ingrained itself into the wood of the walls. There was gun oil and cigar, which intermingled with traces of explosive residue and stale leather, Jayne; but most potently there was the undeniably camphoric aroma of River. His goggles were missing, but he could tell the room was dark by the lack of traces of heat light produced against his bare skin, and he opened his eyes to see the girl in question sitting cross-legged beside him.

"We won." She informed him lightly, her armor gone and a sketch pad she didn't look up from in her lap as she used the faint light filtering in through the curtain to draw by.

Riddick merely grunted as he slowly pushed himself up; biting back the reflexive growl at the throbbing of his head and searing in his torso.

"It grazed a rib." Again, River's comment was spoken with a degree of nonchalance others unaccustomed to her would have found unnerving given the situation. "They are dead." She added and Riddick didn't need her to elaborate to reason she meant Rance and Chari. He did catch the slight tick of her lips, however before she said next, "It should be noted, you are the only one of ours that sustained an injury."

"Only one dumb 'nough to run straight into a ruttin' minigun." The merc grunted and handed the convict a flask. "So much for finesse."

Again, Riddick only replied with a grunt as he accepted the flask and let the burn of whiskey counter the sear of his freshly stitched torso.

"'Ccordin' to Riv, few of 'em 'Golls got 'way, three or four of Burgess's goons." Jayne informed him. "Nandi blew off Rance's head and then popped a hole through Chari. Who knew the whore had it in her?" He snorted a chuckle. "Oh, and uh, that other girl, she had a boy. That's 'bout what you missed." Jayne gave him the rundown as he lit a cigar.

"Shit reeks." Riddick rumbled as he threw back another shot from the flask.

Jayne rolled his eyes as he puffed away and Riddick took a good look at the merc for the first time since opening his eyes. His face was marred by a few stitches across his forehead and a handful of small nicks and cuts but he was otherwise unharmed.

"We look the worst?" Riddick asked.

"Yup." Jayne frowned a little. "Tried to fuckin' blow me up. Goddamn 'Golls. Jayne Cobb don't get blown up, he blows other folk up." He added indignantly. "Right bunch of dirty sons of bitches." He grumbled as he took back his flask from the convict. "I'll let the others know you're up."

Riddick waited for the door to close behind the merc before speaking. "Don't think I can stand."

"I would advise against it." She had yet to look up from her sketch pad but she answered his next series of unspoken questions without hesitation. "You went into shock. It was too much. You must learn to control it and not allow it to control you. What it is? I do not know." She did look up then, and set her pad aside to shift onto her took his arm and held it across her lap, tracing a finger over a vein visible through his skin. "It is unlike anything she knows. She can hear secrets in your veins, Furyan. I felt them sing in my own. In a language she does not know." Her fingers ceased their movement and she waited to catch his eyes before she spoke. "Things are different now." River said, recalling words spoken months before.

"No shit." He tried to shake the throbbing of his head away; River's cryptic wording wasn't helping the pounding of it in the slightest. "Know your brother's got shit that has a better kick then what he gave me."

"It is not _ge-_ge's work." River trailed her fingers across the tiny careful stitches before leaning across him to grab the syringe and vial by the bedside table. "His is exceptional, hers is pristine." She measured carefully a dosage double what was recommended. "Your metabolism has already burned it away." She added.

He stopped her with a hand over hers. "Not enough to put me back out."

She nodded in understanding and, when she pricked his skin, she gave him only two-thirds of what was in the needle. "You can only be what you are, Furyan. This has always been Shirah's message."

"Hadn't dreamed about Shirah since I was kid and then I met you. Wasn't a fucking light bulb before I met you." There was no accusation or even anger in his voice. He let his eyes close as he felt the warmth of the painkillers flood through his veins. "She told me once, you were gonna bring me to her."

"I have no answers." She said quietly.

Riddick raised one of his arms and looked at it as he clenched and unclenched his fist, studying the movement of muscles. "Need to figure out how it works before it gets me killed. Can't go passing out after every fight."

River traced the strong bones of his face and leaned forward to kiss him. "I will teach you the secrets of controlling the tides."

Riddick pulled her down into him, molding her form around his as he recaptured her lips.

*T*F*C*

Nandi pulled the tan silk shawl more tightly around her shoulders as she surveyed the rubble and destruction that was her home. The yard was littered with debris, the attic of her house and part of her roof nearly gone, and what was left intact was bullet-ridden and fire-scorched. It wasn't the physical state of things which hung so heavily on her shoulders however; four of hers were dead, six others wounded, Chari had betrayed her, and now those left alive stared back at her with mournful and broken eyes.

It wouldn't be the first time she'd have to start anew, to gather the ruin of her life and rebuild it into something worth anything at all. She just didn't know if she had it in her to do it again. How long before another Burgess replaced the last? How long before she'd have to feel the weight of a rifle in her hands again? Perhaps she should have never left Shinon; perhaps they had been right when they told her her life was blessed and she had just been too naïve and greedy. Perhaps freedom and happiness and peace really were just too much to ask for when one wanted them all at once.

Her hair caught and tangled in a sudden rush of wind and the sound of a small ship engine filled her ears. She looked up to see a shuttle, the one Inara had first arrived in, fly overhead. Its arrival had those left and able to scrambling from the house and various parts of the yard to greet it; with a long, weary exhale, Nandi made her way towards it as well.

The hatch door opened, though it took a few minutes for anyone to appear in it, the crowd waited patiently and, before long, they were rewarded with the sight of a very tired Petaline half-supported by the doctor and Inara as she cradled a small bundle against her chest. Her eyes went wide and tearful, however, as she took in the state of the grounds and she pulled herself out of her caretakers hold and towards Nandi, the woman who'd cared for her more than her own mother.

"I'm so sorry!" She cried, the small bundle between them as she tried to hug her around it. "This is all my fault!"

"Hush now." Nandi soothed her. "Woulda done the same for any of you." She looked up at the small gathered crowd. The bundle let out a squirming, dissatisfied cry, redrawing central focus towards it. "Now ,who's this?" Nandi's lips lit up fractionally with the beginnings of a smile.

Petaline wiped her eyes with her free hand, her smile bright and big enough to make up for what was lost in Nandi's. "Jonah, meet your _nainai _ (grandmother informal). _Nainai, _meet Jonah." She introduced them proudly and surprised Nandi as she pushed the baby into her arms.

"Oh, Petaline." Nandi's voice broke apart on a sigh, the half-smile she had donned blossoming into something that stole away the traces of darkness in her eyes. "He looks just like his momma." She cooed as she caressed the small cheek. "_Shao yi_ (little one), welcome home."

*T*F*C*

_Serenity_ remained dirt-side until the following dusk; making the necessary repairs to her hull and graciously lending out the use of their hauler to tow the largest of the debris a distance from Nandi's land. The ship had remained where she was, berthed in safety some distance from the brothel and it was Mal and Inara whom lingered behind to say their goodbyes.

"Captain, I don't know if I can thank you for all you've done." Nandi said graciously as she walked the pair to Inara's waiting shuttle.

"Just be vague on the details when this story gets retold and that should do." Mal replied with feigned easiness. "I'll let you ladies say your farewells." He nodded to her and ducked into the shuttle, just as eager to be gone from the place as he had been to leave St. Albans behind. Tracey's taunt over leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake was fresh on the surface of his mind, the weight hunching his shoulders slightly as he dropped into the pilot's chair and dialed up the ignition sequence.

Outside the shuttle, the two sisters hugged each other tightly. "I won't see you again, will I?" Nandi whispered in her ear.

"The life I lead now-," Inara sighed as she released her, "-I wish I knew." She pulled a small heavy sack from inside the sleeve of her kimono and pressed it into Nandi's hand. "Please." She said softly, preventing any protest. "I have no one else to share it with."

Nandi nodded, albeit slightly reluctantly, and tucked the pouch into the belt of her dress. She brushed a piece of Inara's hair behind her ear. "Take care of yourself, _mei-mei_, and for Buddha's sake, give that man a chance." She forced out a small chuckle. "Let someone in."

Inara gave her hand one last squeeze before letting go. "_Jue bie_ (bid farewell with little hope of ever meeting again)."

*T*F*C*

Mal and Inara lingered still in her shuttle after locking back in. They sat through liftoff and the tremble of breaking atmosphere in silence. It wasn't until the Black encased them fully once again that the captain broke the silence that had hung in the air since leaving behind The Heart of Gold.

"I think she'll be alright." He said, swallowing thickly.

"What she's built there is stronger than Rance. Nandi is a survivor." Inara replied softly.

He nodded and took a deep breath and turned in his chair to face her. "'Nara, 'bout what I said-,"

"Mal-," she interrupted, "-I…" She rose from her chair. "I've decided I'm not going to take any more clients." She rushed out. "I know my status is needed, but I've been forging my register for the most part as it is… I don't see why I couldn't just coul-," She was cut off abruptly as she turned to find Mal standing right in front of her.

"'Nara, I ain't looking for nothin' from you." He raised his hand to push back the same strand of hair Nandi had. "Just feelin' kinda truthsome right now and life's too damn short for ifs and maybes. Just… I just…"

Inara raised her fingers and pressed them against his lips to silence him. "Nandi made me realize something. I knew it already, I think; River's not exactly subtle at times." She smiled fondly. "I think it was _Serenity_ that taught me though; I just didn't realize what it was until I saw someone have it, too. She has a family there, and their love for each other, that's what will get them through this. This ship, our crew… I want to be a part of it."

"Ya already are." He told her and retracted his hand , just now realizing he had left it on her cheek but she stopped him and covered it with her own.

"I…I know." She chewed on her lip. "But, I..." Frustrated with her inability to make the words she needed to come out of her mouth, she simply leaned up and kissed him.

Mal froze, completely and utterly thrown into a daze as her soft fully lips pressed against his own. He blinked as she pulled away.

"Say something, Mal." She nearly pleaded on his blank look and, when a moment passed without it changing, she started to pull away, chastising herself silently for making a fool out of herself.

Her step away, however, jarred Mal's mind back into motion. "Now hold on there." His face broke out into a cheeky grin as he pulled her back into his arms. "I was just making sure I didn't pass out."

"_Piyan_ (asshole)." She swatted at him, laughing.

"Maybe a little bit." He chuckled. "How 'bout we try this 'gain?" He didn't wait for her to answer as his lips descended on hers and he poured every bit of stored tension into the kiss he'd been waiting for more than a year to give her.

*T*F*C*

In the mess, River looked up from the game of chess she was playing against herself in the alcove as Riddick sat beside her, his feet propped up on the table. The rest of the crew, saved Wash and Zoe, occupied themselves with various other things as they waited for the shepherd to finish dinner.

"What?" Riddick took the bait.

"Jayne now owes Sunshine a hundred platinum." She smiled broadly at him.

.


	84. Hunters

A/N:

Those of you that pop into my profile have seen the latest status update which mentioned me completing this sort of mini-interlude/episode and then realizing I had shot myself in the foot and contradicted some previously written material; as a result, everything had to change.

After much thought and some eyelash plucking and head banging this is where we're heading. Sorry for the delay and I do so hope you enjoy. This short little bit is more like a teaser than anything else, but I've made some serious concrete decisions now so hopefully the next Interlude will come quickly.

I am eternally and infinitely grateful for the unending plethora of support and admiration of this work. I cannot possibly begin to describe how truly ecstatic your reviews make me. You folks rock. Much, much luv to you all.

_Dessel Ordo, Tempest S., Rachet, dragonsfae, Chase Network, sxevlbtch, CeruleanKitten, Aireon Maris, Tavarus Magnus, librarywitch, Teddybearwithfangs, Dericof Diname, CGandJaz, Elliesmeow, celticicegoddess, , thedancingelk, gypsy girl, Chaosborn, Dherea, Amethyst246, ArtLightLove, Alexydra, Myst Shadow, Stardust0808, Brad W, redkama, Fancy Piece of Work, Reda, Zen007, mommy2onebb, ZenRyu, Rachelie, Ankle, m0rem0k, chacra, Mrstrentreznor, (), & Turtle Kid the Woolgatherer_

A huge shout out again to my Beta, Thug-4-Less, whose big, juicy brain worked out the finer details of Merc Guilds for me so I could focus on the plot. I also owe him a major debt of gratitude for the unending store of tech knowledge he provides and an eye for detail that rivals my own; not to mention he's just a really, really good dude :D Much Love Bro, I wouldn't have made it this far without you.

Without further ado,

_***Still don't own a damn thing.***_

**Hunters**

In a grand contradiction to the open, desolate spaces found on the Rim worlds, Osiris in White Sun was a world of cities; endless cities which bled over into each other's borders before shifting their focus to dominate the expanse of sky. Here massive skyscrapers, twisting spires of metal and glass, cut through floating clouds generated by the world's weather control systems and reflected rays of sunlight to shine as a blinding beacon of civilization and progress. Londinium may have been the capital of the Alliance, but Osiris was its mecca of business and commerce; and it was the 'Verse's worst kept secret that the true power of the Alliance lay not with its military but with its coin.

Every day thousands of ships entered and left atmo on various errands and in the natural tide of business. The docking yards in the upper levels played host to dignitaries and business men, the wealthy and entitled, while the lower yards hosted a thriving underground shielded by the shadows those above cast. The ones who preferred to keep their hands clean of blood but couldn't wash the sin from smiles which gleamed like the skyscrapers they made their deals in. Crime on Osiris was quiet and clean; swept neatly beneath the carpet of clouds which divided the elite from those they walked on.

It was in one such dock that a small, sleek black ship berthed itself. The stealth-capable, triangular-shaped craft was the latest of prototypes developed by The Company and would have drawn a measure of curiosity had it docked most anywhere else. As it was however, the docking port it had chosen was private, enclosed and owned by one of dozens of shell corporations Blue Sun operated through. The workers stationed there knew better than to acknowledge what their eyes saw. The occupants of said ship, the two Blue Sun agents whom had succeeded their predecessors after the latter's assumed and subsequently confirmed failure and death, remained in the cockpit. They occupied the only open space in the ship aside from duel rows of three cryo-stasis containers each.

Four, the slightly taller and blonder of the two remained fixated on a rezzed 3-D screen as Six, his counterpart, finished powering down their vessel. The very corners of Four's lips were tilted downward in the vaguest frown while the majority of his face remained impassive. His expression, however, did not go unnoticed.

"You are displeased. Why?" Six questioned as he swiveled slightly in his chair.

"I am not displeased-," Four corrected, "-merely perplexed as to the Subject's continued ability to evade notice and capture. It suggests a level of coherency and cognitive awareness in the Subject beyond even our initial estimations."

"We cannot forget the variable that is Quarry S. Tam." Six reminded him.

"And I have not." Four assured his counterpart. "I only question the involvement of unknown variables."

"Were they being hidden by enemies of The Company, we would not be contemplating her silence."

"We would not." Four agreed. "However, we cannot assume that she is not being aided by the enemies of our friends."

"Independents?" Six questioned. "They would expose the Subject for their own benefit." He dismissed the idea as soon as he had vocalized it. "They are no different from the various corporate terrorists which plague The Company. If anything, they are less well connected and far more destitute."

"It is their lack of connections that leads me to believe they would be far more capable of concealing the Subject." Four disagreed. "What remains of the Independents are scattered and ill-organized. The numbers of the inactive far outstretch the numbers of those still engaged in defiance."

"You are assuming then that the Subject is being concealed by a former rebel?" It was Six's turn to impersonate a frown. "Assumption is a dangerous course."

"I assume nothing." Four assured him. "I have been unable to discover mention of the Subject in intercepted Waves, however, the chatter suggests that the Independents are once again growing in numbers and gathering influence."

"You believe then that they are readying their strike?"

"The snake is always prepared to strike." Four replied. "It merely awaits opportunity."

"Do you doubt our purpose here?'

Four did not immediately reply. "No." He ventured cautiously. "Regardless of the form or face the snake represents, it has curled itself around our quarry. We hold no hope of success in attempting to uncover its hole. We must flush the serpent from its nest." He leaned forward and powered down his computer. "Beginning here."

"Their deaths will not go unnoticed." Six replied as he followed the example of his counterpart.

"That is indeed the point." Four responded.

"By other than our quarry." Six clarified.

"And that is unfortunate." Four acknowledged. "It is also unavoidable. Do you doubt our course?" It was Four's turn to question as they disembarked from their craft and sealed it behind them.

"No." Six responded much more quickly than his comrade had. "Should it have no effect on the Subject, it will contain the knowledge of her existence. I draw attention to the fact that this was not within our original mission parameters. Our deviation from the set course will not go unnoticed by The Company."

"Then the deviation from our usual methods will be enough to blind them." Four dismissed his concern.

"I find this to be… unclean." What came close to a sneer curled at Six's tone.

"As do I." Four conceded. "Necessities often are."

*T*F*C*

"Four different trajectories." Jubal Early bit out through a clenched jaw after scanning through the information on the data-chip Gina's contact had provided.

"Still the best lead you've had." She argued defensively.

"And it still gives me absolute shit!" He snapped at her. "All this tells me-," he waved his hand angrily at the rezzed 3-D screen, "-is that they're running through dead space and so is every other goddamn smuggling ship in this 'Verse!"

Gina really couldn't argue the point and she bit the insult off before it could jump off her tongue; pissing Early off any more than he was already wouldn't help her tentative situation and place on his ship. Not that she wanted to stay in close quarters with her former partner, turned enemy, turned partner again; but her chances of nailing Reynolds and his crew back for what they had done to her would drop significantly if Early decided he really didn't need her. She needed to change tactics; as much as she loathed the man, he was a better tracker than she could have ever hoped to be.

"Jubal, you are a single S-ranker with Lupus 5, don't tell me you can't get a whiff of somethin' from all this." She cajoled him. "This is what you do; why you're one of the best." She turned to the computers and rezzed four smaller screens, each with a separate trajectory. "Narrow it down." She urged him.

Jubal glared at her a moment longer before conceding and taking a long look at each one of the screens. "This one." He closed out the top leftmost one. "Headed right for the Core; leaving from Beylix, that would take them through an Alliance checkpoint and past a main NavSat relay station before they'd get the opportunity to skip." He brought the three remaining into a horizontal line to get a better look at them. "This one's gone, too." He closed down the route that would have taken _Serenity_through the ghost tracks leading to Red Sun. "That band of space is littered with scavengers. Reynolds wouldn't risk getting his ship jacked out there. That leaves Ares in Georgia and New Canaan in Blue Sun."

"Has to be New Caanan." Gina said immediately. "I'd bet coin on them heading out that way. Good money in booze smuggling."

Jubal wasn't so convinced and didn't validate her assumption with so much as a tick of an eyebrow as he stared down the route to Ares. There was no rational reason a ship full of fugitives would get within seven sectors of Ares but, from what he'd managed to dig up on Reynolds and crew, they were nothing if not a bunch of cocky bastards. Ares was, for all intents and purposes, under the control of the Merc Guilds; any guild that was worth anything had a headquarters there. The last time he himself had been there was to receive his S-rank and purchase the very undercutter craft they were on now. He grabbed her hand as she reached over to close out the screen he was focused on.

"Don't touch." He chastised her as if she were an impatient child; which, in his opinion, she was.

"You can't seriously think they'd take the Ares road?" She asked critically as she snatched her arm back; making a mental note to scrub the skin he'd touched.

Jubal ignored her as he rotated the image and followed the trajectory through the slow zoom of its path. He froze the screen. "There." He magnified the image again. "That's where they would jump. They're not going to Ares. They're not even leaving the system." Jubal said with surety. "They want this band of dead space." He shifted the view of the screen. "This time of year, New Kashmir's orbit blacks out a set of NavSat trackers that monitor the lanes out to Orion Station. They'd disappear off the shipping tracks and, even if anyone was looking, it wouldn't be anything unusual." Jubal chewed on that bit of information for a moment. "They're good." He acquiesced. "Very, very good." He smiled to himself, an ugly twisting of his lips that raised the entire right side of his face. "But I'm much better."

"So where would they go from there?" Gina asked, ignoring the blatant invitation for an insult as she leaned forward to take a better look at the screen for herself.

Jubal leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers as he stared at the screen; while Gina resorted to chewing on the inside of her cheek to keep from pressing him. He was onto something, that much was obvious in the way his brow furrowed; she could practically feel the wheels in his head turning as he glared at the screen. It took several minutes but he leaned forward once more and began to rapidly type out a set of commands to his computers.

Traveling through space wasn't as simple as picking a direction and setting course. There were lanes and tracks for good reasons; the largest and most obvious, aside from fuel efficiency, being the gravitational forces of the planets and moons that drifted through space. In dead space the safe routes weren't designated, nor were they monitored. It took a pilot or navigator that had more than just basic textbook skill to find their way through and, as a result, trying to track a ship through it was nearly impossible.

"What are you doing?" Gina demanded when she couldn't take his silence any longer.

"There are other perks to being a guild member besides the shiny toys." Early informed her wryly.

"As in?" Gina pressed irritably.

"The Fugitive Retrieval Act."

Gina briefly closed her eyes and choked on the urge to shoot the man sitting in the chair in front of her. "Which is?"

"A convenient little loophole that allows me to commit certain felonies in the name of justice."

"And which felony are we committing now?" She asked with feigned sweetness.

"Hacking into the CRN."

"The Cortex Relay Network?" Gina questioned, more than slightly confused.

"Alliance NavSat might have lost them by the blackout but, if they jumped on this route, the commercial Cortex satellites which orbit New Kashmir would have targeted the ship for regional advertisements before they had the chance to. I need to make sure they jumped, otherwise we're just wasting fuel and chasing our tails. The CRN dumps its stored cache once a month. It's been less than a week since they skipped here; if they passed by New Kashmir, the satellite should still have their Cortex IP in its log."

Gina actually laughed. "Can't stop the signal." Early's brow furrowed as he looked up at her. She waved him off. "Something this freaky little hacker that set me up with the crew said." She rolled her eyes. "Repeatedly."

Jubal acknowledged her with a slight incline of his head before he removed a small sack of cooper pieces and tossed them to her. "Stock the ship. It'll take a few hours for the computer to find the information and trace it."

"Should I wag my tail and have you pat my head?" Gina sneered. "I love being told to fetch. I thought you didn't waste money on the finer luxuries like food." Really, Gina wasn't entirely sure why she was complaining. She could still feel the residual twinges of the headache from the last round of cryo she'd suffered through on his ship. The former merc had assumed all the money he saved on food and water would have been put to good use by purchasing a higher end cryo-cocktail and she had been wrong.

"We're going to have to run them down in space." Early ignored her complaint. "Once we get close, I'll have to shut down everything but life support to get past their scanners. We'll need to be awake for that."

"You want to take down Riddick and the Tams in the Black?" Gina asked incredulously.

"And you would prefer to face them on the ground? Where they have no considerations except escaping us?" He didn't give her the opportunity to answer. "In the Black, on their ship, they'll have nowhere to run. We hit them in their night cycle, while the crew is asleep, and by the time they realize something is wrong, it will already be too late."

"Or they cut us off from our ship and we're the ones that get screwed."

"My ship, little girl, my ship." Jubal corrected with no little amount of derision.

Gina resorted to rolling her eyes again. "I don't have the engine room or bridge codes." She admitted.

"And we won't need them." He assured her. "We'll simply bypass them."

"And won't that take time? Time we won't have to waste?"

"Like the time you're wasting now?" He challenged. "Let me worry about the details, Gina, just do what you're told."

Realizing the futility of the argument, Gina bit her tongue. She tossed the pouch of coopers in her hand, resigning herself to the fact it wouldn't buy much more than a crate of protein Redi-Packs. "And what if you're wrong about New Kashmir?" She asked, wanting the next move in case Jubal decided to strand her on Beylix.

"Then you and your contacts will have proven to be absolutely useless to me." He answered with feigned pleasantness. "So you better hope I'm right."

"Is that a threat?" She asked tightly.

"Just a statement of fact; take it as you like." He responded without looking back up from his screens. "Don't you have things to do?

*T*F*C*

The long, rectangular-shaped craft which drifted though the shipping lanes between systems was heavily customized and retrofitted above and beyond the standard issue available for sale to the highest ranking members of Black Dawn. The captain of the merc-class cruiser, _The__Executioner,_ William Walker, was one of only three registered mercs throughout the conglomeration of more than fifty guilds licensed by the Alliance Judiciary Commission to obtain the double S ranking required for its purchase.

Walker had just wasted the last week and a half on Athens chasing down his current marks on a bad lead that had led them to an abandoned hospital serving as the HQ for a band of former Browncoats that couldn't seem to let the dream die. Although his team had made certain it did after a two hour raid that had cost them Marks, the sharpshooter they'd brought in when Cobb had turned them down. On the upside, they'd managed to collect two bounties, but they were small time and hadn't even deserved to be a blip on _The__ Executioner__'__s_ radar.

"They have to have help." Pitor, Walker's right hand and an A-ranked merc within his own right as all of Walker's team was, groused as he reviewed for what felt like to him the millionth time the digital printouts of false sightings and supposed leads.

"Well, no shit." Rachel, _The __Executioner__'__s_ pilot retorted. "You figure that out all by yourself? Paris, give the man a prize."

"Fuck you." Pitor didn't even bother to look at the woman as he delivered his response.

"Could be that last lead wasn't all wrong." Paris suggested, ignoring the bickering pilot and first mate. "Could be the Browncoats are hiding them; we just got the wrong set."

"Too bad we blew them all to bits 'fore we could ask." Riley chuckled more to himself than anyone else as he picked at his nails with the tip of a blade.

Walker grunted in the negative as he held an unlit cigar between his teeth in the left corner of his mouth. "Skills like these-," he gestured to the two photos which had been tacked stationary in the center of the table, "-Browncoats wouldn't waste."

"At this point, I think we have to assume they've managed to scrub they're facials." Rachel pointed out. "No way they could lay low enough for this long without pinging offa something."

"She's right." Walker removed his cigar and used it to point at her. "Their data's gone from the system but I still don't think the Browncoats would be able to or want to just sit on these two. There ain't a crime on these sheets; means espionage, high level. Means they have a little ole secret and there's no way the rebels wouldn'ta blown it up by now."

"So that's gotta mean they're being hidden by the other side of the line." Rachel ventured. "Triad?"

"Then we're more than fucked." Pitor ran a hand through his messy brown hair. "No way we can get close enough to any one of the Triad factions to even get a whiff of sake."

"Triad wouldn't do it for free." Paris shook his head in the negative. "It'd cost, cost big. They'd need mommy and daddy's money for that kind of protection and their folks have the all parental instincts of moldy protein." He flipped through the scattered sheets and stacks until he unearthed a thick bundle. "Nothing in any of the shit you had us dig up on those two says they're helping their kids." He flipped through it uselessly before tossing it back down on the table.

"Don't think so either." Walker conceded as he scratched an itch along the twisted scarring of his neck. "They've disowned 'em and let the Alliance tap their Cortex and banking records voluntarily."

"That was a bitch to get around when I had to tap them for us." Paris complained.

"So they're underground and dug in like ticks." Riley grunted. "Facials wiped, gotta be moving around on a ship, but even with wiped facials somebody woulda seen somethin'; bounty's too high for them to ghost. Girl can pilot, boy's a Core-class surgeon…"

"Keep going." Walker encouraged as he leaned back in his chair and watched the gears in his gun's head slowly turn. Riley was new to his crew, brought in at the same time as Marks after Jayne had turned him down. He would have been the ideal replacement for the merc on his own had he not been absolute shit when it came to sniper shooting and ground tracking; he was, however, a close-combat specialist and, much like Jayne, had a special sort of knack for prying out information from closed-lipped mouths and absolutely no moral code to go along with it.

"Well, I been thinkin'-,"

"That must hurt." Paris quipped.

Riley merely shot him a quick glare before continuing, "These two are Core-bred, don't give a shit what kinda skills they got, any half-wit Rim rat could ping a Core from a mile away. They don't last long in the outer reaches; too dangerous for them to stick too close to civilization. So they gotta be movin' and movin' quick."

"You got a point?" Rachel asked. "We all know this shit."

"Point is, I'm thinking maybe we're over-estimatin' these two. We've been running down leads on Browncoats, organized crime syndicates, the big dogs; but what if these two found themselves a small independent operation, say a smugglin' crew? Some shit-level that pulls in enough coin and work to keep them jumpin' from system to system, but ain't big 'nough to draw too much attention."

"Why a smuggling crew?" Paris asked, interested now.

"Any freelance merc or space dog ship would sell 'em out first day, an honest transport would want papers and they move through Alliance checkpoints, but thieves-," he shrugged, "-smugglers, they got every reason to stick to dead space and be gone as soon as they get some place. I think we're lookin' in the wrong direction, boss."

"He's got a point." Pitor said. "Say she's flyin' or, hell why waste talent like that on a pilot, she's probably a gun." Rachel gifted him with an obscene hand gesture but didn't bother this time with responding verbally to his dig; it was duly ignored by the first mate as he continued. "You figure any kind of crew, especially small-timers, would jump on a doc like the kid."

"Only narrows it down to a few thousand crap ass ships out there." Rachel snidely remarked. "And with their facials gone, we're still driftin' in shit without a thruster to get the rutting hell out."

"Your penchant for optimism never ceases to amaze me." Paris commented dryly, looking at her sideways.

"Reality and pessimism are one in the same. I didn't earn my A-rank by thinking the 'Verse shat rainbows and bubblegum." She retorted.

"Some real hard work you put in there, sittin' all comfy and clean behind the pilot's chair." Riley muttered.

Rachel, who was accustomed to such accusations, merely gifted him with the same gesture she did Pitor.

"Enough." Walker warned gruffly, his tone barely raised but heavily laden with impatience. "Let's say our siblings did hook up with a small-time crew; wouldn't be enough with just their skills to keep someone on that crew from sellin' 'em out and it'd only be a matter of time before they was found out if they were tryin' to keep their identities a secret." He fiddled with the end of his cigar as he thought out loud. "We're looking for retired military. Got to be." He concluded after a moment with absolute surety. "I'm thinking somebody with a grudge against the Alliance; somebody who ain't lookin' to fight another war but appreciates the value of a good 'fuck-you' to our boys in purple. Wouldn't be no private, that's for damn sure."

"How you figure?" Paris asked.

"Makes sense." Riley cut in before Walker could reply. "Betcha he even feels like he's pullin' a fast one on the 'Lliance every time he sees 'em in his bay. He'd 'ppreciate the value of their skills, too. We might want to start turnin' over some rocks; find out if anybody's recently made a jump between leagues. He might not be tryin' to advertise but ya can't hide skills like these and they'd put any crew into a whole new league. If he's military, he'd know when and how to use 'em, too."

"Who says it's a he?" Rachel asked archly.

"Can you please cram that feminist _gou__shi_ back into that hole that never shuts the fuck up?" Pitor groaned. "Who gives a fuck if the captain is a she or a he? They're standin' between us and a multi-million platinum payday. I'll put a bullet between their eyes just the same; don't matter if they call their dangly bits balls or tits."

"Be more fun if they was tits though." Riley waggled his eyebrows.

The men chuckled while Rachel merely resorted to rolling her eyes again. She was one of the few female mercs in the 'Verse that ranked anywhere above a C; she'd made it that far by knowing when to pull her gun, when to slice with her tongue and, even more useful, when to just shut her mouth and move on. It was a boy's club. She wouldn't venture to call it a 'men's' club but it was definitely a boy's game and, if she wanted a piece of the protein pie, dealing with their shit was the price.

"So what's out next move then?" She asked instead.

Walker leaned back in his chair, the fingers of his left hand drummed against the arm while his right continued to fiddle with the cigar stub. An itch had formed at the base of his skull; an itch that curled his chapped lips into a sneer but he kept the thought urged by the itch to himself for the moment. "Set us a course for Beylix."

"Beylix?" Rachel asked but one look from her captain had her raising her hands in surrender. "You point, I fly." She conceded and pushed herself out of her chair.

"Riley, start diggin' through the Board, find us a couple of low-level bounties that ain't worth our time but'll give us a bit of leverage to loosen a few tongues 'bout any changes in the players in case Beylix don't pan out. Focus on Beaumonde. Place is a smuggler's paradise and it'll be our next stop if we come up dry." He ordered. "Paris, see what kinda chatter's on the Cortex, find me any dust-ups that seem a bit off, we're looking for an arrogant sumofabitch playin' white knight."

"That'll take some time, boss, even if I just focus on the Rim." Paris replied hesitantly. "It's a real long shot."

"How long we been tryin' to run these two down?" Walker barked back. "Get me a goddamn lead or find yourselves another ruttin' ship to fuck around on!" His fist hit the table as a punctuation point, closing the conversation and debate without a shadow of a doubt.

Pitor lingered behind the others. "Cobb's runnin' with a former Browncoat." He reminded his captain once the others were gone.

"Why the fuck you think I'm headin' to Beylix?" Walker replied. "He's got a soft spot for his Ma and there's one too many things that don't add up with that boy these days. Don't make sense he'd walk away from this much coin without a good damn reason."

"You really think he wouldn't turn 'em in? This much coin?" Pitor asked skeptically. "Said yourself Cobb would turn himself in for the right price."

"And that raid on Niska's or the hospital job he had in on?" Walker countered. "No way just anybody or any crew coulda pulled that off. From what you dug up on his, they hadn't ever even tried to dip their toes in that kinda water before. Cobb may be dumber than a pile of dried crap baking in the sun but even he could do the math on the kinda coin that pair could bring him in if they stayed free. Not to mention the fact our boy is playin' for the other side of the line now, havin' this pair-," he gestured to the tacked photos again, "-would go a long way in keepin' his ass free and rich."

"So we're gonna use his bounties against his Ma?" Pitor asked.

"Or her 'gainst him." Walker smirked. "Don't really give a fuck."

"And what if we're just chasin' our tail and he ain't? This really is a long shot, Wil."

"Then we make 'im an offer he can't refuse and I get my gorram sharpshooter back. I'm takin' a win outta this side trip one way or the other. I ruttin' promise you that."

*T*F*C*

Riddick watched her dance from the shadows cast by the upper catwalk in the semi-darkened bay. He hadn't announced his presence. He knew she knew he was there without needing to; she was always aware of him, always conscious of their proximity, and she could decipher it down to the millimeter if he'd asked. He didn't need to; he had become aware of her in the same fashion. When he had been awoken by her absence from their bed, he had merely followed the pull of the intangible cord that stretched between them, no longer even needing to scent the air, and he had found her dancing in silence.

The absence of music was unsurprising. Riddick knew she heard it even if it wasn't there. He knew it never stopped, just as he knew it wasn't to the melody of some remembered tune that she danced to. It was the incessant whispers carried along the current of _The __River_ which shaped her steps. The unheard voices of trillions and the screams which never made it past their lips but ricocheted through minds to echo through the depths of the universe to her; muddled and muffled as sound tended to distort beneath water.

River was more than just her name, he had long since realized. It was the way she moved, fought, spoke, and thought; sometimes like a babbling brook, broken and stuttered, other times a rampaging flash flood, or the slow trickle through soil which eventually joined the steady, contrast stream of groundwater. Then there were times like now when she flowed seamlessly; her body bending and twisting, rushing unhindered by obstacle or uncertainty as she cut her own course. She was entangled in a stream of motion which traversed the borders of dance and war; spins, steps, and leaps evolving into kicks, flips, and jabs; her braids whipping around her body and acting as an almost punctuation point for every declaration of movement.

She was beautiful; fucking divinity incarnate to his eyes. A harbinger of death wrapped up in silken ribbons and she was his. What had begun as an admittedly unhealthy fixation on the little crazy, titillated by the secrets which dripped from her pores, had grown into an all-encompassing obsession that trod the line of addiction; the moth to the flame. He couldn't look away if he tried; he had no desire to, she was everything he hadn't realized he'd been looking for. Someone who could keep up.

If he was honest with himself, he had boarded _Serenity_ because after Carolyn and Jack and a rock with three suns, he couldn't go back to the man he had been. Living to spite death had worn out its appeal and a small seed of something he had refused to acknowledge before had taken root. He'd felt those roots twist beneath the flesh of his body, the vine-like stem twine around his spine to spread along the network of nerves that wrapped around muscle and then blossom into wanting… needing something more.

River was different; he had known that from the very beginning. Despite the insanity that spewed out of her mouth from the moment she popped out of the cryo box, he'd liked the way it had curled off her tongue; the whimsical undertones and rolling giggles which bubbled like blood from her lips and spoke secrets no one else could ever know; that spoke to him as no one else ever could. She wasn't afraid of the shit that twisted inside his head and, unlike Carolyn, she had no desire for him to rejoin the human race. She wanted and needed the monster he'd always been accused of being; the one, again if he was honest, he enjoyed very much being.

The smell of her had ingrained itself so deeply into his skin it had mutated his scent into something entirely different. There was no walking up the downslide and Riddick had no desire to; there was no going back to a life without her. Somewhere along his road to making her dependent on him, he had become dependent or her. It was her disapproval which kept him from disobeying Mal's orders, her happiness that kept him from taking her away and disappearing into the Black even though it ran opposed to every one of his instincts; for her, he would do anything. For her, he would bleed the 'Verse dry and bring her back buckets of it to bathe in if she wished.

He was now her monster, and it was that truth which lead him to the answers for the very questions that plagued him. Why River? Why had the dreams started again only after he'd met her, why was Shirah convinced the girl would lead him to her, and why the fuck had he started glowing blue since he'd met her?

_You can only be what you are, Furyan. Just as I can only be what I am._

_And what's that? _

_A death dealer, a secret keeper, a mind breaker._

The bit of conversation had drifted around his head since the last of the painkillers he'd allowed himself had run their course through his veins. It intermingled with another bit of conversation he'd had with Shirah months before.

_I__ have __been__ with__ you__ always.__ For__ such__ a__ long__ time,__you __were __beyond __my __reach__ because__ you__ did__ not__ want __to __know __the __truth__…__She __changed __everything__…_

The nameless figment with eyes like his that had stalked his dreams and even at times his waking moments had terrified him as a kid. He realized now that somehow he'd managed to block her from his head; some kind of subconscious defense he was sure there was a ten-syllable name for that wouldn't mean shit to him. Then a little crazy with no control over her abilities had popped screaming out of a box and into his life.

A mind breaker. _The__ River_ had found the cracks in barriers he didn't know he had built and eroded the stone enough for Shirah to slip back in; and once she was in she had been insistent that he open up everything for River. It raised the questions, what if she had wanted into those places as well, and why, if she was so insistent he allow River fully in his mind; did she go to such lengths to hide herself from the Reader?

Riddick wasn't willing to assume the woman was completely his ally just because she was inside his head. He didn't know what Shirah really was but he knew she was real and she had an agenda just like everyone else. What he did know for sure was that she wanted blood; rivers of it, and for some reason, she couldn't get it herself so she wanted Riddick to spill it for her. There was, however, a fatal flaw to her plan. Riddick didn't give a shit about her or the fate of the Furyan race. She knew it, too. Given a choice in the matter he would have told her to go and fuck herself if she'd warned him about going blue even with the added strength he got from it. She needed a reason for him to take what she offered, to drink it in and ask for more like he had been doing.

…_even __the __fiercest__ of __creatures__ calls__ a __place __home, __calls__ those __that __belong __to__ him__ family__…_ _She__ is __yours __Furyan.__ Hunt __with__ your __clan,__ and__ all__ will__ fall __before __your__ feet__…_

River was her catalyst. Riddick had fought against feeling anything for the girl and every step of the way Shirah had been pushing him towards her; pushing him to stay on _Serenity._There had been very few people in his life he had ever given a shit about but those he'd had, he'd fought ferociously for. Tanya, Rhea, Jack, and now River and the crew. Hell, he'd taken bullets for Cobb and walked straight into the line of fire of a mini-gun when Zoe and the others had been pinned inside the brothel. He might not give a flying _goushi_ for Shirah and her cause but, should River and the crew somehow be there when the inevitable shit Shirah went on about hit the fan, he knew, even if he didn't want to admit it, that he wouldn't leave them to rot while he ran to save his own ass. She had seen opportunity and nurtured it until Riddick had practically laid his own bait to trap himself with. He had to question if River's life meant anything to the woman at all or if she was in fact just a means to an end; to load the question further, he wasn't sure what he'd do with the answer to that if he had it.

_Furya will have her vengeance. This little one, will have her blood. _

Did she mean that be that by bringing down whatever ghosts she wanted him to chase he would bring down River's tormentors as well? Or that stirring one sleeping dog would awaken another? Shirah had claimed his and River's fates were intertwined; but to what extent, and when had they joined? The obvious partial answer was the minute the girl had woken screaming; but it was only a partial answer and, much like River's ramblings, Shirah's were always layered and littered with multiple meanings and interpretations. He was unwilling to assume that the obvious answer was the correct one. River was right. There were no answers; not when the answers only produced more questions. Questions he didn't know could exist until he'd stepped aboard _Serenity._

"You are thinking loudly." River's lyrical voice broke the silence she danced in as she commented on his thoughts. "Your thoughts prickle against the skin as your eyes caress like butterfly kisses." The pads of her feet fell flat against the grating only long enough to propel a spin, which sent a fresh tremble of her scent down Riddick's spine. He watched her push off; a back handspring that landed and flowed seamlessly into an effortless series of roundhouses.

Riddick made no response aside from the slight tug at the right corner of his lips as she halted in her dance to allow the fingers of her left hand to graze the skin of her outstretched right arm. "The contradiction is not wholly unpleasant."

He stepped out into the open space of the bay towards her. The dark depths of her eyes drawing him in as she beckoned him from one set of shadows to another. The shadows she carried with her; the ones she cast as she treaded the intangible planes of the unseen 'Verse.

"The stars are whispering." She spoke softly. "Whispering and singing and screaming; _run __little __rabbit __run,__ the __hounds __have __come __to__ play._They whisper and I dream and I feel. Names are being carved into bullets and the stars shriek as though they were being carved into themselves."

"Whose names, River?" His voice was jagged in comparison to her smooth lyrical lilt.

She giggled as she shook her head. "Not his, not hers. Greed is always the creed." The dark amusement that had laced her eyes vanished, leaving behind only a forlorn sorrow before she collapsed down onto the grating. "Pawns and puppets, but which are we? The chessboard has become crowded, pieces and players traversing through a field of battle they ought not to be on but they come. They've come to hunt and they will not retire until all have fallen."

"Not making a whole lot of sense, girl." He rumbled quietly as he crouched down in front of her.

"What did I dream?" She questioned earnestly, though Riddick had a feeling the question wasn't posed to him and didn't try to answer. "I do not know." She continued. "The fragments dance away each time she goes to grasp."

"That what you were doing? Chasing fragments?"

River gifted him with _T__he__ Look._

"Never know." He shrugged as he twisted a braid around his finger.

"And that is the problem." She sighed as she rubbed her neck. "I feel the noose as it tightens. The hounds are drawing near and she cannot S_ee_. She can only feel, and I feel wrong and cold and death everywhere she walks. There is a hunger and it tastes like greed coated in the pretty packaging of false righteousness."

"We knew they'd come." He rumbled as he brushed her hand away from her neck to replace it with his own.

His larger one nearly encompassed the smooth skin entirely, and his thoughts briefly flashed to the moments when he'd envisioned himself snapping the delicate vertebrae and ending his internal conflict the surest way he knew how. He no longer had such thoughts. The slight hollow between her collarbones was his favorite spot on her body. Where the beat of her heart and the breath of her lungs could be felt simultaneously through his lips; where he could taste her life on his tongue.

"Only question is-," he ran his thumb across the small divot that was his, "-whether or not you done playin' at being the hunted one."

She reached up to pull Riddick's goggles down from his face; the obstacle between their gazes not needed in the dim lighting of the bay. "We will dance together, you and I, not as puppets and pawns; the light thinks it is fast but the darkness is always there first."

Riddick's head tilted curiously.

"His thoughts prickle." She raised her hands to either side of his face. "But sometimes they don't. Sometimes they sing like sweet melodies that beckon a dance." She tilted her head at an angle that matched his; mesmerized by her reflection in his eyes. "Fury Lord, I want buckets of blood to bathe in."

The veins beneath Riddick's skin flared to life; the abruptness of the surge nearly stopping his heart for a moment as he felt her reach into the depths of his mind and force it to the surface. The humming color threw odd shadows against the bulkheads in the bay as that thing inside him answered her call.

Riddick felt her flood his thoughts and rush through his veins as though she had braided herself into his blood and it strengthened the hue beneath his skin. The power was delicious and ripe enough to taste on his tongue. He should have been pissed, something in a far corner of his mind told him, something raged against the knowledge that she could have such control over him; but the man himself did not. The man himself only gloried in what she was capable of; basked in the knowledge that this beautifully lethal creature was his and his alone.

"My monster, not hers." She whispered fiercely.

_The __moth__ to__ the __flame._ He caught himself thinking as his lips curled into what qualified as a smile despite the malicious curves which defined it and he savored the onslaught of sensation.

*T*F*C*

Alone on his ship, Jubal Early basked in the silence that came with Gina's departure. He had no intention of splitting the bounty with her, and the screen rezzed in front of him only solidified his plan. Haymer wanted her bad and the man was offering up a sizable bounty for her head: dead or alive. She was even wanted within Lupus-5 for skipping out on her guild debt; though the reward was less than what Haymer was offering, it gave him options. The bounty for the Tams and Riddick would buy his double S rank and, with Gina's added to it, it would put him well on his way to purchasing the merc-class cruiser that came with it.

It was all really just a question of timing. The extra body would come in handy in taking down the Tams and Riddick, perhaps they would even do the job for him; but, if they didn't, he'd need to take her out before he claimed the bounty and before she tried to take him out as well. He was by no means an idiot and he'd seen her hand twitch at her gun far too many times to rule out the possibility she was thinking along the very same lines as him. It was the sole reason he'd only set his cryo-timer for a few hours on the trip out to Beylix and woken back up once she was fully under. He'd lived off a stash of protein packs he kept hidden in a compartment in the cockpit and stuck himself back in cryo a half day before they'd reached Beylix, matching his timer for hers.

The screen which was rezzed alongside Gina's privately listed bounty flashed and had him closing her screen to redirect his focus. His entire face pulled downward, dragged into distortion by the narrowing of his eyes as his fingers flew across a holographic keyboard. He had used _Serenity__'__s_IP to ping a Cortex broadcasting frequency and, by default, a location from which it was broadcasted; a handy little trick that was only useful when you had a semblance of an idea where to start looking and a timeframe. Otherwise, there was just too much information riding the electronic waves throughout the 'Verse to narrow down the possibilities before the logs were dumped.

The fact which had caused the pulling of his features was that _Serenity_had never jumped tracks. New Kashmir's CRN network had pinged them last with a transfer to Delphi's after they'd left its range.

"What's your endgame, Reynolds?" Jubal asked aloud as he drummed his fingers against his arm rest. "Dead space and safety were less than twelve hours from your reach and you divert to Delphi?" He leaned back in his chair. Arrogant Malcolm Reynolds was, stupid he was not. The stupid ones hadn't survived the war.

He didn't like answers that only provided more questions and the revelation of their true destination only raised several dozen. He stared at the screen for several minutes not truly looking at it but through it as he let the facts he knew dance with assumptions and possibilities; searching for the something that fit into something else. He mulled over the possibility he could have been wrong. Perhaps _Serenity_ hadn't been moving towards dead space but had a job waiting on Delphi; the Ares trajectory merely a ploy to throw off the scent, to keep anyone tracking them and smart enough to choose the right route heading into dead space and right past them. Were they planning on circling around? Was the job they were working given to them on Beylix and would they be returning? Or did they run into some kind of mechanical trouble? Or had a new job come up on a whim?

His fingers took up their occupation once more as he raised Lupus 5's network and ran a search for lower-ranking jobs, if any, in that particular sector with a public listing; though without much hope of finding an answer. He doubted very much that Reynolds would answer any public merc listing. Surprisingly, there were a few postings. None that caught his eye in anyway however until, for lack of a better idea, he scanned through a few expired postings and found one a few days closed that made him do a double take.

The original listing had been a flat-rate open call for both guild mercs and freelancers; something to the effect of cleaning out a nest of bandits that had holed themselves up in a whorehouse. The raider captain was listed as Sanguine and the post had only called his attention due to the fact a vengeance bounty was now attached to the name. The details were vague, as most were on open calls that usually skirted the boundaries of legality, and only one Lupus merc had taken the bid. A D-ranker that had never reported back in a failure or confirmation of payment and was now being assumed dead. The amount was pitiful, the price of vengeance bounties were wholly relevant to time spent and rank earned in the guild. D-rankers got themselves dead nearly every day of the week. The guilds rarely took more than a surface interest in their disappearances.

While it was the vengeance bounty that had originally caught his attention, it was something in the captain's name that held it, Sanguine. After he and Gina had first struck their deal, they had gone over every detail of her stint aboard _Serenity_ looking for holes to exploit and trying to figure where she had gone wrong to avoid repeating past mistakes. Somehow, they had known almost immediately that she and the job weren't what they had seemed. She had been played since the very beginning by the girl they knew to be River Tam. It was in trying to figure out the how that Gina had mentioned them throwing around the word sanguine as if it were a code of some kind. He would have written it off as a coincidence, most definitely an alias, but a coincidence nonetheless, if it hadn't been for the fact the skirmish took place at a whorehouse, and _Serenity_ kept a high-class one on crew.

_A__ former __acquaintance?_ He turned the thought around in his head. One connection could be overlooked; two, made it another story entirely. While Reynolds may not have answered a public merc listing, he was beginning to wonder if he was not, in fact, the reason for it. _Tsk, __tsk, __Reynolds .__A __friend__ in__ need __is__ no __friend __indeed._

*T*F*C*

"Where's the Bit?" Mal asked as the crew gathered for breakfast.

"Sleeping." Riddick rumbled as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Another bad night?" Simon asked immediately.

"She's fine." Riddick barely managed to restrain the traces of annoyance he felt from leaking into his tone.

They'd spent the rest of the night training to turn him on and off; and not in the enjoyable sense either. He himself would have been still sleeping with her if not for the fact the night's activities had left him with a voracious appetite. River had said it had something to do with his metabolism but, at that point, he'd been too exhausted to offer much more than the vaguest bit of his attention.

"I'm just concerned over her decision to stop taking the pills that help her sleep." The doctor offered by way of explanation. "I tried to argue against it but she was adamant."

"Simon, isn't there a specific code you have as a doctor regarding confidentiality?" Inara chided gently but pointedly.

"Not on my ship! Not when that patient's the Bit and got the unique condition she does." Mal argued immediately, not giving Simon a chance to defend himself.

Inara managed to successfully glare sideways at the man she sat next to; not that Mal noticed in the slightest.

Wash, however, did and couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped him. When he was finished, he looked back up at the captain, pointed and then laughed again.

"What in the Hell is gorram funny?" Mal demanded.

"I know that look." Wash wiped a bit of moisture from his eyes.

"What look? Who gave me a look? I didn't have a look." The captain replied, more than slightly confused, and a bit peeved over the fact he was missing a joke the rest of his crew seemed to be in on.

Wash pressed his lips together and shook his head. "Must have been mistaken, sir."

"No, what look?" Mal asked again, this time looking around the table for an answer and when no one offered he added, "See? This is exactly ruttin' why I need my gorram mind reader at the ruttin' table." He grumbled.

"Woulda got kicked then." Jayne mumbled into his coffee.

"I don't sit close 'nough to her to get kicked." Mal retorted. "Will somebody tell me what in the ruttin' Hell I missed?"

"I'm sure the answer will become abundantly clear later." Inara assured him, in a tone that assured Mal the look he'd missed had been given by her.

He quickly backtracked through the conversation and right into a wall he suddenly realized he'd never see the end of or a way around. He was only grateful she'd kept it to a look rather than a comment when she'd never taken issue with openly defying or arguing against him before. There was no point in trying to hide that things had changed between the two of them from the crew. River _was_ a mind reader for one and, for two, the ship was just too gorram small and every member of his crew too gorram nosey for there to even be a chance of it. What he didn't want though was for anyone to think she held more sway over him now because of it. Honestly, he didn't care if she hollered at him from the minute a door made a private space between them and the crew; just so long as she stood beside him in front of them when he made a call.

"Not sayin' she don't have a choice in whether she takes a med that ain't essential to keepin' her breathin' or keepin' her together-," Mal began as he tried both to make amends with Inara and justify his concern over his Bit in the same statement, "-but River's stability affects us all. It's the difference 'tween dead and alive sometimes and we have to step a whole lot lighter than most other folks in our line of work 'cause the legal status of most our crew. I'd be concerned 'bout anyone of you who only slept maybe a three-four hour stint on a good night."

"She's fine, Mal." Riddick rumbled, paying more attention to his plate of eggs and toast than the conversation and its direction. "Kept her awake last night is all." He smirked at the various looks of horror and disgust the majority of the crew shot him. It wasn't a lie, merely an indistinct answer. "Didn't think you wanted the details."

"Git sum." Jayne chuckled lewdly.

"Well, I'm done eating." Simon sighed as he threw his chopsticks down on his plate. "Ever again." He added.

"Be fine without those details." Mal said, uncomfortably.

"Don't ask questions ya don't want the answers to." Kaylee giggled, quoting River.

"And on that note, might I suggest we discuss where it is we plan to dock to collect the supply list Mr. Universe has sent us?" Book offered.

"Excellent idea, Preacher." Mal jumped on the subject change.

"Beaumonde be best." Zoe remarked. "Got the tech he needs and the holes in security to let us slip in and out without more than a glance at our hull."

"Creeper Twins got eyes all over Central Docking." Jayne pointed out. "Not that I give a good gorram but they did try to plant a beacon last time we was there."

"Central's still our best bet for access to everything he needs." Wash countered. "Anywhere else on Beaumonde and it'll be several stops instead of one quick one."

"Another reason I need my mind reader at the table." Mal mumbled as he stabbed at a rehydrated potato bit on his plate. "Calculatin' risks is her job."

"As much as I hate to say it, because I'm not real found of that pair either, but it might be about time we consider makin' our peace with them." Zoe suggested reluctantly. "They own the lower docks in their way and they can cause us a whole lot of trouble without so much as more than a 'Wave."

"She has an excellent point." Inara agreed. "Riddick needs to replace his damaged armor and, if I am correct, I don't believe we have the connections elsewhere to obtain the quality his friends there can procure. You could try to negotiate a deal between them and Fanty and Mingo to smooth things over couldn't you?"

"What makes you think they don't already know each other? Or that Mikki and Dev would even deal with them if they don't?" Despite Inara's concern for his welfare, Riddick was more than a little irritated the woman assumed he would even support such a deal. Mikki and Dev were one bridge he didn't want to burn and he didn't know anything about the twins other than their bar smelled like shirt and they were a pair of pretentious assholes.

"Well, I don't." Inara admitted. "It was one idea and if it's not viable than it's not. It doesn't change the fact that, despite their limited reach, they could still do us a great deal of damage."

"You don't think they would make the deal?" Book asked.

Riddick shrugged. "Mikki and Dev are in a league those two shits will never see. Don't give a damn how much of the docks they own. They're small fucking fish in comparison. Their runners might know the twins but their names aren't important enough for Dev to care about knowing. Twins don't have much pull off-world. Mikki and Dev? They're some of the biggest names in the circles that count."

"Woulda liked to'va seen the side of a payin' job 'fore we hit those boys back up 'gain." Jayne grumbled. "Blew most my stock of ammo on that brothel and most my coin the first time 'round when we saw them. Had my eye on that .50 caliber Hellbore they had."

"Didn't you just get that _Long_?" Zoe asked critically. "How many different fifty-cals you need?"

"Need or want?" He grinned at her. "Either way, kinda a dumb question to ask me, ain't it?" Jayne replied, to which several of the crew responded with a laugh. "'Sides the Hellbore holds double the rounds and it's an ACP, not a rifle"

Zoe gave in with a nod on that explanation; her husband, however, was still slightly confused. "Translation?"

"Means he can take it out for everyday use. As opposed to the _Long,_ which is really more like a special occasion type of girl. See the _Long__'__s_ an anti-material gun, meant to take out light-to-moderate armored craft. Try to fire at a regular body and it blows straight through and into anything behind it. Good iffin' you're lookin' to take out a herd, which the Hellbore probably could, too, but the rounds are half as expensive and, like Jayne said it can hold double at half the size of the _Long._ Got its own specialty ammo and everythin'; they call 'em Hels." Wash wasn't the only one shocked and slightly horrified that the explanation had come from Kaylee and not Jayne.

"Ruttin' terrifyin'." Mal slowly shook his head.

Jayne, however, beamed with pride. "Would be lyin' if I said that wasn't damn sexy."

"Anyyyyyway." Mal drawled. "Not real keen on startin' a business relationship back up with the Creeper Twins but, and as much as I really hate to admit it I see the point in patchin' things up." Mal confessed even more reluctantly then Zoe had. "Cuttin' the middle man out only sets us up to get our own throats cut. Beaumonde's too valuable of a rock to us to let bad blood boil." He rested his arms against the table in resignation. "Patching it up with an introduction to somebody they wouldn'ta had access to before seems like a good idea to me. I'll be damned if I run a job for 'em to do it. What's the chance Mikki and Dev will deal?" He asked Riddick.

"None without something in it for them." Riddick told him honestly. "Dev won't see the point in doin' business with somebody beneath him without a benefit."

"So's either way we're runnin' a job for free 'gain. Ruttin' shiny." Jayne complained as he tossed down his napkin.

"You don't want their jobs." Riddick rumbled his tone indicating they should take him on his word as it settled uncomfortably across the table.

"Didn't you say their runners probably knew them?" Simon asked.

"And?" Riddick raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm a little new to the criminal hierarchy, but I'm assuming their runners are paying off docking security and or Fanty and Mingo's people to move their shipments through the docks."

"Very clever, Doctor Tam." Inara praised him with a small smile. "We make the official introductions and negotiate a deal that allows for Dev's goods to be moved without having to make the payoffs so long as they agree to sell to Fanty and Mingo."

"Now there's a real idea." Mal acknowledged.

Riddick killed the coffee in his cup. "And if the twins ever fuck them, you do realize Dev will take his losses out on us."

"So the worst is we find new illegal gun salesmen?" Wash asked.

"One of these days I'm gonna figure out exactly how it is you people ain't dead yet." Riddick said slowly. "If the twins cross them, we've crossed them, and if we've crossed them won't take more than an hour for the word to be out and every hitman and squad that deals with them will be looking for our blood."

"And they're not already?" Simon scoffed.

"Difference between a merc and a hitman." Jayne retorted condescendingly. "And that's a traq dart and a bullet. Boys like Mikki and Dev, even if they are a little…colorful-," his lip twitched slightly, "-won't give a good gorram 'bout any bounties we carry. All's them types care about is rep. You got to figure they been at it for a while and you don't last in those circles if folk ain't afraid of dicking you. Riddick said it himself, invitation-only, and they'll make a message outta us that says 'watch who the fuck you invite.'"

"You willin' to stake your life on the twins?" The convict asked Mal.

"Think the right question is, would Fanty and Mingo risk crossing them?" Zoe interceded. "They'd be dead faster than we would."

"Zoe's right." Mal nodded. "They might be the slimiest of leeches to ever suck the 'Verse dry but they ain't dumb."

"It's still a shit idea, Mal." Riddick warned.

"You got a better?" He challenged.

"You're not a fan of my methods." He replied, rising from the table. "You've already got it in your head to do what you're gonna do. You don't need me to do it. I already made the only introductions I plan on. When this comes back to bite us all in the ass, and I guarantee you it will, Mal, don't come lookin' to me to for anything other than an 'I fucking told you', and don't think I'll vouch for them either if I'm asked."

"See the thing there is, Riddick-," Mal replied heatedly, "-don't need you to vouch for them, not when I got Riv to tell me iffin' they're plannin' on crossin' us 'gain from the get go."

"There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don't even know where to begin." Riddick rumbled as he dumped his dishes in the sink and pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. He dropped it in front of the doctor and headed towards the aft deck hall. "I'll be in my bunk."

Simon swore as he read the single word on the slip of paper.

"Do I even want to ask what's on that?" Book asked with humor.

"Dishes." The doctor grumbled as he held it up. "I believe today was River's turn."

"You're still playin' cards with them?" Zoe chuckled.

"Ain't our fault doc's dumb." Jayne chortled.

"Mal?" Inara questioned softly attempting to refocus the conversation. "What's our move?"

"Set the course for Beaumonde." He ordered after a moment. "We'll test the waters when we get there. Wash and Zoe are right about it bein' our best bet to grab the tech he needs without headin' further in towards the Core and I ain't 'bout to do that. Gonna take Riv to get Riddick's new armor this time; don't care what he says, I'm the gorram captain of this ship. We'll take her to The Maidenhead, too, make sure all sides of this deal are rounded out and as fair as a deal 'tween crooks can be. We'll hit the twins first, with any luck she'll be able to pick up somethin' else to bait 'em with first. This deal will be a last resort and if we can see another course around it we'll take it."

"You'll need to play this carefully, Captain." Book cut in before Simon could add fuel to Mal's already smoldering temper. "Blue Sun maintains a heavy presence on Beaumonde. It could be very dangerous for all of us if she were spotted."

"Scans are clean and the Bit don't hardly look a thing like she does in that bounty capture." Mal said dismissively. "Some days I barely recognize her myself."

"I believe my talents may come in useful here." Inara offered. "So long as River has no objections I can ensure she is utterly unrecognizable."

"See that?" Mal grinned at Inara. "Bit of feminine wiles and we'll slide her in right under the radar."

"'Ssumin' they don't just flag the purple bellies minute we land." Jayne remarked.

"Don't think they will." Mal mulled over the possibility. "That's more Badger's style, hidin' behind dirty feds. Twins ran black market durin' the war; it's how we know 'em, they'll pay 'em off, but they won't deal with 'em like that. Be more worried 'bout them sellin' us out to a body like Yuri or any other number of bad folk we've been on the wrong side of."

"So you mean all of them." Simon retorted sarcastically.

"Only way out of the woods is through most times." Mal replied with a shrug. "Ain't a point to keep talkin' on it though, I've made my call. We might not need the twin's business but we're gonna need those docks from time to time. Best settle this while we can, 'fore a situation comes up that forces us there and we find ourselves another unneeded complication like Jakob on Greenleaf."

"You want to run full burn?" Wash asked practically. "Got the fuel for it."

"Do it then." Mal nodded. "Be good to put a bit more distance 'tween us and Calliope. No tellin' what kinda dust that might kick up."

*T*F*C*

There were expanses of dead space so distance and desolate all but very few took the risk to fly the ghost tracks that lead through them. They were the crevices and cracks that held no place or tolerance for the Alliance and the empire quietly acknowledged the fact; having better uses for their resources than simply throwing them away. The denizens of those tracts of space held no qualms with targeting a military vessel and held the capability to do so on principle alone. They were havens for large-bulk cruisers that rivaled the size of some of the smaller research stations which orbited terraforming worlds and could berth several smaller ships such as _Serenity_ . The cloak of dead space sheltering crime syndicates, pirates, slavers, and 'Golls without prejudice.

There were a few systems scattered about, though their inability to be terraformed played a large part in the Alliance's willful abandonment of them. It was in one such system that a rock with three suns that had altered the course of Riddick's life could have been found; not far from it, where the ghost track the_ Kubla__ Khan_ had turned what Jack had desperately hoped was a rescue, into yet another fight for their lives. The convict had left the large bulk cruiser in his bloodied tracks, just as he had the planet, without a glance backwards; leaving the carcass of it for the scavengers to find and only taking with him an upgrade from the lifeboat they'd been hauled in on.

However, it hadn't been scavengers which recovered the vessel, but a ship that had been hunting for the_ Kubla __Khan_ all along. Lady Chillingsworth, the commander of the craft Riddick had left behind, had broken away from the 'Goll leadership to broker deals with the flesh-bags her religion condemned to satisfy her greed for coin. Lady Freya, in command of the _Edda,_ had been charged with the recovery and capture of her, her ship, and the stolen 'Goll tech she had taken with her. She had not been pleased to find Chillingsworth dead and the onboard vault emptied by the very flesh-bags she had made her sacrilegious deals with. Chillingsworth's 'art' collection, however, had helped to compensate for much of their losses and the security footage recovered told a rather interesting story of her downfall.

Freya hadn't bothered to think much of the man that had brought down her target other than it had been a pity he had not first been discovered by the faithful and converted to his full potential; that was until she received an upload from one of her most favored in the moments before his death.

"Riddick." She remarked idly as the tip of a sharpened claw, the lethal endpoint of a modification which encased the bones of her hand in solid metal and breached her fingertips where nails should have, tapped against the armrest of her command chair.

"My Lady?" The hulking mass of hybrid cybernetics standing post slightly to her left questioned.

"This man." She gestured to the small circular orb which projected the frozen image of the very same one she had so easily dismissed before. "I have seen him before. He is the individual responsible for the termination of the Code-breaker Chillingsworth. Facial recognition however indicates this man is an accountant on Londinium, one Wilson, Luther. Does he look like a Core-bred accountant to you, Logrin?"

"No, my Lady." He shook his head slightly in agreement.

"He calls himself a Furyan."

"Forgive me my Lady; I am unfamiliar with the identifier." He confessed, the metallic baritone of his voice catching a slight echo across the starkly furnished bridge.

"I am not entirely so." She informed him. "Chillingsworth had a piece in her collection entitled '_Furyan, __Killer __of__ Men__'__, _find out what became of it."

"As you wish." He acquiesced with an incline of his head and turned to his left to access the terminal at his post. "It was destroyed as no bounty could be traced to its genetic code."

"How unfortunate." Freya acknowledged with displeasure. "It seems our fallen Lady had information we do not." She replayed the vid feed once more as she studied its subject. "I find myself afflicted with curiosity. Curiosity and regret. Do you know how undesirable I find such a state to be?" Logrin didn't venture an answer; he knew well enough to know she wasn't looking for one, though he did step forward slightly, sensing a command on the tip of her tongue. "I wish to be relieved of such a burden."

He dropped to his knee and bowed his head before her. "I would see to it you were, my Lady. You need only to command. Your will is second only to the Prime."

"I want him Logrin. I want to know what it is he has harnessed that gives him such power." She ordered; her voice curling around him in the same fashion as her hand which took his chin and raised his face to hers. "I want him on his knees before me." She retained her grip on his chin, the sharpened tips of her claws illustrating the severity of his punishment should he fail her as they dug into the little organic skin that remained on his body. "And if I cannot convert him, I will satiate my curiosity with his dissection." She pushed away his face as she rose from her chair. "We will make good on the promise of your brother, Logrin. He will convert or he will be killed. One way or the other his blood will be mine."

*T*F*C*

"Dead." River clucked her tongue as she pressed the tip of the screwdriver against the base of Kaylee's skull.

The mechanic let lose a violent profusion of Mandarin. "Oh, come on! How's that even fair? Ain't nobody in the 'Verse as fast as you!" She complained.

"You must be fast." River snapped harshly as she lowered her arm and Kaylee turned around to face her. "You must be fast or you will die." The usual playfulness of River's tone and actions during training sessions were absent, replaced instead with a cold, clinical detachment. She picked up the screwdriver she'd forced from Kaylee's hand and tossed it back to her. "Again."

The ship's two public relations officers watched the spar from the safety of one of the upper catwalks. "She's getting better." Jayne commented. "Hard to tell when you put her up against River but she's thinkin' and movin' right now."

"She hesitates." Riddick replied.

"Not a bone in her body that's got the will to kill a spider if she could help it." Jayne had to agree. He stifled the wince he felt come nearly reflexively as River brought Kaylee to the ground and killed her again. He glanced at his fellow crew member sideways. "How's that side?"

"No worse than one of your rib-crackers now." He answered.

Jayne made a noise that vaguely resembled a grunt of amusement. "Hell of a party that was." He added to it, wishing he could light up a cigar. "Didn't even get paid."

"Didn't have to go down that way." Riddick rumbled. "Mal should have let me slit his throat that first night. Not like one more bounty makes a shitload of a difference to me."

"Woulda come down on Nandi's head. I see his point." Jayne leaned forward and rested his arms against the rail. "Doesn't mean I ain't got qualms with risking my ass for no payout; especially on somethin' that's gonna draw the type of attention that did."

Riddick looked at the merc critically; he was dancing around a point, and subtlety didn't suit the man. "Get to it, Cobb."

Jayne looked back out and over into the bay. "Back on Calliope, 'fore all that shit went down, Zoe asked me 'bout Walker. I'd like to think we're good, hell with you and Riv on crew we just might be the best in the game right now, but Walker ain't a double S for no reason." He pushed himself off the rail he was leaning against. "Sooner or later, somebody's gonna catch a whiff offa that trail of dead bodies we seem to leave everywhere."

Riddick was caught a little off guard by Jayne's assessment. The man wasn't usually known for his foresight. What Jayne said next only served to strengthen his belief that the former merc was not to be underestimated.

"The way Riv's pushin' Kaylee, I got an itch that says you two ain't sharin' somethin' with the rest of us."

Riddick didn't reply right away, mainly because he wasn't quite sure on how to. Did he and River know something? Yes. However, what the fuck it was that they knew was the better question. "The stars are talking to her." He finally replied as his eyes fixated themselves on the Reader in question. "They're keeping her awake at night."

Jayne cracked an eyebrow; several months ago he would have scoffed at a statement such as that but, as it was now, he could practically smell the ominous that dripped off the words. He didn't have a chance to ask for further clarification as Riddick continued on his own.

"I've never met anyone that's got the skill you do behind a scope and the way you pinged the formation of Niska's hit squad on Ezra says something else about some of the other skills you've got that you don't advertise nearly as much. The very last thing I really think you are is dumb."

"Difference between bein' smart and payin' attention." Jayne retorted. "And I pay attention to all sorts of things. Like right now, in particular, I'm payin' attention to the fact you ain't answered my question."

"Must have missed the inflection in there somewhere." Riddick continued to be evasive.

"Or it could be you just think pissin' me off is all sorts of fun."

"Could be I have a point that your gorram mouth is keeping me from getting to." Riddick responded neutrally. "I'm not looking to keep anything from the one man on this ship I actually trust on my six. Came to you when I knew about those blue-handed fuckers."

"Something's coming though."

"Just a question of when and who kicks it off."

"You're thinking about letting them know where to find you." Jayne guessed as he narrowed his eyes.

"It's a possibility." Riddick cracked his neck. "Don't know about you but I'm fucking sick of waiting for someone else to make the first move."

"Was made to behind the scope, not in front of it." Jayne gritted out in agreement. "Gotta be done right though. Gotta be done as to seal up the cracks first so nothin' leaks but what we want." He glanced around him. "Gotta push Mal right to get him to agree."

"He shot Tracey before he could shoot me. Just gotta put one of his in the line of fire and he won't hesitate." Riddick replied, having already thought that part out.

Jayne pulled his flask from the pocket of the utility vest he was wearing. "You're askin' a lot from a man that's got somethin' to lose these days-," his eyes darted to Kaylee, "-but I figure that decision got took from me when her brother hauled that crate onto our ship." He took a draw from the flask. "You tell me when to find my nook and I won't ask questions." He said, agreeing to follow whatever plan Riddick and River eventually settled on. "I'll aim where she says cause I figure it's the best chance we got." He took another quick sip to steel himself for what he said next. "Want I what for it, since there obviously ain't any coin in it, is for you to look to Kaylee same way you x'pect me to look to River."

"Think River's got that covered." Riddick ticked his head down to the bay where the two girls were sparring.

"Not good enough." Jayne said resolutely. "River ain't-," he hesitated trying to remember the word she used, "-all there all the time." He settled for it after giving up trying to recall the fancy term. "A man's word don't mean much in our line of work, so I ain't askin' for yours. Just askin' that you remember that the man you trust to watch your six, trusts you to watch somebody else's."

Riddick merely nodded after a moment and a silent agreement settled between them as Jayne passed the convict his flask. "I need you tell me everything there is to know about Walker." Riddick spoke as he handed Jayne back the flask. "Far as I know, he's never taken my bid."

"She thinks he's close?" He asked as his body stiffened with a fresh wave of tension.

"Just one of the players that have actually have a name."

"He won't take your bounty." Jayne shrugged as he relaxed back against the rail. "You're on the books for two double S takedowns. Probably thinks of you as a good way to keep the competition down and he don't like marks that have a chance of ruinin' that perfect record of his. Bounties ain't his first choice, he only takes 'em to build his rep and keep it strong. He prefers the shit the 'Lliance doesn't bother itself with out on the Rim; raiders, pirate blockades, made a shitload of coin running security gigs for big corporations in the past, too. That's where the real money comes in but first ya got to make a name for yourself and bounties are the easiest way to do it. My guess, he wants the Tams so's nobody else can knock him out of that top dog spot he's been keepin' warm the last decade; it was their jump from the corporate boards to the government ones that got him hard."

"He figures it's some kind military contract with a private corporation that went south. He cleans up the corporate mess and they jump on his ass for their security contracts, maybe even wins himself some under the carpet military work." Riddick gathered from what Jayne said.

"Bingo." He confirmed. "Thought at first he was looking to make 'em his retirement but, the more I thought 'bout it, the more I figured he wants them 'cause he ain't. Somebody else grabs 'em first, he figures next they'll start cuttin' into his steady contracts."

"How big does he keep his crew?"

"Four to six, depending on the type of work and they'll all be A's, but x'pect skills that are above that bar; he don't let his crew stay crew if they got their eyes on that next single S rank, and an A's a mighty profitable spot to stay. Got a right hand named Pitor and always keeps a pilot; he can fly, but kinda like Mal, only when he has to."

"He ex-military?"

"Nah." Jayne shook his head. "But his daddy was in the game; a double S too, went admin within the guild and bought Walker in as a B-ranker instead of a D. Fucking legacy Black Dawn and all the _gou__shi_ that goes with it."

"It's not about the money for him then." Riddick observed; if money wasn't the driving force behind the man it changed the rules.

"Nope, man's a glory hound, and if he walks away alive the first time we cross paths, he won't hesitate to go for the kill shot the next. Live capture bounty be damned so's long as he can say he was the one to take them down."

"And the FRA will protect him even with the no kill order on them." Riddick finished for him. The fact made him slightly uncomfortable. He was used to dealing with mercs only in it for the money. It had always given him a distinct advantage over every merc that ever chased him down; they wanted him alive and he just wanted them dead. The more Jayne told him about Walker, the more he was beginning to believe the man was just a merc version of Mal, and that made him more dangerous than the Alliance themselves.

"Gorram FRA was the worst thing to happen to crime since ruttin' facial tech." The merc complained. "And Walker wears it like goddamn armor."

"Why'd you jump the line?" Riddick asked curiously. It was the one thing about Jayne he had never been able to figure out. He knew from what River pulled from his head that Jayne had obtained his A-rank in less than five years, a feat virtually unheard of within the guilds but he hadn't stuck around long after that. He'd paid off his guild debt and traded his get-out-of-Slam-free merc card for a handful of bounties and life on the run. It didn't make sense anyway Riddick had twisted it in his head. Jayne had had the potential to make himself a legend within the guilds but he'd thrown it all away.

"Told Zoe I felt like I was playin' for the wrong team." He shrugged.

"And the truth?" Riddick pressed.

Jayne took a deep breath and another pull from his flask. "There's a little rock in Red Sun, moon of Anson's called Steele."

"Prospector's paradise." Riddick remarked.

Jayne made a noise that caught itself between a snort and a bitter chuckle. "Both know better that." Riddick merely nodded and waited for Jayne to continue. "I did the job we was paid to do." He swallowed hard. "My ma, she's a good woman, best in the 'Verse; tougher than nails and sweeter than honey. I'll do most anything for the right price but I won't feed 'er with that kind of blood money. Mal's code might be a bitch to live by but it's one that still lets me look her in the eye." Jayne tucked away his flask. "Why you still here?" He asked bluntly. "Both of us know, even with the parade of shit on our asses, you could kick on and disappear 'gain without leavin' a bent blade of grass for a body to follow."

"All my shit's here." Riddick shrugged and Jayne followed his gaze to River below him.

"Good a reason as any, I sus'pect." Jayne chuckled.

*T*F*C*


End file.
